More Natural Movement

It has been four months since I started making changes to add more natural movement to my day-to-day activities. I wrote about my efforts and reasons in a post titled "Healthy Sitting". 

I continue to sit on the floor at home when using my laptop. We have not gotten rid of any furniture, but I have a set up a couple areas at home (living room and gym) where floor sitting is comfortable and convenient. I love how floor sitting encourages me to stretch more often. I also love how standing up from the floor has gotten easier over time. Floor sitting is a great way to improve strength and flexibility with very little effort. My current favourite place to sit is in the gym where I can stretch and take regular movement breaks.

I have transitioned to wearing almost ALL flat shoes, and a few are flexible enough to qualify as minimal footwear. I want shoes to mimic barefoot to strengthen my feet over time. I bought a pair of FitKicks in basic black and grey at a store in Bayfield this summer. They are perfect minimal shoes to wear while walking the dog. Unfortunately they are not very durable. Already there are a couple small holes in the spandex from catching my toe on the sidewalk and from a poorly sewn edge on the elastic. Luckily my Nike water shoes are almost as minimal and much more durable. I bought ballet flats in both black and beige for a dressier look plus simple black canvas Dream Slip-Ons by AirWalks (not shown) for work. I am happy with my current small selection of shoes.

Flat, flexible sandals are proving more difficult to find, as are winter boots. There are cool options available on-line, but I refuse to buy anything I can't try on. I will keep looking until I find something suitable. In the meantime, I still have my old sandals for summer and a pair of old Bogs for winter boots.

I continue to sleep very comfortably without a pillow. This was an easy change for me as my pillow was relatively flat. We still sleep on a comfy pillow-top mattress. It seems silly to ditch a perfectly good mattress and bed frame just because a firmer mattress on the floor might be healthier. Besides my husband has not bought into the whole "floor-sitting, pillow-ditching, barefoot" lifestyle - so the bed stays.

Over the years, I have suffered through a few shoulder impingement episodes, so didn't think my shoulders would ever feel normal. To work on shoulder flexibility and strength, I have been stretching up to grab and hang from door frames and practicing handstands daily. These two simple exercises have helped improve my shoulder range of motion and function. There is absolutely no pain in my left shoulder and my right shoulder is almost totally pain-free. I am amazed at how much better I feel.

To further improve my muscle strength, I started lifting dumbbells about a month ago. I do two sets (10 reps each) of eight different moves three to four times a week. It takes about 20 minutes. I'm loving lifting weights and so glad we invested in a set of dumbbells for our gym. 

I also started working on my balance since I discovered I can't stand on one leg with my eyes closed. I've been practicing for a couple weeks now. I'm getting better, but it's still not easy. I also want to start practicing yoga. I have a book and a few DVD's. I tried some of the moves. There is so much to learn, it might be fun to join a class this winter. 

All these changes have been small, but effective. It doesn't take extra time to sit on the floor, sleep without a pillow or wear flat, flexible shoes. I am happy with my efforts to add more natural movement to my daily activities. I feel like I have made a lot of progress in just four months. 

If you're interested in making similar changes, check out Katy Bowman's website on Nutritious Movement where you will find lots of free information and resources to get started.

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Healthy Sitting

"Sitting is the New Smoking" has been making headlines lately. I was surprised to hear that regular exercise cannot undo damage done from spending hours each day sitting in a chair or on a sofa. It got me thinking.

I have a 'desk' job. My work days are spent on a computer at a desk in an office. I work from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. To get to work, I either drive (sit in a car) or ride my bike (10 km through the park). At home I sit on a sofa for hours while I crochet, spend 'fun' time on my laptop or watch tv. I do get outside to walk the dog at least three times a day; early morning, after work and before bed. 

I usually manage to reach my Garmin goal of 10,000 steps per day, BUT my days are focused around activities that involve A LOT of sitting. 

