Pride
We see lots of images of celebrities looking fantastic. If you lack confidence about the way you look, chartered physiotherapists say perfecting your posture will help boost your self-image instantly - and can do you good in the long term.

For a healthy looking body instantly, the following tips can help:

Tip 1: Standing in front of a full length mirror with your back against a wall and feet flat on the ground, try to stand as tall as you possibly can. This should be your natural standing (and walking) posture.

Lengthening the spine and elongating your body will add an inch or two to your height. This can make you look longer, leaner and fitter!

Tip 2: Pull your tummy muscles in whilst standing in the lengthened position. Then release them by 70 per cent so that your tummy muscles are still engaged.

This will help improve the tone of your tummy muscles and reduce the possibility of lower back pain.

Getting your posture right can give the illusion of a better looking body. Being confident about your appearance will make your body look even better. Not only will you look great, these tips can help prevent back, neck and shoulder pain.

Envy
Christmas and the New Year is a period when you may spend a good length of time at home or visiting friends, relatives or neighbours. It is also a time you may think about future home improvement projects, especially if your loved-ones have been showing-off their new look home or garden — making you feel a bit envious!

Most people don’t think of DIY or gardening as exercise but it does involve putting your body into awkward positions for a long period, which could cause stresses and strains.

If you are thinking about embarking on ambitious home or garden projects in the New Year, follow these simple tips:

Tip 1: Stretch and warm up before your start the task
Tip 2: Keep close to the work, e.g. use a kneeling pad or appropriate tools to make work easier
Tip 3: Avoid staying in the same position for too long - take regular breaks!

Gluttony
You can expect to gain between 5-7lb over the party season as a result of overindulging. Excess weight, especially around the middle, can put extra strain on your back and research has shown that weak abdominal muscles can increase your chances of injuring your lower back.

To reduce the risk of injuring your back in the New Year, these tips can help:

Tip 1: Pull your tummy muscles in then release them by 70 per cent so that your tummy muscles are still engaged. Do this little and often throughout the day
Tip 2: Think about starting and maintaining a healthy eating plan
Tip 3: Integrate an exercise programme into your daily life. Try to find something you will enjoy as this can help you stick to it
Tip 4: Get off the bus one or two stops early and walk briskly for the remainder of your journey — approximately 10-15 minutes. Do the reverse for your journey back home. You’ll be able to clock up 20-30 minutes of physical activity each day and will soon feel the benefit. The same could be applied to your car journey — park just short of your destination and make a brisk walk part of your travelling routine.

Lust
The pelvic floor muscles are an essential component in the male and female body. They provide support to the pelvic organs (bladder, bowels and uterus) and assist the bladder sphincter.

Lifestyle can dramatically affect the performance of the pelvic floor muscles. If you have a job that involves heavy lifting and the pelvic floor muscles aren’t contracted properly when you lift, their activity may deteriorate over time. Deterioration can lead to the pelvic floor muscles losing their supportive ability and you could end up with a prolapsed pelvic organ, bladder or bowel dysfunction and leakage.

The pelvic floor muscles also have a very important role to play in sexual activity as they can enhance your sex life. If there is vaginal laxity, this will result in reduced sexual arousal and lack of sexual stimulation. Research also shows exercising the pelvic floor muscles can help to restore erections in men with erectile dysfunction and have benefits comparable to taking Viagra.

Exercise is key in maintaining and strengthening these muscles and men and women need to know how to do it properly.

Tip 1: Engage your pelvic floor area as if you are preventing yourself from passing urine. Try to hold this contraction for as long as possible. You should do this exercise regularly throughout the day.

This helps to flatten your lower abdominal muscles. Working your pelvic floor muscles also helps to minimise the risk of developing incontinence. It is recommended you hold the contraction for 10 seconds at a time. As you get used to this, your aim is to increase the length of time of each contraction.

Tip 2: Engage your buttock muscles as though you are preventing yourself from breaking wind. Intersperse the contraction with buttock squeezes.

In the short term, this will give the appearance of more toned buttock muscles. In the long term, it will contribute to keeping your pelvic girdle strong, thereby minimising the risk of incontinence.

While carrying out these exercises, make sure you don’t pull faces at the same time or hold your breath!

