Ergonomic Office Chairs: Part 2 -Postural Practice for Prolonged Sitting

In Part 1, a method of pelvic movement was described that helps sustain prolonged sitting in an Ergonomic chair, for users who need to sit all day in productive employment. An exercise was shown that helps improve this movement, as well as its purpose.

It was also explained why postural comfort does not come naturally and how we need to learn methods of how to make normal tasks easier. Being a baby boomer, our bones are not as strong and we need to learn to do things a little differently, using a safer and easier method.

My profession as an Occupational Therapist teaches safe functional movements for overcoming disability and frailty in all ages. As a baby boomer I have already suffered through pains in my back and hands, so I understand the reason for your discomforts.

I cannot help with medical problems, but I can support your rehabilitation process needs. Purchasing an ergonomic chair is only part of the solution for relieving your discomforts; until you learn to sit with a relaxed spine and provide movement to your pelvic region.

The second part of postural practice is learning a technique of breathing, so that you gain as much oxygen through your body as possible, when you are sitting. When you’re sitting, your body demands much less oxygen because you are not active.

Sometimes your body becomes too sedate and you’re just not creating adequate oxygen for your bodily needs. Then we need to shake this mechanism up, for being able to breathe in more oxygen.

To do this, on your next exhalation I want you to keep breathing out, until you have forced every bit of air out of your lungs. This means stretching your lungs to the absolute end limit; just keep pushing the end, so that when you breathe in you are literally gasping for air.

You are now so desperate for air that your body will suck in an enormous gasp of air, even using your diaphragm for gaining the maximum amount of air into your lungs.
NB: THIS EXERCISE CAN ONLY BE REPEATED ONCE AT ANY TIME It enables you to fast-track an explosion of air into your body, when you’re sitting, feeling sluggish.

The exercise can be repeated during the day, but only one repeat or you will become dizzy with too much oxygen in your body. Also think about your skeletal movements, when performing the breathing exercise. As you exhale, your body will be leaning farther and farther back; then as you inhale, you’re body moves forward to help stimulate the breathing process.

Adequate breathing is an important part of comfortable sitting. The human body has an automatic mechanism for helping to provide sufficient oxygen for our daily needs. Sometimes we need to help the process deliver a little more oxygen than what the automatic function provides. This exercise will help stimulate greater oxygen into your body, so that you are able to feel more energized in productive activity.