Posture, Anxiety and Depression

Posture has a powerful effect on our mental and emotional state including anxiety and depression but we did not know this in the beginning.

When we started our practice in 1997 we were expecting to help people with back pain and headaches as we had been taught in school. We had studied a variety of non-force techniques and we decided to specialize in our own unique blend of a number of these right from the beginning.

We dutifully implemented what we had learned with our patients and over the first few years of Practice we began to get some surprising and unexpected feedback. In our first year we treated a woman and her grown daughter who both had back and neck pain, but were also both on medication for depression.

After a month or two of Care at Progress Exams they both described not only how their pain and stiffness was decreasing, but they both also reported that they felt less depressed, and in fact over the following six months as they entered Wellness Care with us they both chose to work with their psychiatrists to wean off of the depressing medication and found ultimately that they did not need it anymore.

Over the years since then MANY of our patients had asked questions like “Can this work make me happier?”

Our patients have shared that their anxiety, irritability, anger outbursts, agoraphobia and even panic attacks have changed in a positive direction since they started receiving care in our office.

We did not initially understand why, we just chalked it up to the general mind/body connection and the holistic effects of natural healing and rebalancing the spine and Nervous System (all of which we still be believe are true).  There has been research in the years since however that has shed some light on the input of the body to the brain and how our body position and movement affects our brain function, thinking and moods.

One of the consistent changes people experience in our office is an improvement in their posture.

When the chronic tension patterns in the body and spine release we naturally rise in gravity, open our chest and shoulders and lift our head. This position not only makes you taller, but it also makes you feel more confident, happier as well as more relaxed and empowered.

This in turn makes it easier to care for yourself and set boundaries that are healthier for you. One of our patients once told us that her teenage children were listening to her for the first time in years because of the way her Presence had changed.

So when you need a boost in mood or confidence pay attention to your posture and body position, and notice if you find your moods and feeling of wellbeing are heightened overall as your spine and posture returned to a more balanced state while you are under our Care!

To learn more about how to improve your posture see our posture exercises handout on our Exercise and Ergonomics page.

References: 

1. Upright posture improves affect and fatigue in people with depressive symptoms. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. 2017 Mar;54:143-149. 2016 Jul 30. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27494342/
2. Erik Peper and I-Mei Lin (2012) Increase or Decrease Depression: How Body Postures Influence Your Energy Level. Biofeedback: Fall 2012, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 125-130. https://doi.org/10.5298/1081-5937-40.3.01