npr:For most of Western history, people sat on chairs that were relatively firm, flat and proportion
npr:For most of Western history, people sat on chairs that were relatively firm, flat and proportioned for the human body.Then in the 20th century, designers got their hands on new materials, such as steel, plastic and foam. And chairs started blowing up in size and softness.As a result, we’ve ended up with living rooms, offices and restaurants filled with chairs that are really bad for our backs, says Galen Cranz, who studies chair design at the University of California, Berkeley. “It’s shocking how poorly designed they are for our bodies.”“Now we need to use props and techniques to sit in chairs in a way that’s good for our backs,” says Jean Couch of Palo Alto, who is part of a growing movement on the West Coast to teach people to move and sit as they did in the past.Couch shares three tricks that can basically get you comfortable — with a straight spine — in any chair:1. Sit on the edge of a chair.In other words, forget about the back rest and use the wooden frame of chairs as a firm support. That makes it easier to keep your pelvis from tucking under your spine and your back ending in a C shape.2. Build a perch.Whether it’s a wedge, a shoe or your husband’s wool sweater, Couch says, these props help in two ways. First, they give you something firm to hold up your sitz bones (sitting bones). And second, the pillow raises your hips up a bit so it’s easier for your knees to drop below and your legs to find that sweet spot of comfort — 120 degrees from your torso.3. Build out the back.The first two tricks work great for most chairs. But there’s one situation in which sitting on the edge or perching on a pillow isn’t a good idea: in the car. "You definitely don’t want to be sitting away from the backrest for safety reasons,“ says Esther Gokhale, who also teaches posture and traditional movement in Palo Alto. “The only solution is build out the backrest so it’s more planar,” Gokhale says, so you turn the C shape into an I shape.To do that, Gokhale says, grab one of your perching props. Take a firm pillow, a blanket or sweater and stick it right at your mid back. "Then elongate your spine by gently stretching your back over the pillow,“ Gokhale says. Can’t Get Comfortable In Your Chair? Here’s What You Can DoPhoto: Erin Brethauer for NPR -- source link