If this doesn’t get you out of your seat we don’t know what will. OK maybe this (the greatest dance flash mob of all time).
This fascinating and downright sobering video from Murat Dalkilinç, via TEDEd, digs into the effects and risks of sitting for long periods of time. The spine in particular really gets the shaft when we sit hunched over, also known as deskasana.
The thing is, as humans we’re meant to move. We’re built for it. For instance, we have over 360 joints and about 700 skeletal muscles that allow to us move fluidly, our blood and nerve cells depend on us to move around, and our skin is elastic, stretching and bending with our movement.
When every inch of your body is waiting for you to move, what happens when you don’t?
We’ve heard about the risks of sitting for long periods of time which can include contributing to heart disease, diabetes, liver and kidney issues, besides making your muscles and joints all cranky and stiff. What’s even wilder is studies have shown that sitting for long periods of time, over long periods of time, is linked to 9% of premature deaths worldwide – yikes!
So what can we do to fight it? The biggest problem with lengthy sitters seems to be poor posture, so sitting up tall can help a lot (you know, like you do in yoga class but often don’t do anywhere else?). Also, get up! It’s recommended that chronic sitters get up every half hour, or as often as possible for a stretch, a walk, some yoga poses, etc. Sometimes we forget, or we get lazy. That’s why there are all these apps, gadgets and doodads these days reminding us to get up every so often, and maybe even giving us a zap to sit up and stop hunching.
By the way, this does not excuse us from sitting to meditate (sorry!), it just encourages us to work harder to sit WELL when we do sit.
Watch the video below and get motivated to move.
Check out the full TEDEd lesson here.
And here’s another great cute video: Posture Matters: Cute Animated Video Reminds Us to Get Off Our Butts During the Day
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Earlier…
- Power Posing: How Yoga Helps You Fake It Til You Become It
- Triumph Over Back Pain
- Reset Your Hips to Reset Your Posture!
- Better Posture Means Better Health, Studies Say (Tada!sana)
Wow, I can so relate to this topic. I sit at my PC way too much, but it’s simply required for working on the sites, and I constantly catch myself slumping! I have thought about one of those standing workstations, probably a good idea. Great little video, glad I stumbled across this site, well done!