My high school history teacher, Mr. Gross called me Lady Godiva. Which, looking back, probably wasn’t 100% appropriate. To be clear, the nickname was in reference to me sitting “side saddle” in my chair, not my lack of clothing.
In school, I was the kid who “sat funny.” I was always getting called out for arranging myself at those uncomfortable all-in-one school desks in unconventional ways. I’d sit cross legged or with one foot on the chair seat or some other arrangement of limbs that was not normal and somehow was deemed distracting.
While it annoyed the bejeezus out of my parents and teachers, sitting funny was a little bit genius. My body was onto something. Human bodies aren’t designed to sit still in the same position for hours and hours.
Our bodies are designed to move. And sit on the floor.
For more than two decades, I’ve led hundreds of bodies in movement. The sore low backs, tight hips, and tender knees I see all the time often lead back to our chair-sitting lives. Even for folks with a regular movement practice—but who also sit in their cars, at their desks, at the dinner table and on the couch— experience the impact of chair sitting. Especially as we enter our 5th, 6th, 7th decade and beyond, it’s worth questioning how much we sit in chairs.
If someone were to ask me what to do about this accumulation of body discomfort and dysfunction, I’d say there is one movement that makes the difference: sit on the floor.
Adults often think that sitting or moving on the floor is kids’ stuff. Kiddos can squat and crawl and sit and play on the floor with complete ease. It’s almost a sign of being grown up when we stop doing that. And therein lie the cranky backs, slumped shoulders and sticky hips.
Set up a floor-based work station!
If you were going to do one thing for your body, I recommend spending some time on the floor. You can set up your home work station with a low table or the seat of a chair. You can watch TV or scroll your phone sitting on the floor. You can play with your pet or kid on the floor.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or one more thing to do and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Just give your body some different positions to be in on the floor. Unlike sitting in a chair, your body will signal you to change positions more often when you’re on the floor than when you’re on a comfy squishy chair!
Importantly, there are lots of ways to do this. If your spine tends to round forward when you sit on the floor (usually due to tight muscles in the front and weak ones in the back), sit on a cushion or two. If it feels more relaxing, lean against a couch or a wall.
If your spine rounds forward when you sit on the floor…
Sit on a cushion to lift your hips and lengthen your spine!
Everybody knows criss-cross-applesauce — the classic cross legged seat — but here we’re going to explore beyond that. Play around with your Today Body and see what it tells you both while you’re on the floor and when you get on your feet again.
Beyond criss-cross-applesauce:
Creative Floor Sitting Positions
One Knee Kneeling
My heel is close to my body but if that doesn’t feel good, shift it forward!
This position is particularly good for improving ankle mobility. You can see here that when my foot is under my knee, I need a deep ankle flexion. If that doesn’t work for you, move your foot out further in front and gradually move it in. The foot that’s under you can either be long with toenails down (shown here) or tucked under. Both positions are good for feet and ankles.
Mermaid
Let the knees fall to one side to give the hip joint a different orientation than chair sitting that invites more mobility.
Mermaid with Tail Unfurled
And when knees want to shift out of mermaid, you can unfurl one leg…
V-Sit
...or two!
It is not an overstatement to say that one of the keys to living independently is our ability to get up and down off the floor. Sitting on the floor is one way to practice that essential movement on the regular.
I call my classes Nourishing Movement for a reason. Dance and exercise are great but dynamic living is more about incorporating movement into everything we already do.
Let’s start a revolution of people who Sit Funny.
P.S. If you’re interested in more about how to incorporate more everyday movement, you can check out these resources which all inspire me:
Juliet and Kelly Starrett just published their latest book, Built to Move (can’t wait to read it) and here they are interviewed on Ten Percent Happier.
Katy Bowman is my go-to when it comes to organic, throughout-the-day movement. She’s got books and a podcast and all the things here.
Recently, I discovered the “rewilding” work of Tony Riddle and he has introduced me to a number of movements that I’d never experienced before.
My YouTube Channel also has a library of Movement Snacks – short tastes of movement you can weave into your day!