Ergonomics

In a sedentary culture, sitting is the primary posture most people find themselves in during the day; lying down is the most common way to spend at 6 to 12 hours each night. If you watch the way people slump in their chairs, you have to think that the sitting posture is not the ultimate position for our body. There is a whole field of research known as Ergonomics: "The study of human engineering?????" It deals primarily with work situations, but many of these carry over into our daily lives. It is a good idea to look at the kinds of furniture that you are using, and why it is in your home. When you use it, does it provide you with an optimal body position, or is it contorting your body? In our youth, these postural misalignments go by unnoticed. But as we age, an unnatural position can literally throw our body into pain. I have a tendency to spread my work materials out. So very often I find myself working on the floor, where there is always lots of room. Many times, I would be sitting on my calf's or heels, bending over. Well, after a half hour in this position, when I came out of it, my lower back would be in severe pain. And yet the whole time I was in the position I was perfectly fine! Start to watch your own patterns, and see which ones leave you feeling alive and uplifted, and which ones leave you either in pain or sleepy.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF ERGONOMIC YES'S AND NO'S

BODY POSTURES THAT WORK AND DON'T WORK

Chairs (using balls instead)

tables

human angles when reading/using computer