Is sitting the new smoking? What prolonged sitting does to your body (and mind)

In an age of sedentary desk based work, avoiding sitting for prolonged periods is almost impossible for most of us. But why is sitting s bad for us and what can we do about it?

Before we dive into what happens to our bodies when we’re sitting, we have to look at what a lack of movement does to our brains, and it can be helpful to look at brain evolution as an outcome of movement. To survive, we had to forage and hunt for food, so our brains adapted in response to the physical activity involved in the search for food.

Movement is a stimulus to the brain! Have you noticed how going on a walk brings a fresh thought or insight to a problem you couldn’t solve sitting at your desk looking at your screen?

Movement also affects our well-being and mood: muscles in action release chemicals into our bloodstream that reduce inflammation, improve immune and cardiovascular health and anti-depressants lift our mood.

So how does sitting affect our affects muscles and bones?

Most of us round our shoulders, with our chests caving inwards. Our abdominals and back muscles are under used and we often unintentionally stick our chins out when looking at a screen, causing our necks to curve excessively.

Any movement at any time helps but yoga’s special ‘sauce’ is cultivating body awareness
Yoga poses that require us to arch or bend our backs widen the chest and open the armpits, while poses like lunges stretch and lengthen the front thigh and hip which are held in chronically short and weakened position when sitting.

Yoga’s focus on body awareness is less about ‘improving’ posture and more about noticing just what’s happening to your body when you’re rounded and slumped. If you’re sitting like this most of the day, supported by a the back of a chair, your stomach and back muscles aren’t working much for many hours.

You can test this yourself by prodding your back muscles on either side of your spine at waist level and just below your ribs towards your front. Try this in an upright position and also when slumped and rounded.

My 3 favourite things to do when you’re at your desk:

✨Change how you sit on your chair 🪑

Move your buttocks close to the edge of the chair and place both feet flat on the floor, noticing the position of your pelvis and lower back. It’ll be tilted forwards, which is the natural curve of the lower (lumbar) spine. When we slump against the back of a chair our spines are curved the other way with our bellies inactive and squashed.

Try and stay in my suggested position for as long as you can (a cushion helps) and resist the urge to stick your chin out when you become engrossed in something on your screen!

✨Standing stretch next to your chair: ⬆️↗️↖️

Stand up, raise your arms, interlace your fingers (palms facing up or down) and press your hands as far upwards as you can. Breath in as you do this and breath out to take a gentle side bend from the hips. Repeat the reaching upwards on your next inhale and bend to the other side, exhaling.

✨Take regular walking breaks👣

Put a timer on for every half hour or so and walk a short distance. With each step press the ball of your foot into the floor, so that you fully lift your back heel off the floor. At this moment, squeeze your gluteal muscles as much as possible. It works really well if you slow down and take your shoes off!