A few weeks ago while crocheting and listening to podcasts, I discovered Katy Bowman and her theories on Nutritious Movement. I began reading posts on her blog and listening to "Katy Says" podcasts. I was intrigued with her recommendations to counteract damage created by sitting and lack of natural movement.  

Katy recommends a movement based lifestyle for improved health and function. She explains what that looks like by describing a day in her family's life here. 

Katy's family uses low tables and the floor instead of sitting on couches and chairs. She recommends an almost furniture-free home to encourage more movement. She also moves regularly throughout her day. Katy will sit at a low table then move to stand at a high counter when working on her laptop. She takes regular breaks to do chores or go for a walk; never sitting or standing in one position for an extended length of time.

Katy recommends walking to places you might normally drive. She always wears minimal shoes or goes barefoot. Minimal shoes are wide, flexible, and totally flat allowing more natural movement through the whole body. If you are used to wearing shoes with support and heels (even just 1" heels), she recommends transitioning slowly to minimal footwear. 

Katy also recommends sleeping without pillows to encourage more natural postures and movement while sleeping.

I took a look at my total LACK of movement throughout my day and decided to make a few changes. 

It has been five weeks, since I started sitting on the floor at home. I placed my laptop on a plastic bin and sit on a cushion beside a low table. Sometimes I ditch the cushion and sit on the carpet. I tend to change position a lot to keep from getting stiff and sore. I also practice standing without using my hands. I can do it most of the time now. Sitting on the floor has been a simple change, but definitely not easy. If you're not in the habit of sitting on the floor, give it a try. You might be surprised by how difficult it is at first. 

 

The low table to my left is perfect for drinks and food. So far my husband has refused to join me on the floor, so we eat dinner at our kitchen table. It's funny, our poodle and cat also refuse to join me on the floor. They like to sit comfortably.

I have also stopped wearing any shoes with heels. I don't have a lot of options and I haven't yet purchased any 'minimal' footwear. I figure that's fine as I need to transition slowly to avoid injury.

 

These Nike water shoes qualify as minimal. I wore them on a few hikes in Cuba this year. They are comfortable, so I will wear them to walk the dog and see how it goes. I would also like to find some 'ballet' flats for the office and the few occasions when I dress up. Hopefully it's not too difficult to find something I like.

 

What other changes have I made?

I ditched my pillow. I was using a relatively flat pillow, so this was easy for me. It still felt a bit strange at first, but I've totally adjusted and love sleeping pillow-free.

I have started walking more often and longer distances with the dog. This is easy because it's summer. If it's too hot, we walk later in the day once it has cooled down. I'm not sure how it will work in the winter when the weather is really cold. We'll have to bundle up and do it anyway. It'll be good for us.

I try to take regular movement breaks from my desk at work. I get up and stretch every 40 minutes or so and do some tasks while standing. 

I ride my bike to work. Bike riding is another exercise/movement that keeps your body in a narrow range of movement. Long distance riding puts a lot of stress on various parts of the body. I love bike riding, but it hurts after a couple hours. I'm not sure if long rides are good for long-term health. In Cuba, we rode mountain bikes on rough roads. The rough roads necessitated more movement than normal bike riding, but it was still painful after a few hours. I will continue to ride because I enjoy it, but maybe not as far or as long.

Although floor sitting at home is going well, I have not been motivated to crochet. It's probably because crochet requires more focus and concentration than I can manage while fidgeting to stay comfortable. 

The impatient part of me says, "it's been five weeks already". The wise part of me responds with "it's ONLY been five weeks". I will continue to sit on the floor. I want to be able to squat keeping my heels flat on the floor. Years of chair sitting, shoes with heels and biking have shortened my calf muscles making proper squatting very difficult. 

I would also like to be able to play on the floor with our grandchildren the next time we see them. It's all about making movement a more natural part of my day. I am enjoying this new challenge. 

There are many free resources available on Katy's website. If you're intrigued, check it out here. Be sure to let me know what you think.

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