28 Apr Avoiding Sciatic and Low Back Pain with Good Sitting Posture
I’ve heard some say that sitting is the new smoking.
I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that a large percent of clients, friends, family in our community sit somewhere between 2-10 hours per day and report some form of low back and sciatic pain. Imagine the impact of all your upper body weight along with gravity coming down on you butt, hips and low back for hours each day.
What could go wrong? How could this affect circulation? Could this slowdown blood with valuable oxygen and nutrients travelling to your pelvis, legs and feet? How about the returning CO2 and waste back up to your heart for elimination?
Have you ever woken up with a numb hand or arm from sleeping on it? The numbness and tingling are warning signs that nerves, veins, arteries and muscles in your arm are going to die if you do not do something quick. This same stagnation and compression occur when we sit for long periods. Without movement the blood and nerve flow comes to a halt in our lower extremities and pelvis.
After years of car driving, sitting at desks, lounging in front of Netflix, our sciatic nerves, two of the largest nerves in our body, that originates in our lower spine and runs through our butt, along our legs, behind our knees and all the way down to the bottom of our feet gets irritated. The nerves and tissue get compressed, begin to suffocate and die. Sorry to sound so morbid, however, chronic back pain and sciatica are at epidemic levels in America.
So, what can we do about it?
First, change our lifestyles. Create new routines that do not involve so much sitting. Second, stretch and strengthen and get circulation going in your low body. Just a light walk daily does wonders. I stand at my desk. Fully is a certified B corporation that makes and sells healthy standing desks (click here), take breaks every hour and move around.
A simple glute activation exercise, every few minutes while you’re sitting does wonders (watch this video). Elevating your legs above your heart for 15-minutes at the end of the day is quite refreshing. Get massages to soften the psoas, lower abs, quads, and hamstrings to increase circulation and reduce nerve compression. Get chiropractic adjustments and dance, dance, dance.
If sitting is unavoidable, watch this video and we’ll show you how to adjust your sitting posture to support optimum health.
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