Posture is important. It helps you stand taller and have a more confident presence when you walk into a room. Good posture also helps prevent one of the most common adult afflictions: Back pain. Thankfully, there are plenty of posture exercises you can do to help keep you standing tall and pain-free!

Improving posture and relieving back pain is all about strengthening certain muscles and stretching others. To make it easier for you, we’ve split this up into a “posture stretches” section and a “posture exercises” section.

1. Cat-Cow. This stretch will help to loosen up your spine and relieve built-up tension in your shoulders, neck, and torso.

2. Chest Openers. Our chest gets very tight from our daily activities. This pulls the shoulders inward and rounds the upper back. Perform these chest stretches to help open your chest back up.

3. Downward Facing Dog. One of the most commonly-known yoga moves, this will both lengthen out your hamstrings and calf muscles as well as stretch your chest and shoulders.

The best method to avoid back discomfort and keep your body in good shape is to follow a well-rounded workout plan that incorporates resistance training, cardiovascular activity, and mobility exercises. Our bodies were designed to move in a variety of ways, so don’t be scared to try something new (while remaining safe) and push your body to its limits.