Anger
The festive season can be a source of great stress for some. For many others, stress can be a by-product of a busy working life. Though pressure can help to keep us stimulated and motivated, extreme amounts of pressure can bring on stress, which can affect our personal lives, lead to poor performance and sickness absence, and generally affect our physical and mental wellbeing.

Symptoms of stress can include: anger flare-ups, irritability, mood swings, headaches, muscle tension and poor posture.

There are basic steps you can take to minimize stress:
Tip 1: The first line of defence is BREATHING! Focus on breathing into the tummy allowing the abdominal muscles to relax
Tip 2: Gentle exercise can help to reduce stress and aid removal of toxins from tired muscles.
Take a 15-20 minute stroll to rebalance your body
Tip 3: Drink plenty of water — this will assist in flushing toxins out of the body, metabolising fat more efficiently, and allow the nervous system to work more effectively
Tip 4: Keep loose, roll your shoulders regularly to prevent any tightness from developing in your neck and between shoulder blades

Carry out the following neck movements periodically:
— Gently look over each shoulder
— Slowly bring an ear down to each shoulder
— Gently tuck your chin towards your chest and feel the stretch in your neck
— When standing up place your hands on your waist and gently arch your back.

Greed
Despite increasing technology and timesaving devices, we seem to have even less time for ourselves. Many people continue to follow the ‘want it all’ discipline, putting in longer hours and leading hectic home lives in a bid to achieve the ultimate celebrity lifestyle with more money, a bigger home, the perfect body and great friends.

Neglecting our own physical and mental health and leaving no time for physical activity can lead to stress, anxiety, aches and pains. 
Tip 1: Take timeout and go for a brisk walk at lunchtime. The fresh air will do you some good
Tip 2: Integrate your busy life with physical activity, e.g. cycle to work
Tip 3: Make time for your loved ones by playing active games in the park at weekends
Tip 4: Prioritise and delegate - if your day is full of tasks, home chores and caring responsibilities, it is important to prioritise and delegate tasks others can do. Enlist the help of your partner or relative where necessary
Tip 5: Put yourself first - for some of the time. Give yourself ‘timeout’ by treating yourself
Tip 6: Relax — employ some techniques to help you unwind such as listening to soothing music, taking a hot bath or go for a peaceful walk
Tip 7: Get enough sleep and rest as tiredness can contribute to lack of energy and lead to musculoskeletal disorders like back, neck and shoulder pain. Make sure your mattress suits your needs. Chartered physiotherapists recommend a mixture of support and comfort and suggest opting for a mattress that is on the firm side of medium
Tip 8: Eat well — don’t rush or put off meals in order to get other jobs done. You could affect your digestive system and bring on diarrhoea or constipation.

sloth
We are leading increasingly sedentary lifestyles as more and more of us spend our days chained to a computer desk and our evenings slouched on the sofa. There is growing dependency on remote controls, cars and fancy gadgets that control our living environment. This often forces our bodies into unnatural postures and our muscles and joints don't get the chance to work through their full range and normal length. This can lead to stiffness and a loss of elasticity, which makes us prone to injuries.

To sloth safely, make sure you’re in the optimum position.
Tip 1: Before settling down, check to see if your sofa is providing you adequate support. Place cushions or a rolled up towel behind the small of your back. This will help support the natural curve in your spine and relieve tension
Tip 2: Avoid the onset of back pain by changing your viewing posture often
Tip 3: Rest on both your left and right side to help the structures of your back (discs, muscles and ligaments) relax
Tip 4: If you are predisposed to back pain, sit on a dining room chair or sit on the floor cross-legged with your back against the sofa. Lying on the floor is also an option
Tip 5: Take a rest from sitting. Be sure to get up every 20 minutes or every time there is a commercial break!
Tip 6: When playing with game consoles, mobile phones and other fun gadgets, avoid adopting a slumped C-shape posture. Protect and support your lower back by sitting with the sofa behind you or propped upright in a chair
Tip 7: If using gadgets, like mobile phones, rest your arms on the table to take the “load” off the neck and shoulder muscles. If possible, hold the gadget up to face you so you are not having to flex your neck too much as you look down to view it. Break or swap hands regularly, before the onset of any discomfort.