Posture Should Be Easy, Part 3: "Chair Disease"

In Parts One and Two of this postural mini-series, I gave some basic tips on sitting and standing posture. But a major problem with any chair sitting, as you may have heard, is that it wasn't something we humans were made to do for long periods of time.. We didn't have computer desks or couches in ye olde wilderness, and we would have likely spent much more time standing, or squatting. (Really, squatting flat-footed may be the ideal form of sitting, but it's hard for most of us Westerners to maintain for any length of time.)

Since sitting in our modern styles goes against so much of our nature, it isn't the greatest thing to do for long periods, even with "perfect posture." Sitting for extended periods of time daily may impose serious health risks, including an almost 50% increased risk of death, according to the Mayo Clinic! This is the case even when someone gets regular exercise. A fascinating recent study showed that prolonged sitting (in front of the TV) may be worse than moderate smoking, although it would be hard to compare the two. In particular, sitting seems to radically increase the rate of cardiovascular disease. Having super-ergonomic chairs doesn't seem to help, either.

Why is this? For one thing, we burn less fat when we have a sedentary lifestyle. And there is speculation that somehow, our body shifts metabolic modes, leading to conditions like diabetes, if we sit for an hour or more.

Anyway, it's enough to make me slightly paranoid about even sitting down to type this. Of course, there are many things you can do to reduce the risks of long-term sitting. Obviously, you want to get up and move around, even briefly, at least once per hour. Another, if your work situation permits it, is to do work at a standing desk, or even walking on a treadmill if you have a lot of energy.

So why does sitting feel so good? My guess is that it's like why high-sugar foods taste good: Our bodies evolved in a time when sugar was scarce and love of sugar was a survival tool. Back in the day, we also wouldn't have had the luxury of sitting all the time, so we would want to take advantage of being able to sit sometimes and save energy, and the pleasant sensation evoked by sitting would have encouraged us to do it. So we need to adapt ourselves to this chair-rich environment in order to find our balance.

Men and Hip Mobility

This post is inspired by the number of males I see, both in my practice and on the street, who seem to have a problem letting their hips move from side to side when they walk. When you start looking for this walk, you'll see it everywhere: shoulders swinging side to side with every step, throwing the upper body's weight back and forth. It's sort of like an upside-down pendulum.

My point is not to make fun of this problem, but to point out that it is a low-efficiency, unbalanced walking pattern, which stems from a lack of mobility in the pelvic girdle, causing the shoulders to make up for it. If your hips are allowed to move over whichever foot you're currently putting weight on, you will have more lower body balance, and more core strength.

But is it a "woman's walk?" This is a cultural issue we sometimes get caught in, thinking of hip mobility as something men should not have. However, the men who excel at professional sports do not adhere to this gender stereotype. To illustrate this, watch this video of Atlanta Falcons wide receivers in training. Between drills, these guys (except the injured one) are very loose in the hips compared to many amateur athletes who hold tight in these spots. This despite the fact that they're doing intense leg and hip training at the time. Hopefully it shows you how powerful this mobility can be- the same holds true with high-level basketball players, taiji practitioners, etc.



Getting the hips to move freely can be difficult if they've been stuck in place for a long time. Good bodywork therapy comes in really handy for this, as does taiji (tai chi) or certain yoga poses. It may take some doing, but the rewards are great.

Autumn, The Stressing Season

I have this theory that because our ancestors had to scramble every fall to get the harvest in, we still have some residual panic in us that makes us run like mad to beat the snow every year. At any rate, this is definitely the time of year when everyone gets insanely busy and stresses out in anticipation of the coming holiday season, etc. I can relate to wanting to harness the dwindling daylight, but we need some perspective.

Stress is a huge problem for health. The Mayo Clinic estimates that 80% of disease conditions are somehow related to stress, and links it to a wide range of symptoms. And Traditional Chinese Medicine has much the same view- Asian bodywork therapy like the kind I practice spends a lot of time calming and relaxing people to benefit overall health. So it's probably a universal problem, and people who say, "Stress is for other people" may be at the greatest risk, since Type A behavior and repressing emotions are known risk factors for stress-related problems. Heart attacks are notably common among this population.

Fortunately, stress relief can take many forms, including meditation, yoga, bow hunting, or just cutting things out of your schedule. So you can be aware of when you're overloading yourself, and take appropriate measures. Learning to lighten up a little, to laugh at yourself when you're too serious, can also go a long way. These simple things are what we often forget when life speeds up.

So remember, there's no harvest to bring in, unless you happen to be one of our awesome local farmers. When the dark and cold settle in, learn to cut back a little on your activity levels, instead of ramping up, and you'll save more energy down the road.

Posture Should be Easy, Part Two: Standing

Ok, now we've covered some sitting posture basics, and we'll go into standing. Fortunately, healthy standing posture does not have to be a military exercise! It does take some awareness to get the hang of, and here are some things to get you started:

1) Don't be super tense. If standing straight is a matter of arching your back, stiffening your neck, and clamping your shoulders down and back, you're not going to be able to move very freely. So stay relaxed, and don't worry too much about getting exactly straight.

2) Pay attention to the weight on your feet. Is it more on your heels, balls, inner or outer arches? Shift yourself into a place where your whole foot is in comfortable contact with the ground. Imagine that the bottoms of your feet are soft, able to sink into the ground, or into your shoes. Your weight doesn't need to be precisely balanced for this, because it's more important to bring awareness into the whole bottom of your foot so it can work with the ground to support you.

3) Knees straight and relaxed. Yup, straight. Having slightly bent knees is good for some activities, but generally having straight legs maintains the health of your cartilage. To find your relaxed position, lock your knees by overstraightening, then relax the muscles around your knees.

4) Hips in neutral. Many people try to straighten their neck and shoulders, but have their hips pushed forward, which makes the whole thing really difficult. To find neutral, push your hips forward and back, rocking like a swing, a little less each time until you come to rest slowly. This gives you some idea of where neutral is, although it can take some bodywork therapy to allow you to get a true sense of it.

5) Head lifted up. To do this without adding tension, first put your index fingers right behind your ears, pointing upwards. Draw a line with both fingers across to the top of your head, where they meet together. Imagine a rope pulling slightly upwards at this point, which will slightly draw your chin in and lengthen the back of your neck. You may find you need to relax the front of your neck to do this- think about using as little energy as possible to keep your head up and see if this allows the muscles to release.

6) Shoulders soft. Let any tension in the shoulders flow down into the ground through your feet. Tension may be holding them up, forward, or in some cases back. It may take some serious bodywork or movement therapy to get your shoulders to really relax.

You can see from this that posture is a whole-body concept, beginning with your feet! So be wary of the temptation of thinking only of your head and shoulders when standing, as it can often make things worse.