Too much sitting has its own physiology

[Guest guest]

Years ago I was having a conversation with a future D.O. (Osteopathic physician)

who was a licensed bodyworker making a shift to become a R.C.M.P. (Royal

Canadian Mounted Police).

He asked what I had noticed about making the shift from the pains of

fibromyalgia to a healthy pain free lifestyle. He knew that I had tried many

approaches and I answered that " sitting " for too long seemed to undermine our

system. I told him that it wasn't easy to get moving as I had somehow adapted

to more sitting which most likely began at the University when we spent a great

deal of time reading... I loved all the libraries and could simply find a good

read in so many aisles.

Eventually there came a point where my body had to remember to move. When Dr.

Weil recommended walking 45 minutes per day... that was something I could

not accomplish. Merely walking 50 feet would bring on the searing pains.

As I diligently worked with corrective exercises, I noticed a shift of signals.

In time, I could no longer sit for a great deal of time. My body was signaling

it was time to get up and move... even if for only a brief moment.

See, I had learned that I could break up the 45 minute per day walking into 3

segments. This way I only had to walk 7 1/2 minutes in one direction and then 7

1/2 minutes back and I would do this after every meal when I had the energy to

move.

I had a hunch there was something to movement that the years of stretching for 2

hours did not provide. Little did I know that that approach was taking me

backwards as we now know how the traditional forms of stretching we were taught

actually is " bad for us " according to the latest research.

My friend in the meanwhile had to " sit " in the patrol car and began to notice

how uncomfortable he began to feel. We talked about the studies done in the

60's when NASA had to figure out how a human body would cope in space... so they

had people lie down for great lengths of time and they observed that in as

little as 8 hours the human body would break down. The absence of moving in the

field of gravity was taking us backwards.

Do you remember when they used to tell us to rest? In the 90's my doctors

naturally told me to give up exercise on account of the pains... and so I tanked

further into the abyss although I did get to read a great deal more.

After a year of being a patrolman, my friend decided to get back into health

care and become a D.O. and now enjoys his work once again since he now longer

has to sit as many hours as he did.

In the book, The First 20 Minutes, by Gretchen Reynolds, I learned that sitting

has its own physiology.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we're a two legged animal

designed to move about though in the U.S. we have some of the highest rates of

sedentarism... and this is literally causing the demise of our muscles and more.

Interestingly though, that even if one exercises and then returns to a sedentary

office position or has to drive for hours... unhealthy cellular changes begin

too.

So here's the easy part and good news.

We merely have to get up, whether it is to stand or walk around... then you can

sit back down.

All it takes is to set the clock so every 20 minutes if you find yourself

sitting, reading, watching tv, surfing... get up, stand on one leg, walk a few

steps etc., so the lower part of your body does not waste away.

I've often encouraged my clients, if they love to read... keep on doing it...

just walk around the house as you do so. We can easily read walking backwards,

sideways or forwards or even on our knees.

If you're going to sit at the computer... set that timer and get up or stand,

kneel (with cushions or towels if you need them) and vary the position.

Movement is key to being well. It is simply the most important thing I did to

overcome the nearly 20 years of FM.

This is why I have so much fun teaching people the simple fundamentals of

movement. When we remember how well we used to move, it all comes back to us

with some practice which does not have to be hard or arduous.

Movement is what sets up our ability to exercise if we so desire. Find a

movement activity which is fun, go at your own pace. At home, we play the dish

game. Each time you take a dish out of the dishwasher you have to place that

one dish in the cupboard. The next time you take the next dish, do it a little

differently and so on. This way your body doesn't do a repetitive movement...

you have to think about how you are going to arrange yourself a little

differently.

.... and this small difference can add up to all the little shifts it takes to be

truly comfortable and reverse the negative physiology of sitting...

Move Well,

Ed