Find Your Seat Of Health.

Have you thought of how your sitting posture affects your health?  After looking at the question you might think that sitting straight is good for the back.  That is true, but there is a lot more to it. Now that your curiosity is jogged, think of all the times that you slouched on your sofa, hunched over your desk, or leaned back on the recliner catching a nap.  If the answer is “yeah, so what?  that is the way that anyone normally relaxes, I don’t see a problem with that”

Well, once you know some facts about the health benefits of proper sitting posture, you might rethink the way you sit. Think of how many times you are shifting your position when you sit in your regular sitting posture.  Most people are not even conscious of it.  They are just shifting every few minutes even if they are occupied with their work or watching TV. That is because the body is not in a state of rest. If your body was totally at rest, it would automatically be still.  Imagine you are lying down and every part of your body is feeling relaxed.  Would you want to shift your posture? Perhaps not, because you want to enjoy the feeling for a little longer. It is the same when you sit as well.

Many of us are familiar with the saying  “Healthy body, healthy mind”.  At a physical level we feel healthy when our bones, tendons, muscles and organs are functioning efficiently.  When you are sitting or lying down you are experiencing muscular comfort.  We are not thinking whether our organs are comfortable.   The major organs are loosely held together in the body.  When we are leaning back position for long durations, the posture presses on the organs.  The constant pressure over time can degenerate the organs and cause illness. According to Yogi and Mystic Sadhguru – today’s foremost authority on yoga – a large percentage of life style diseases can be prevented by just improving the sitting posture.

Another simple fact we have to understand is that our ability to think clearly is much more enhanced when body is at rest and feels at ease.  We have to be aware that our mind and body are deeply connected, and any movement in the body also distracts the mind.  It is more effortful to maintain the train the thought when there is movement.  In classical Hatha Yoga practitioners spend a lot of time just learning how to sit the right way.  Meditation happens only when one is able to sit comfortably still for long periods.  Learning to sit with ease is like a lubrication the body needs for being healthy.

So the next time you sit down will you more aware of your posture?  If you listen to this, you surely will!