The Professional Posture Program: Work-Friendly Yoga Exercises to Improve Your Posture, Health and Confidence

By Amina Hafez, JD;MBA, Walid Hafez, MD and Zachary Hafez, MD

IF YOU WORK AT A DESK AND USE A COMPUTER OR SMARTPHONE, CHANCES ARE YOU NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR POSTURE.

Working at a desk for extended periods of time can put stress on your neck, back, and spine, and, unless you’re careful, wreck your posture.

The Professional Posture Program is designed specifically for the working professional who sits at a desk. It is a sequence of ten daily exercises targeted to improve posture and counteract the negative health effects on postural muscles due to sitting during the workday.

The exercises are work-friendly, designed to be done at your desk or home office, and take less than 15 minutes. The program includes a selection of additional bonus exercises.

The Professional Posture Program is unique because it is a simple, efficient, proactive postural program tailored for the busy worker to incorporate into a daily work schedule.
It includes:
Career advantages of having good posture
Guide to ergonomics and the importance of your desk setup for your posture
Clear pictures and detailed instructions on how to perform the exercises
A daily sequence of ten exercises that can be performed in less than fifteen minutes and optional bonus exercises
Summary checklist of exercises (both in picture and text) to post at your desk

If you work at a desk, you need to fight for good posture every day. Designed by two medical doctors and a yoga teacher, The Professional Posture Program makes this achievable for you by arming you with the knowledge and tools to do so in less than fifteen minutes a day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984587008

Amina Hafez, JD;MBA

Walid Hafez, MD, is a neurologist with over four decades of clinical experience and two decades as medical director of a rehabilitation center. Zachary Hafez, MD, is an established and highly skilled physician in emergency medicine. Amina Hafez, JD/MBA, is a 500-hour trained yoga teacher and has spent more than 15 years working behind a desk.

Book preview

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Advantages of Having Good Posture

Chapter 2 What Is Posture?

Chapter 3 How Can I Get and Maintain Good Posture?

Chapter 4 The Exercises: Daily Workday Sequence

Chapter 5 Bonus Exercises

Chapter 6 Common Questions about the Exercises (with Answers)

Appendix Reference Sheets to Post at Your Desk

Acknowledgments

About The Authors

FOR

SHARON

INTRODUCTION

Our health is the net result of our choices and genetics, as well as unforeseen circumstances. We do have substantial control over our behavior and the positive decisions we make. Our choices—with respect to exercise, stress reduction, diet and sleep—provide us with a continuum of opportunities to improve the quality of our lives. To be successful in steadfastly making positive choices, we need a disciplined approach that is doable. Selecting and committing to a practical program will help us to achieve our goals.

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Our exercise goals should include exercising for good posture. Proper posture is one of the most important factors in preventing long-term, chronic neck and back pain, which are among the most frequent causes for which people seek medical care, either from a primary doctor or in an emergency setting. In addition to reducing neck and back pain, proper posture promotes improved lung expansion, which improves blood oxygenation and helps reduce fatigue and improve cognition and energy levels.

The program offered in this book is practicable. It can be comfortably and easily implemented one or more times a day—during the workday, at one’s desk—with noticeable benefits within a few weeks. The daily recommended exercises are in keeping with sound physiological, medical and physical principles applied in rehabilitation and health promotion. Once you start this program, your body and mind will request you to keep applying yourself to a disciplined, planned exercise and mindfulness activity.

This program is worth your time, effort, and immediate and long-term health.

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CHAPTER 1:

ADVANTAGES OF HAVING GOOD POSTURE

Having good posture has several advantages for working professionals. It helps to keep your physical body functioning optimally so you can perform your best. It helps support your productivity and confidence. It also enhances your professional image.

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Keeps you physically healthy. Having good posture will help keep you physically healthy by reducing your likelihood of headaches and neck, shoulder, back and knee pain. You will also burn more calories since having good posture requires you to work your core muscles. With good posture, your quality of breath will improve as your body takes in more oxygen, which helps improve your immunity and the effectiveness of your nervous system and other organs.¹

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On the other hand, bad posture can lead to negative health consequences, causing headaches and migraines, neck and back pain, muscle and joint tension, fatigue, poor circulation and lung compression. It can make you more susceptible to injury. According to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Posture ranks right up at the top of the list when you are talking about good health. It is as important as eating right, exercising, getting a good night’s sleep and avoiding potentially harmful substances like alcohol, drugs and tobacco.² As a working professional, your health is an important concern not only to you, but also to your employer, business partners and investors. Therefore,