Finally, support for my constant refrain that HOW is more important than how much. Especially when it comes to sitting.
One of the ways I explain the Feldenkrais Method is that “we learn how to use our bodies more effectively.” We focus on the process rather than the goal.
It was great to hear and read an NPR piece describing recent research and the work of practitioners (unfortunately Feldenkrais trained practitioners were not mentioned) focusing on helping people learn how to sit to prevent back issues. The research cited looks primarily at a modern group of hunter-gatherers, the Hadza, in Tanzania. The researcher found that they spend about 10 hours a day in “resting postures” and they compare it to the average sitting time of Americans of 9-13 hours per day. What they don’t discuss however is that we all sit on some form of a chair whereas the hunter-gatherers likely don’t sit on our typical North American style chairs.
I, and others, have written of the deleterious effects of too much sitting. Many clients ask me about buying particular types of chairs. I always respond it is not the chair but how you use it and how you organize your whole body to sit more comfortably and with support that matters.
Many of us sit in a slouched position with our spine curved like the letter C that can lead to back problems because of pressure on the disks between the vertebrae of the spine. Learning to sit with an elongated back without putting pressure on the neck and with the head aligned over the spine is what we are after.
If we focus on the art of sitting our ability to sit for longer periods of time is easier. Not that we want to though!
It just so happens that one of our fall Feldenkrais workshops is Sitting with Comfort (October 28) and another is Perfect your Posture (November 24). All our fall workshops and classes are already registering. Please click on the links for more information and to register.
