HEALTH & HEALIN G


How to avoid chronic ailments from our sedentary lifestyle.


By Dr Hooman Zahedi


Health tips to improve your posture


FOR MANY OF US, our daily routine revolves around sitting down. We get out of bed and sit down to eat breakfast, drive a car or sit down in public transport to get to work, or run errands. If we do office work, we sit for long periods of time, have lunch sitting down, and then sit on our way home. We eat dinner sitting, and watch TV, and then relax on the couch – sitting. A recent Australian survey found we spend as much as 80% of our working


day sitting1 . So, what is wrong with


sitting and how does this affect our health? For most people, sitting for long


periods of time results in poor posture. In my experience, office workers


experience far greater incidence of lower back pain than more active workers. This is because their heads are more likely to slump forward while working at a desk, and for every centimetre that the head shifts forward,


the pressure on the muscles in the back and neck doubles in an effort to hold the head up. This puts strain on the back and


neck muscles and over time can result in chronic pain.


In fact, 80%


of Australians will experience back pain at some time in their lives, and for 10% this will lead to a significant disability. Something we rarely think about is the effect poor posture has on our


Stretch and Strengthen


Taking regular breaks and stretching during work is a great way to help ease the strain put on your body at work. You can find good examples here: www.stretchnow.com.au/office-stretch-exercises.


To really make a difference, a regular yoga or pilates session will help strengthen and stretch your body and help it deal with the day-to-day work stresses.


We have everything you need to get started – from colourful eco-friendly yoga bolsters and mats to a comprehensive step-by-step DVD range.


Visit www.stretchnow.com.au or 597 Canterbury Road Surrey Hills VIC 3127 26 MAY 2015


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