Sitting on the floor. Ouch!!

As a child growing up in India I remember sitting on the floor for all kinds of activities, including eating, writing, reading and playing several indoor games. Sitting on the floor and performing all the above mentioned activities required us to lift our backs, arch our spines slightly and fold forward a few inches in order to complete the activity successfully. My paternal grandmother always extolled the benefits of sitting or squatting on the floor and decried the use of chairs and tables. But peer pressure and being scoffed at by friends for sitting on the floor, often compelled us to use the chairs.

 Today, comfortable chairs and sofas have made it rather impossible for our bodies to squat on the floor for even 5 minutes. We look for a back rest or wish to stretch out the legs with a desire to relieve aching back, hips or numbing feet. The reason is that sitting on chairs leads to muscle wasting and sarcopenia, leading to poor limb muscle strength and poor trunk flexibility.

Try yoga poses and stretches to strengthen the quads, lower back and hamstrings that would help in a smooth sit-rise transition.

My take home message? Spend more time sitting on the floor!  You can think of adapting one sitting pose and incorporating others gradually. Practice rising up first with a suitable support until you are able to stand up unaided.

If you haven't already spent a lot of time sitting on the floor in a crossed-legs position (or any seated position where your legs are externally rotated), it might be best for you to start with shorter time periods on the floor and work up to longer periods, rather than simply changing all your seated activities to the floor. This is to prevent the possibility of injury due to over-stretching your hip and thigh muscles. Also, consider using a cushion or folded blanket under your sitting bones. And if you have hip, knee, or any other problems that prevent you from being comfortable in a crossed-legs position, feel free to experiment with propping or other seated positions that work for your body.