The men who reported more than 23 hours per week of sedentary activity were 64% more likely to die of heart disease than those men who reported less than 11 hours per week. Some of the more sedentary men exercised regularly. So the story says that even if you exercise, that may not be enough to counteract the negative effects of lots of sitting.

A Depressing Conclusion

I think this conclusion is extreme and discouraging. Yes, exercise more! It has so many positive effects on your health. Health officials recommend 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise (like brisk walking).

But don’t get paranoid about how those hours at the desk are going to kill you. One commenter on the story pointed out that the study didn’t include women, so more research may be needed. Also, nothing was mentioned about nutrition, so those that exercised more may have also had a healthier diet.

I’m sure many of you have had relatives who lived to a ripe old age and didn’t spend hours and hours exercising every day.

I’m skeptical of the “less than 11 hours a week of sedentary activity”. That’s less than 2 hours a day of sedentary activity – including working, sitting at the computer, watching TV, eating, etc. Are these people exercising 14 hours a day (24 hours in a day minus 8 hours of sleep and 2 hours of sedentary activity)?

Get Moving

Considering all this information, what can you do to have optimal health if your job requires you to sit a lot?

The article suggested getting up to stretch every hour, putting your printer farther away so that you have to walk to get to it, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Those are great ideas, especially for those that work in an office. You could also ride your bike more (which helps reduce air pollution as well). You could go to a yoga class and get the added benefits of increased strength, flexibility, balance and stress reduction.

Exercising at your Desk

They also recommended sitting on an exercise ball. I don’t recommend this. While you may use more muscular effort and burn a few calories, it’s not a good option for a healthy back. I’ll write more about that and other types of chairs in next month’s article.

Another suggestion was using a stand-up desk rather than sitting at work. That could indeed keep your body more active, but healthy posture is really important here. The typical American posture which leans backwards causes compression in the back, so make sure that you are standing in alignment with gravity.

Take a Stretch Break

The NPR story mentioned how hard it can be to get people to exercise. If you would like to put more movement in your day, how about making a plan right now? Schedule a 10-15 minute break at some point in your day to take a short walk or do some stretches. You could set a timer to go off every hour that you’re sitting, and then get up and stretch for 1-2 minutes.

Here’s a nice stretch I like to do: stand up and raise your arms overhead, without lifting your chest. With your left hand, clasp your right wrist. Inhale and lengthen your right side up. Exhale and take your torso over to the left. Your hips can move slightly to the right. Make sure your pelvis is not thrust forward. This is VERY important. Take a couple breaths here and then inhale to come back up. Now clasp your left wrist with your right hand and stretch to the right.

Here’s another way to get more exercise – I am offering a walking workshop on June 25. Come learn to walk pain-free, with relaxation and ease. Visit www.sonomabodybalance.com for details.

© 2011 Dana K. Davis

© 2011 Dana K. Davis

Later, when I was in India studying yoga & meditation, I was in a bus accident where I broke my front tooth by smashing into a railing in front of me. Then I was rear-ended about 10 years ago. All these accidents didn’t seem to bother me much until shortly after the 3rd one, when I was in a stressful environment. I developed frequent tension headaches which would send me to bed with an aspirin.

I have found that working with the Balance posture method and doing some daily stretches have made a huge difference in the number and severity of my headaches. I’m now at the point where I can back off almost every headache without taking any kind of pain reliever.

Types of Headaches

There are several different types of headaches, including migraines, sinus headaches, cluster headaches and tension headaches. Common causes of headaches can include: lack of sleep, hormone fluctuation, stress, diet, pressure in sinuses, use of pain relievers, sensory overload, perfumes, sleeping position, dehydration, low blood sugar, caffeine withdrawal, and poor posture.

When should you see a doctor for headaches? Check out this resource from Medline if you have concerns (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003024.htm).

How to Prevent Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are often associated with tight neck, head and shoulder muscles. I’ll be addressing these types of headaches here. The above resource from Medline (National Institutes of Health) suggests several ways of preventing headaches, including “Stretching your neck and upper body, especially if your work involves typing or using a computer”, “Learning proper posture“, and “Learning to relax using meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or other techniques”.

