Welcome back! We are here this week with some movement inspiration. A reminder that including more variety in our movement patterns and integrating this into our daily lives is important and usually does not take much effort. Rather, some simple habit and mindset shifts. Let us inspire you on the how.
Have you ever considered how sitting on the floor could add more movement to your life? Think about it, when we intentionally sit on the floor we, at some point, have to get off the floor to do all the other things we need to do. Shifting from the floor to standing, adds a few extra movements that we would otherwise not be doing if we were to be sitting in a chair or standing already. ** try it out and see how your body needs to move in order to get off the floor compared to getting up from a chair **
We can also include more movement into our lives by considering all the different ways we can maneuver getting up and off the floor and we explore those in many of our classes at ALTAR.
There is also the actual sitting part to consider too! When you sit on the floor you have more options in your seated posture to play with. A chair limits you, the floor can give you freedom to explore more variety in how you position your body.
We now know, more variety in our movement patterns just like variety in our food choices, equals a often healthier more balanced you! This philosophy is a part of the foundation at ALTAR. We explore movement patterns and poses with intention and encourage variety in our practices in order to contribute to your WHOLE SELF HEALTH. Health that is based on the whole of you, all the parts. The physical body, the emotional body, the energetic body, the soul body.
In her book, “Don’t just sit there,” biomechanist Katy Bowman explains how sitting and standing in static positions for long periods of time is detrimental to our health.
“I help people understand that the shape of their body on the gross level (i.e., their posture) affects the shape of the cells themselves. In other words, the way you have been sitting has changed the tiny parts that make up your structure, like the shape and density of your bones, the length of your muscles and tendons and the resting tension in your connective tissues….. the benefits of not sitting so much requires more than just swapping one static position for another – it requires an entire overhaul of the way you think about and move your body.” – Katy Bowman
Below some inspiration showing us a variety of ways one might sit, stand or navigate away from a seated position. *Thank you Nutritious Movement for the inspiration*
Some helpful guidelines for adding more variety to how you sit when you sit:
1) Have a chair or couch near by to place your hands on if you feel uneasy getting to and away from the floor.
2) Sit on a bolster or yoga block for more ease around the hips, knees and lower back.
3) Just begin. Try it for one minute.
3) Once you are on the floor, try a few of the above body positions. How does your body respond?
4) Increase your floor sitting time incrementally.
5) Ideally you would shift your body position multiple times through the half hour or hour that you would be sitting on the floor doing whatever else you are doing.
6) Keep in mind variety and changing your body position often.
Click here for more inspirational reading on including more variety in how we sit and stand.
We look forward to the opportunity to show you how adding more variety in your movements patterns can enhance your well-being and life.
Heather 💜
