1. Exercise Regularly— This does not have to be anything overly strenuous. Something as simple as a daily walk can make a huge difference.  Pay attention to stretching exercises, especially if you daily activities cause you to sit or stand still for periods of time. 
2. Eat A Healthy Diet— Proper nutrients allow the body to repair itself easier.  Many people are simply not aware of how their diet may be playing a part of their health patterns.  Excessive consumption of caffeine, sugar products, refined flour, carbonated beverages, sodium (salts), tobacco products, processed and fried foods, and even excessive saturated fats, can have a profound affect on symptoms such as: muscle pain, stiffness, joint and arthritis pain, headaches, tension and stress, poor sleep and irritability.
3. Maintain Good Posture— Are you sitting up straight as you read this?  Slouching and slumping allows for stress to build in to the spinal joints.  This can not only be fatiguing and unattractive, but can damage sensitive support structures such as ligaments and discs. 
4. Stretch Your Spine Before And After Sports— This is an absolute must!  In fact, stretching the spine and joints of the arms, shoulders, hips and legs can help prevent injuries and enhance performance. This will also help to loosen up the surrounding muscles.
5. Don't Overload Your Backpack Or Purse— Remember to carry backpacks over both shoulders to balance the load (if possible).  Just a simple weight of 10lbs, which doesn't seem like much, is just like carrying around a bowling ball.  In fact children and teens need to limit loading their backpacks to no more that 15% of their body weight.  That means that a young person weighing 100 lbs., should carry no more than 15 lbs. in their backpack! 
6. Stretch Your Legs And Back After Each Hour Of Sitting— Whether in a car or at a desk, stretching regularly will help to keep you from tightening up or injuring yourself further.  Consider a comprehensive stretching routien for all joints of the body.  Structured classes, such as Yoga, or home stretching programs may be helpful.
7. Never Cradle The Phone Between Your Neck And Shoulder Consider obtaining a headset or speaker phone if appropriate. 
8. Sleep On Your back Or Side, Not On Your Stomach— This helps to keep your spine in line and reduces the risk of hurting your neck while you sleep.
9. Invest In A Good Chair, Pillow And Mattress— When you think about the amount of time you use these things each day, it's worth it.  Remember, by the time you are 30 yrs. old, the average person has spent a whopping 10 years asleep.  That is a long time to spend in a bad bed, with a bad pillow, or in a ill-fitting chair. 
10. Have Regular Spinal Check-Ups— It's much easier to prevent a problem than to correct one.  Most poeple live under the false assumption that, "if my back doesn't hurt, it must be OK."  Or, "I can just take a little medicine and it feels better."  In reality, many health conditions do not necessairly hurt, in the early stages.  "Just because your oil light has not gone off on your car dash, does not mean that the oil does not need changing!"  Let an experienced chiropractic physician, like Dr. Mooring, be a part of your total health care team. 
11. For more information on spinal care tips, link to the American Academy of Spine Physicians at:
                        http://www.spinephysicians.org/dr0tips.cpm?page_id=59

Notice: Before starting any strenuous exercise program, always receive professional health care advice.