Learning healthy posture is extremely important for the health of your entire body, and can help relieve or prevent back pain, neck pain and headaches, as well as reduce muscle tension and fatigue. As you’re reading this right now, check out how you are standing or sitting. Is your back rounded and your head jutting forwards? The more that your head moves forward of your spine, the more work your neck muscles have to do.

Sitting at a computer or driving may be your most challenging positions. For specific tips on healthy sitting and driving posture you can read my blog posts from November, 2009 (“10 Steps to Pain-Free Sitting”) and June, 2010 (“5 Tips for Pain-Free Driving”). The most important thing here is to sit on your sitz bones (ischial tuberosities) and not on your tailbone or sacrum. Think “Sit on your butt, not your back.”

If You Have a Headache Already…

I do neck and shoulder stretches on a daily basis because of my history of whiplashes. This has made a huge difference in my headaches. With a few of these tools I can back off a headache that I feel coming on. One wonderful tool is to lie on your back on the floor and place a tennis ball under your upper back around your shoulder blades or just above them. You can place the ball right where you feel the most tense and take some deep breaths until you feel a release. Then move it to another spot and repeat.

I’m teaching a Headache Relief Workshop next Tuesday, December 7th (visit www.sonomabodybalance.com for details). The holiday season can be a time of extra stress for many people. Take some time to check in with your body, notice your posture and to give your body a little extra attention. You may find that this can be really helpful if you feel a headache coming on.

I’m wishing you Happy and Healthful Holidays!

©2010 Dana K. Davis

Dr. Andrew Weil says that optimism is a key to healthy aging. A healthy diet is another important component in long-term health. Of course, exercise also makes a big difference in keeping your body, and mind, healthy.

One factor that is often overlooked is how posture contributes to long-term health and well-being. Kathleen Porter, in her book Ageless Spine, Lasting Health, has a wonderful chapter called “Amazing Grace” showing the difference between people with healthy posture and those with unhealthy posture. Those with healthy posture (“Balanced”) are from less industrialized parts of the world. (You can find her book at http://agelessspine.com).

She mentions that the common motto of “use it or lose it” is not the full story. Rather, it’s HOW you use your body that makes all the difference. Even athletes who use their bodies all the time get lots of injuries in the US. While it is important to exercise and move your body regularly – walking is a simple and easy way to start – how you move makes a difference in your comfort, energy level and health.

Kathleen has some incredible photos in her book of people in their 70′s, 80′s and 90′s who still look straight and strong, with a sense of grace. While we all had that healthy posture up until age 3 (in every country), in the US we’ve lost this natural alignment. The good news is – you can relearn this!

When your body is aligned with gravity, with the vertical axis, you can rest on your bones and allow your muscles to relax more. Your spine can begin to lengthen, and you may even regain lost height. Your skeletal structure will be better able to support your inner organs. You can reduce back and joint pain and have more energy.

To get started, come to one of my free, introductory workshops on the Balance Method. I’ll show you some fabulous slides and teach you the easiest way to start changing your posture – by changing how you sit (visit www.sonomabodybalance.com for details). If you can’t wait that long, check out my blog post on healthy sitting at http://www.sonomabodybalance.com/blog/2009/12/10-tips-for-pain-free-sitting/.

So to stay healthy throughout your life, use your body, and pay attention to HOW you use it. You just might make it to 100 and still be going strong!

But what I found most interesting was the discussion about back pain. It states that the spine wasn’t designed to sit for long periods. However, we see people in many less industrialized parts of the world who sit all day carving, preparing food, and more. It’s not the sitting that’s the problem, it’s HOW you are sitting.

The article also states that an “S” shaped spine wouldn’t collapse as easily as a “C” shaped spine. But any spine that is too curvy, whether an “S” or a “C” is headed for collapse. The people that have been studied for decades by those of us who teach the Balance Method and “Aplomb” (particularly Noelle Perez-Christiaens of Paris, France and Jean Couch of Palo Alto, California) have very elongated spines that have minimal curves in them. These people stay healthy and strong, able to move around well as they grow older.

