We sit so much as a society in fact that we are at as stage where we really need to be helping our bodies to recover from sitting because we are starting to forget how to hold ourselves up efficiently.
To be fair, some of us sit a lot more than others. And many of those who have do desk jobs tend to have a general idea that they are sitting more than is ideal for their bodies, and that it might well just be the cause of their sore back. But still we sit - A LOT!
We like to sit because our structure gets a rest and we can quite literally take the weight of our feet. But sitting as much as we all tend to do means that we aren't giving ourselves the same opportunity to stand and it's becoming less of a normality for our bodies, and more of an effort. So we sit more because it's an effort to stand up, and so a cycle continues.
There is definitely a growing recognition that we all in general sit too much. You may have seen Facebook shares and the like stating that 'sitting is the new smoking' and some companies are talking about, or are already introducing, stand up desks.
I do welcome initiatives that are starting to think outside the box regarding sitting at work, although I don't think it is as simple as just standing up instead. We need to make sure that we aren't then spending the whole time habitually standing with more weight on one leg than the other, a hip hinged up to one side or leaning over to one side with our elbows on the (now higher) desk. Don't even go there with what folks have on their feet (definitely a blog for another day though). And bear in mind that hairdressers (who stand all day) also have alignment issues, so it can't be as simple as now just standing all day.
Instead let us become conscious of us the shapes that we put ourselves into. We become the shapes that we habitually make. Understanding the role that fascia plays in our body's alignment can help us to see this. I intend to delve in to the wonderful world of fascia quite a bit during this blog of mine, but for now I want to give you just a very quick, hugely over-simplified but hopefully understandable concept of fascia. A starter for ten, lets say.
Fascia is a huge communication network of connective tissue which works throughout our body from one end to the other, from the outside layers to the inside layers. It wraps around our organs, our muscles, our groups of muscles, holding everything together. When it is healthy it is springy and pliable and smooth and its layers slide easily across each other. When it's not so healthy the layers stick together, they crystallise and they don't have the same elasticity. Fascia records everything that we do and reflects that back to us in many different ways. One of those ways is in the shape that we are.
Fascia forms us into the shapes of what we do. So if we sit A LOT then we in essence become a sitting shape. Trying to stand becomes more of an effort because the fascia tries to pull us back into the shape of sitting - the path of least resistance - usually with an accompanying groan! I'm sure we all know that feeling of getting up and literally feeling that we are cranking ourselves back into straightness because we feel stiff from sitting in the same position for too long - that's your fascia objecting to being pulled back into an upright position.
Whatever our sitting position or habit, we start to become that shape. We mould our hips into being flexed,
not extended. Our legs want to be bent at the knees, not straight. (it not your hamstrings that are actually tight, it's the fascia around them and other surrounding muscles, ligaments and joints that is preventing them from lengthening) Add into that all your own wee individual patterns of sitting: cross legged, foot tucked
under the chair leg, body slightly leaning to one side, one elbow slouched on
the desk, slouching etc etc. Do them often enough and you become that shape.
But the good news is that it's all within our control as to whether we want to become that shape or not. Habits can all be broken and replaced with new and better ones. Be conscious of the shapes that you spend a long time in, and decide whether that's a good shape for you or not! Is it a look that you want to carry about with you. Because you will if you repeatedly keep going to that shape you are going to become it!
So what can you do to 'recover' from all that sitting. First and foremost, sit less! Get up and move regularly. Stand up, walk about, maybe even swing your hips about and bend over and back up a few times. Stretch your arms above your head, roll your shoulders around. Dance and jig around the water fountain in the main office if you wish! And then make sure that you regularly make other shapes. Walk. And walk more. It really is one of the best things you can do. Rotate, twist, swing your leg like a pendulum, stretch, get down on all fours and arch and hollow your back, roll your hips side to side when lying on the floor. And release your fascia with a soft ball or foam roller (not that unbearable one along your IT bands though! It's not actually doing anything!). And here lies the promise of another blog ahead - releasing fascia. I solemnly promise that I will explain more about this. But for now I have been sitting too long and I need to go and recover by rolling about the floor and making random shapes!
Until tomorrow, tarra :-) X
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