×

Error message

  • The file could not be created.
  • The file could not be created.

It’s Official: Text Neck Syndrome Is Now a Global Epidemic

By
Eva Norlyk Smith, Ph.D., C-IAYT, RYT 500
forward head posture can cause health problems over time and yoga is one way to combat this

It's official: A new study labels text neck and forward head posture a global epidemic and a worldwide public health problem.

According to a new study, the prevalence of neck pain has increased dramatically within the last decade. It is now equally - or more - prevalent than back pain, and significantly, it is affecting younger and younger people.

Senior woman practicing yoga, standing in Warrior II Pose.

Upper Body Strength—Without Push-Ups

Do you remember having to take the Presidential Fitness Test in grade school? I always dreaded it, especially when it came to rope climbing. I was the kid who could never climb more than a few feet off the... Read more
Beautiful young woman practices yoga asana Tadasana - Mountain pose on the wooden deck near the lake

Healthy Breathing and Posture: Connecting the Dots

In physical therapy school many years ago, they taught me to assess posture and treat associated muscle imbalances. If someone displayed forward-head posture, I assumed their posture caused their headaches. “I... Read more
Beautiful young woman practices yoga asana Tadasana - Mountain Pose on the wooden deck near the lake

Change Your Postural Habits and Change Your Spine

If there’s one thing that everyone from bestselling authors to renowned philosophers agree on, it’s the power of habits. From Aristotle (“We are what we repeatedly do”) to Henry James, (“Sow an action, and you... Read more
forward head posture

Yoga for Text Neck and Head Forward Posture

There’s something surprising you probably don’t know about me: I’ve been using computers to write, edit, and publish documents as well as to email since 1976! The photo below shows me and another writer/editor... Read more
Senior woman working out indoors standing in Tadasana, Mountain Pose

Hyperkyphosis: The Cause and the Solution

Many years ago, my husband Alan, our friend Jerome and I took a trip to our property on a northern gulf island. We planned to stay in another friend’s cabin while Jerome and Alan put Jerome’s cabin up on jacks... Read more
Side view portrait of a young woman practicing Tadasana or Mountain Pose indoors

4 Yoga Poses for Better Posture

As we get older, poor postural habits can have a domino effect on our entire bodies, stressing joints as well as internal organs of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract. Quite often, pain or injury stems from... Read more
Smiling elderly woman resting on a swiss ball at home

An Easy Technique to Improve Your Posture: How to Practice Yoga on a Ball

According to Webster’s 1913 Dictionary, the word combat means, “To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight with; to oppose by force, argument, etc.; to resist; a contest of violence; a... Read more
the epidemic of text neck and what that can do to your overall health over time

A New Epidemic? Study Links Text Neck to Spine Damage

Do you spend your day hunched over a laptop or with your head bent at an unnatural angle while texting or checking email or Facebook updates on your smartphone? If so, pause for a second, sit up straight, and take notice: you may be setting yourself up for chronic neck pain and even spine damage. Read more
How to practice yogic breathing from the diaphragm

The Power of Healthy Breathing: Yogic Breathing, Posture and Diaphragmatic Dysfunction

If 20 years from now, I’m asked: “what did you do in the pandemic?” like many of us, I will be honor-bound to answer: I made sourdough bread. And, again, like many of us, I turned inward. Literally. For the... Read more
Yoga student practicing three somatic movement flows to promote better posture

3 Somatic Movement Yoga Flows to Promote Better Posture

In this blog, I invite you to watch this video (20 minutes) with three consecutive Somatic Movement Flows® to help you unwind from stress, pain, and stiffness in your upper body. My intent is to support you in... Read more