How this Tiny Device made me Look & Feel Better in under 2 Weeks

According to Buddhism, 50% of our state of mind is dependent on our posture.

(This blog post was originally written by Elephant Journal and posted on Elephant Journal at 06.06.2018)

Correcting our posture is such a simple, easy to overlook, and powerful a tool to improve our overall well-being. When our mood or our energy is low, sitting or standing upright is an easy way to bring our state of mind into a happier place.

But it’s not always easy to remember or even realize when we’re slouching.

This is exactly what the clever folks at Upright designed their nifty little posture trainer to help with.

The Upright Go is a tiny, wearable bit of tech that syncs with an app to help train us to sit or stand up straight. And if you think your mom was vigilant in catching you every time you slouched, she’s nothing compared to this. But I’d definitely rather have the pleasant little vibration of the Upright Go to remind me.

How does it look, how does it work & how the heck does it feel?

Yoga teacher and Elephriend, Danielle Radulski‘s take on the Upright Go:

Honestly, when I first heard about this posture trainer and before I saw any pictures of it, I imagined some kind of medieval torture device the size of a treadmill.

And, even after I’d figured out what it actually was and seen some pictures and videos, I was still kinda surprised and quite delighted to receive my light little package in the mail.

What’s in the box?

Actually, I found the whole process of setting up the Upright Go to sync with the app on my phone ridiculously easy (and I’m pretty technologically challenged).

It really was a matter of one, two, three, and I was ready to “go.”

1. Sync your Upright Go with the app on your phone

2. Peel the cover off the reusable skin adhesive

3. Place the Upright Go on your spine, where you can reach

All you have to do from here is calibrate your device to your ideal upright posture: sitting or standing. And then…Ooooh!

The gentle vibration the device gives when you calibrate and when you posture train actually feels pretty cool, but definitely has the immediate effect of straightening you up. And you can adjust the sensitivity and vibration in the app. It’s also so light you do tend to forget you’re wearing it until it vibrates.

Mindful Bonus: I find the sensation is a handy way to bring my mind back to the present moment, too.

So, once I’d set everything up, I tried my first training session, which is 10 minutes of the Upright Go vibrating lightly every time you slouch. The folks at Upright recommend you train at least three times a week to see improvement in your posture and take at least a 40 minute break between training sessions.

When you’re not training you can switch to tracking mode and the device won’t buzz when you slouch but the app will track your posture and let you know if you’ve been slouching for more than 15 minutes. And you can wear it anywhere: sitting or standing, driving or cooking…anything that doesn’t involve water.

It’s amazing how quickly those regular training sessions improve your awareness, too. I only trained for the recommended amount of time in my first week and yet I saw improvement in my tracked posture before the week was up. On the first day I was only upright for 33% of the day (pretty shocking for a yoga teacher!), but by the end of the week, I was up to 80% (nice!)

The way it works is through biofeedback.

The principle of biofeedback is basically that we can retrain ourselves into new physical and mental habits through the process of receiving information about what is happening with our bodies in real time, so that we can achieve greater self-awareness. In this way, we learn what mental or physical behaviors have the desired effect on our physiology, which in this case is better posture.

But better posture has much further reaching effects than just our spinal health. The Buddhists are on to something, as it turns out.

As I continued to train with and use my Upright Go, I found that I was focusing better at work, feeling more energized throughout the day, and generally more uplifted in my mood and, most noticeably, my sense of self-confidence.

When I did a bit of digging, it became clear that there’s actually some research that backs these effects up. It comes down to body language.

Social psychologist, Amy Cuddy actually presented her theory in what is now one of TED Talks’ most watched videos, that “power posing”—standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident—can boost feelings of confidence, and might have an impact on our chances for success.