How to Align Your Spine by Hanging Upside Down

According to Improve Your Posture website, one of the primary reasons that spinal misalignment occurs is because the head hangs forward. Activities that cause the head to be positioned farther forward than the neck and spine's natural alignment include using a computer, reading and sewing. This position affects the trapezius muscle, a diamond-shaped muscle that starts at the base of the skull. It extends out toward the shoulders and down to the midback. If the head is constantly hanging forward, it pulls the trapezius muscle, which in turn pulls on the shoulders and the upper back. Over time, the spine's natural alignment is pulled out of shape under this strain. Hanging upside down a few times a week on a body inversion table can help to reverse the effects of this strain and allow the spine to return to its natural alignment.

Things You'll Need

• Body inversion table

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Instructions

• 1

  Secure yourself fully into the inversion table. Make sure that all straps are in place, and hold the handles beside your hands. Loosen the security clasp so that you can slowly nudge the table backward by pushing back with your torso. Hold onto the fixed handles at each side. Contract your abdominal muscles to control the movement backward.

• 2

  Settle at an angle that you are comfortable with. Roll back so your body is horizontal. Then move gradually back so your head is pointed toward the floor and your feet toward the ceiling. Again, control the angle to what you are comfortable with. You might not be ready to hang vertically yet. You will still see results from hanging back at about 45 degrees from the horizontal midline, because the head and neck are able to relax back into alignment with the rest of the spine.

• 3

  Add some gentle rocking to your suspension when you have found a comfortable angle to lie backward. This will invigorate the spinal column and encourage good circulation around the area. Rock for as long as you are comfortable; start with one minute and see whether you can build on that time. It is a soothing sensation and it enhances the sense of mobility in your spine, alleviating tight spots and tension.

• 4

  Relax. Be aware of the stretch in your spine, and the energizing process that is taking place around it. Imagine the space that is becoming available between each of the vertebrae, and with this, imagine the complete release of tension in the neck and back. This will help the involuntary muscles to let go of tightness and tension. Bring your awareness to any particularly stiff areas of your spine and feel them gradually become realigned back into the spine's normal range of movement. Build up your time from about two minutes to up to 20 or even 25 minutes as you learn to relax while hanging upside down.

• 5

  Come back up slowly, using your legs and stomach muscles to tilt the inversion table back to an upright position. Do this in stages; come up a few degrees at a time, wait at that angle for a few seconds, then come up another few degrees, and so on. This gives the changes that have taken place in the spine a chance to settle. Don't worry about getting stuck; the fixed handles in place on the inversion table at either side of your torso are there so that you can lever yourself up.