*Sleeping on lounges is a very easy trap to fall into but the trouble is that they are designed to be sat on, not slept on. The backward slanting and narrow (compared to a bed) surface that you sit upon makes it impossible to keep a straight back when you sleep on the average lounge, chronic lounge sleepers eventually develop bad postures, whether you sleep upright or lie down. If you get lower back and/or neck pain you will undermine your best attempts to rid yourself of these problems for as long as you continue to do this.

*Car seats, if you cannot place your heels against the fire-wall (the floor between the peddles) without moving your backside forward in the seat as you are doing so, your seat is too far from the dashboard, move it forward. Your bottom should always be as far back in the seat as possible, the best lower back support in your vehicle is useless if you don’t sit in it properly. Men are usually the worst offenders at this, Formula 1 drivers sit in specially designed couches in very low profile vehicles, they are supposed to lean right back, the rest of us are not, give it a go- and don’t forget to tip your mirrors up too or you will immediately sink back down in your seat the first time you need to use them.

*Sleeping face down is another common postural bad habit, your back cannot stay straight in this position, even though sleeping is totally passive, you will spend between a quarter to a third of your life doing it so your spine is effected by your sleeping posture/position. If you can’t get comfortable enough to sleep in any way other than the prone position it might be time for a new mattress and /or pillow, if that doesn’t work you probably need therapy and exercise, acupuncture, massage, osteopathy, yoga and pilates are all good places to start. Prone sleeping is much more common amongst women than it is men.

*Being totally left or right hand dominant has postural consequences too, the more you use one hand (or foot) to do anything repeatedly makes one side of your body stronger and stiffer than the other side, your spine may become scoliosed (bent to the side) as a result. Make a conscious effort to approach life in a more ambidextrous way and your spine will benefit from it, just simple things like shaving, brushing your hair and carrying your brief case or handbag on the opposite side to what you normally do is a good place to start.

This is only a short list of common bad posture habits but the good news is that it doesn’t cost anything to do something about it. Breaking bad habits is never easy, when you have replaced your poor postural habits with good ones you have achieved something important.