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Floor Sitting

Why would I want to sit on the floor when I have a perfectly good couch?

The short answer is that our bodies are designed to sit unassisted......

 

The longer answer is because sitting on the floor will:

 

  • strengthen the muscles of the spine that may have been weakened by relying on chair backs to hold the torso up

  • move the hips toward a place of mobility and ease

  • help to lengthen connective tissue (tendon's, fascia and ligaments) that are shortened from sitting in upright positions at a desk, or from slouching on the couch

  • help digest dinner (or lunch, or breakfast...)

  • make for interesting dinner conversation when you ask to eat your meal on the floor at a friends house!

  • allow a change in routine that keeps our bodies active even when stationery

  • bring mindfulness towards our bodies, even when enjoying the somewhat mindless task of watching television

  • help to make yoga poses during a formal yoga practice more accessible. No matter how many yoga classes or home practices you enjoy, the regular, daily practice of sitting on the floor instead of a chair or couch will exponentially improve your mobility and flexibility.

 

These are just some of the variations you can experiment with for sitting on the floor. Try to keep from leaning back against the couch, or a wall. This will build strength through your spine. Also attempt to alternate the poses you sit in each night, not just picking the one that is the most comfortable every evening, although sometimes it is nice to just relax into a favorite pose!

Sitting in Sukhasana (otherwise known as easy cross legs). If your knees are higher than your hips, fold a blanket or use a cushion under your sitting bones to give this area more height. This will make the pose more comfortable as well. Remember to change the cross of the legs, so that the other leg is in front. In this way more balance will be brought to the hips.

Sitting in shoelace with one leg over the other. As with Sukhasana, use some height under the sitting bones to help ease the hips into this pose. I have used an encyclopedia to illustrate taking height under the buttocks. You don't need to buy props, just use what you have around the house - an Auckland phone book is perfect for tighter hips, a Hawkes Bay phone book perfect for more open hips. There are a number of different ways to move into shoelace. One is to start in table top position, then cross one leg over and infront of the other. Sitting back between the feet once you have taken them as far apart as possible. The other is to start in a seated position, cross one leg over the other, then bring each heel back towards the opposite hip with the knees bent.

Sitting in Dandasana (staff pose, above left & middle), or Pascimottanasana (forward fold, above right), is a great way to lengthen the connective tissue along the backs of the legs. It is not always muscles that cause tightetness in our bodies, it is often the much ignored tendons, ligaments and fascia that are hampering us in reaching our heels to the floor in down dog. Sitting for longer periods in poses such as Dandasana applies gentle stress to the connective tissues (as we do in yin yoga) which helps make them more flexible and also stronger. I like to sit in this pose to eat, read, and use my computer.

As with Dandasana (above), I also sit in Upavistha Konasana (wide angle seated forward bend) while I am reading, working on the computer, or just hanging out on the floor playing card games with my children. This pose has a strong influence on the adductor muscles and their connective tissue. It is beneficial to have a slightly forward tilted pelvis while in this pose, as this will allow the spine to naturally lengthen up from the sitting bones, rather than the lower back rounding backwards. Use a blanket or cushion under the buttocks (not thighs), you may also like to place some height under the knees to prevent hyper extension.

Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose) is lovely for opening the hips, and perfect for after you have been sitting in any of the straight legged poses. Height can be used under the buttocks and under the knees if needed. This pose can also be enjoyed lying down if your spine has had enough work for the day, in which case it is called Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined bond angle pose). In the pic to the right I have my arms above my head, also receiving a shoulder opening while reclining in this pose. A folded blanket can be nice behind your back when reclined in this pose.

Virasana (hero pose, above left) and Supta Virasana (reclined hero pose, above right) are perfect to enjoy after eating. They are one of the few poses recommended with a full stomach as they take the body into a position that facilitates digestion. If reaching the floor with your body is not acheivable for you yet, try propping some large cushions agaist the couch and leaning back on these until there is enough opening in the quads to lwer all the way down.

Two other poses are deer pose (left) and Vajrasana  (kneeling, right). Deer pose is good for a change between other poses, and Vajrasana is wonderful for sitting in to eat dinner at a low table, which has room for your knees under it.

If you get tired of all this active sitting around, then try taking your legs up onto the couch (left), or taking your legs up the wall in Viparita Karani (right). Both these poses are very relaxing and restorative for the legs. They are also gentle inversions, so you receive the benefit of your heart being lower than your feet (which gives the heart a mini holiday from its usual pumping action). Be aware of the family pet - they can take advantage when we lie on the ground!

Happy floor sitting!

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