As a teacher, I have found that a lot of students struggle with mathematics at some point in their lives. There are the exceptional few that get it all the time but on average students struggle with mathematics. Parents are usually up in arms as to how they can solve their children’s complications with math without hiring pricey tutors to help them outside of the classroom on an ongoing basis. Well, there may be an inexpensive way to do just that.
In this week’s Science Daily, a new study finds that students perform better while sitting up with good posture. For people who have a hard time studying math, having good posture can mean the world of difference for passing exams and not struggling with homework.
According to these studies, when your hunched over your brain does not work as clearly. The co-author of Health Education Richard Harvey, points out that slouching over can trigger old, negative memories that can tamper with learning in the brain . which can also interfere with learning concepts in math and other subjects especially for students that exhibit math anxiety. While the students without math anxiety did not report any benefits with improved posture, they did provide information that when they were slouched over they had a more difficult time doing math.
These studies can help shed light on the connection between posture and performance. Everyone from all different backgrounds and professional fields can also benefit from proper posture when under stress. “You have a choice,” said Erik Peper (Professor of Health Education). “It’s about using an empowered position to optimize your focus.” Students can feel empowered by facing challenges especially in academic fields as well as non academic fields i.e. sports.
This study demonstrates and easy and simple approach to many aspects of life which can be a universal approach as well. This simple technique of sitting up can be handy for overall improvement in all fields. This certainly demonstrates that our interaction in space not only influences how others see us but how we see ourselves.