Another point in the article is that “when you sit, the lower lumbar curve collapses…” Again, this totally depends on HOW you sit. The natural arch above the sacrum doesn’t have to collapse, and it’s possible to learn how to easily and comfortably sit maintaining your natural arch without struggling or straining to “sit up straight!”

I would agree that sitting on a ball chair isn’t good for your spine, because you’ll either collapse, or you’ll have to tighten your back muscles all day long – neither of those will leave you happy at the end of the day. Lumbar supports aren’t necessarily the answer either. You can sit in an unhealthy way in ANY chair.

The article suggests a treadmill desk. You’ve got to be kidding! I suggest: sit when you’re working, and then go exercise when you want to do that. You can learn to sit in such a way that you feel good at the end of the day, and then you can go dancing, ride your bike, or do something else you enjoy to move your body.

Some of the causes of back pain, according to the NIH, are trauma to the back, stress, poor posture, aging, and degenerative conditions such as arthritis.  Let’s look at one of these causes – poor posture.

The Problem with “Good Posture”

Why is back pain such a huge problem in the US today?  We’ve all been taught how to have “good posture”, and almost invariably the instructions are “tuck the pelvis, suck the stomach in, lift the chest, shoulders back”.  Does this actually work?

If you have tried this (which most of us have!), you might have noticed that it requires constant muscular holding and tension.  Also, it does not actually straighten the spine, but rather, makes it curvier.  It leads to fatigue, followed by slouching the moment we forget to “sit or stand up straight”.  It’s a never-ending cycle!

A Different Approach

Noelle Perez-Christiaens from Paris, France, and Jean Couch from Palo Alto have done decades of research on populations without back pain.  These people stay active into their old age and do not end up hunched over as we do in the US.  This healthy posture is found in numerous less-industrialized parts of the world.  It is also found in all children under the age of 3, in all countries.  It existed in the US through the 1920’s, when posture began to change as the “flappers” became popular.

These healthy people have several characteristics in common, such as:

1)      They have a tiny arch at the base of the spine, between the sacrum (S1) and lumbar 5 (L5).  This is the deepest indentation in the spine, and the spine is fairly straight above this “natural arch”.
2)      All the support bones of the body (spine, pelvis and legs) are lined up on a vertical axis, which you could see if you held a “plumb line” next to their body (like a carpenter uses to find a true vertical line).  They are aligned with gravity, not fighting it.
3)      They are always in maximum relaxation and do not overly tense their muscles.  Most surprisingly, they don’t hold in their bellies!

Pain-Free Sitting

When you align yourself like this, in “Balance”, you can eliminate pain, lengthen your spine, prevent future painful incidents and find comfort even in airplane seats!  Try an experiment right now to help you find more comfort sitting:

1)      Pick a chair with a flat surface, with a fairly straight back that leans backward at a slight angle.

2)      Stand in front of the chair and bend at your hip crease, letting your sitz bones (ischial tuberosities) move way back.  (Don’t bend past 90 degrees.)

3)      Aim the front of your pelvis towards the chair (We call this the “fig leaf area” – as in where Adam and Eve might place a fig leaf), and sit down.

4)      Now lean against the chair back.  You should feel your sitz bones underneath you.  Resist the tendency to slide forward.

5)      Let your belly relax.

6)      Let your back relax by dropping your chest.  Don’t “sit up”; sit DOWN.  This is a rest.  There’s no need to work at it.

7)      Let your thighs relax and place your ankles underneath your knees.  Your feet point in the same direction as your thighs.

8)      Draw each shoulder back and down separately, and then relax the shoulders.

9)      Draw your chin in and stretch the back of your neck briefly, then relax and let your face come to a vertical position.

10)  Don’t worry about holding any position.  It’s all about placing the bones in alignment, and then relaxing.  In “Balance” we don’t “hold” any particular position.  Just let the chair and your bones support you.

To get more instruction and practice in pain-free sitting, come to a 2-hour Balance  Method workshop. To learn this and more about sitting (including computer sitting, sitting in airplanes & cars), as well as standing, bending, walking, and sleeping, take the Balance Your Body Foundations Program.  For exact dates, visit http://www.sonomabodybalance.com/html/courses.html.