Get rid of that chair

I mentioned to a coworker that my hips felt tight. “Mine too,” they said. Before the meeting started, the other three people had joined in. Five people with some version of the same complaint: tight hips, stiff backs, tight hamstrings.

It got me thinking about how much of the day I spend sitting. At my desk, in the car, through dinner, then on the couch. I change seats, but spend hours in roughly the same position. A comfortable chair makes it especially easy to stay put.

Written down like that, the complaint feels less mysterious. My day has plenty of variety if you're looking at my calendar. From my hips' perspective, there isn't much going on.

Then I watched a Strength Side video on hip mobility and decided to try its suggestion: spend more time sitting on the ground.

What appealed to me was how little it asked of my schedule. I was already going to spend hours sitting at home, working, reading, or watching television. I could try a different place and see what happened.

The useful part is the fidgeting#

I started doing it while reading, taking meetings, and watching television. I've since stopped using a chair during the workday. Most of the time I'm on a cushion at a low table, though I still get up to stand and walk around.

That last part matters. A whole day on the floor can sound like a whole day holding one cross-legged pose. I'd find that miserable. What I like about the floor is that I don't stay still for long.

I'll sit cross-legged, stretch a leg out, kneel, then shift to something else. When a position gets uncomfortable, I move. There's enough room to put my legs somewhere different without much ceremony. I can keep working or listening to a meeting while I do it.

The chair is very good at letting me forget about all of this. It holds me in a comfortable position, and I can give my attention to whatever is on the screen. That's a useful quality in a chair. It's also how I end up spending so much time in it.

There isn't a particular pose I'm trying to perfect. The freedom to move between them is the part I've found useful.

One less thing to schedule#

After a few weeks, positions that had felt awkward began to feel normal. I also found myself wanting to stretch later in the day. I was noticing stiffness I'd previously ignored, and stretching felt good.

That was the more interesting change for me. The floor gave me a little stretching while I worked, but it also made me pay attention. Once I was spending time in different positions, I had more chances to notice how each one felt. I could respond then, while it was on my mind.

It's easy to turn a complaint like tight hips into another job for later. Find a routine. Decide when to do it. Remember to follow through. A routine might be useful, but now there is another thing asking for a place in the day.

This experiment fitted into time I was already using. Work and meetings carried on. In the evening, I could read or watch television. I just spent some of that time moving around on a cushion.

It reminds me of what I wrote in Make tomorrow easy: the way you arrange a room can help a habit along. In this case, changing where I sat gave me more opportunities to move, without needing to remember a separate plan each time.

The changes I've noticed are ordinary ones: more positions feel familiar, I shift around more, and I feel like stretching. That's enough to make me want to keep doing it.

Make room for it at home#

If you work from home, try making the floor another place you can work. A cushion at a low table gives you somewhere to put your computer, with room to move your legs around. Start with part of your workday, perhaps a meeting or some email, and see how the setup feels while you're actually using it.

The same idea works for the rest of the time you spend at home. Watching TV, playing a game with a controller, reading a book: these all give you a chance to try sitting somewhere different. A cushion beside the couch might be enough. Pick an activity you already enjoy and make a little room for yourself on the floor.

Try a short stretch of that time, perhaps twenty minutes if it feels comfortable. Put a cushion or folded blanket under your hips, and use a wall or couch for support if you need it. Change positions, switch sides, and get up often. Move out of any position that hurts or goes numb; there's no reason to finish a timer.

You can go back to the chair whenever you want. You don't have to spend your whole workday on the floor. A few comfortable minutes will tell you more about whether you like it than planning a new office around the idea.

Pay attention to whether you enjoy the extra movement and whether the setup lets you do what you sat down to do. Keep the parts that feel useful. For me, that has grown into a cushion and a low table for most of the workday. For you, it might be a few meetings, an evening of games, or time with a book.

Next time you settle in to work or relax at home, try the floor. The chair will still be there.