

You’re slumping in your chair, aren’t you? If you want to be better at work, just say no to slouching.

[Image: Flickr user 55Laney69]

I’ll confess up front: I have terrible posture. It’s been bad since I was in high school at least, and probably for even longer than that. It’s one of those things I keep in the back of my mind as something I know I should do, but never get around to, like eating more vegetables and sending more postcards.


It’s really interesting to explore commonly held assumptions for Buffer blog, because I often find out surprising things. Researching how our posture affects us was no different. If you’re like me and struggle to sit up straight when you know you should, you might like this post.

We’ve talked extensively about body language before. But this time, we wanted to take a different drift. The way we stand, sit, and walk actually has more long-reaching implications on our mood and happiness than we thought. The latest studies reveal it:

Shaking your head will affect your opinion and other surprising new insights on posture.

Body language is closely related to posture–the way we move our bodies affects how others see us as well as our own moods and habits. In terms of scientific research, the two overlap quite a bit. This isn’t too surprising, but how our posture and body language affect our thoughts is.



  • When participants in the study nodded in agreement or shook their heads to signal disagreement, these actions affected their opinions without them realizing.

Dutch behavioral scientist Erik Peper has done extensive research into this area as well. He regularly makes participants in his classes stand up and stretch for similar reasons why exercise has been linked to happiness, like here:

Here are three fascinating things that happened once our posture changes:


So Erik Peper is convinced (and I am, too) that we should keep a careful eye on our posture and body language–lest it bring us down without us realizing.

Posture also changes our hormones: Standing tall literally makes you more powerful.

When we talk more broadly of body language, as opposed to good posture, we can actually see the affects it has on relationships right throughout the animal kingdom. In particular, body language is used to express power through expansive postures (i.e., spreading out your limbs and opening up your body) and large body size (or the simple perception of large body size).

You might know about Amy Cuddy’s famous Ted Talk and her incredible insights on how posture changes our hormone levels. Well, some more recent studies took this even further:


A study by researchers from Columbia and Harvard Universities showed that body language symbolizing power can actually affect our decision-making subconsciously. The researchers measured the appetite for risk of participants in either expansive, powerful poses or constricted poses (occupying minimal space, keeping limbs close to the body). Those in the powerful poses not only felt more powerful and in control, but were 45% more likely to take a risky bet.

Plus, the study used saliva samples to prove that expansive postures actually altered the participants’ hormone levels–decreasing cortisol (C) and increasing testosterone (T):


So clearly, our posture has more to do with our minds than we might have thought. And, in fact, it seems like our bodies come first: When we alter our posture and body language, it subconsciously influences our thinking and decision-making.


Why there is no “one best” posture and how to improve yours

So if you want to take advantage of these proven benefits to live a healthier and happier life, where should you start? We know there are many parts of the body that can be painful when we have bad posture. Here’s just a short list of them:

Unfortunately there’s not a whole lot of research into how exactly to adopt good posture–a lot of what we know tends to come from being told to “sit up straight” as children. A study in 1999, however, found that sitting at an angle of 110 to 130 degrees is optimal for spine comfort, and another in 2007 showed that leaning back at 135 degrees is ideal for preventing back strain.

Not only is a position like this difficult to measure and maintain (do you know precisely what angle you’re sitting at right now?), not everyone agrees.


The team at LUMOback has created a posture sensor that you can wear around your waist during the day to help you develop better posture. The device watches for slouching and shifting to the side and vibrates to remind you to sit up straight.

The team, which includes a doctor and a data scientist (as well as a medical adviser), doesn’t advise the leaning-back position for your workday. Instead, they maintain firstly that “the best posture is always the next posture,” or in other words, always keep moving:

We know that many of us have jobs that do require us to spend time working at desks, so knowing how to sit and stand with good posture is certainly important and beneficial to one’s health and well-being. That said, the human body was built to move, not spend eight hours at a computer.




When it actually comes to posture, the LUMOback team recommends a neutral pelvic postion (i.e., sitting up straight). They promote this posture particularly for times when we’re sedentary for long periods, like sitting at our desks all day:


Here’s an image from the study that promotes leaning back at 135º:



In an office setting, you’re likely to have to crane your neck to see your computer screen and strain your upper back and shoulders to reach a keyboard. Thus, any potential lower-back benefits of a reclined position are outweighed by the negative impacts on your upper back and neck.

For now, I’m going to give sitting up straight a go. If nothing else, at least I know it will probably put me in a good mood!

P.S.: If you liked this post, you might also like Why procrastination doesn’t need a cure: A guide to structured distraction and How To Make Positivity a Habit: 4 Simple Steps to a Happier Everyday Life.





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