How To Sit Without Strain

In my last blog post, I wrote about the toll prolonged sitting takes on the spine.

I suggested one simple change: every now and then, move toward the front of your chair instead of leaning back, similar to what you see in the photo above.

Most of us would consider this ‘good posture.’

But in trying to ‘sit up straight‘ you might throw out your chest, pin back your shoulders and even over-arch your lower back.

And very soon you find that you cannot maintain this position.

Because holding yourself up with muscular effort is tiring. Eventually, the muscles give up, and you slide into a slump.

So, what’s the alternative?

Sitting as “Standing” on Your Sit Bones

Instead of holding yourself up while sitting, what if you could be supported by your sit-bones?

What are the sit-bones?

They are the rounded bony structures that form the bottom of your pelvis.

Here’s a simple way to feel them:

Sit toward the front of a firm chair. Let your knees be about hip width apart.

Make sure your feet are flat on the floor and your ankles are under your knees.

Now slide one hand under each buttock, fingers pointing upward.

Gently rock your pelvis forward and back. Do it slowly.

Feel the rounded bony shapes moving over your fingertips.

Those are your sit-bones.

Remove your hands and rock again. Then allow the weight of your torso to settle over those bones.

Do you feel the difference?

When your weight drops into your skeleton, your muscles don’t have to do extra work to keep you upright.

You’re not holding yourself up — you’re being supported.

Let’s Perch!

Even this improved sitting has a limitation.

Most chairs put our hips at a 90° angle — and that angle isn’t particularly friendly to the hip joints.

A better option is what Galen Cranz calls perching.

In perching, the angle at your hips is greater than 90°.

Your thighs slope downward, and your knees are lower than your hips. In this position your sit-bones can support you better and your spine can retain its natural curves.

And you don’t have to buy fancy ergonomic chairs to do this. All you need is a stool that’s the right height.

As Galen explains in her Instagram Post:

On a Moving Boundaries India field trip to the Patola Weavers’ workshop in Patan, where textiles are made by hand, I found this perfect perching height stool. It is extremely stable due to its slightly flared legs.

The knees are lower than the hips and sit bones, which means the sit bones can flare down and back and the spine can more easily find its natural upward S-shaped alignment. Right-angle sitting pulls the sit bones forward and under our bodies, causing the spine to crunch down into a C-shape, which cannot effectively bear the load of our heads.