Does your butt hurt when you sit? Start here.
This is the way a lot of us sit at our desks and on the couch
But it can aggravate complaints like sciatica and low back pain and can also make us feel very low energy.
Here’s what to do instead.
1. Get your sit bones underneath you - leaning back onto your sacrum/ tailbone can compress nerves and aggravate sciatica. Sit on your hands to find the bony bits, if you need a reminder of where those sit bones are. (Note that I am a shorter person in relation to this chair... In order to get on top of my sit bones, I have to prop myself a bit).
Imagine this sitting on your chair
Those curved rockers on the bottom of your pelvis are your sit bones.
Did you know they looked like that?
2. Sometimes we get so tired, we're practically falling out of the chair. Instead of trying to pull yourself up straight, use your support. Connect to the ground underneath your feet, the seat underneath your sit bones, and yes, the back of your chair behind you can support your back.
3. Imagine your knees falling away from your hips, like a waterfall. Are you clenching your butt or the front of the hip? Ask those muscles to let go.
4. Feel your head balancing on top. The image I like to imagine is that your support is like a flowerpot, your spine is a stem growing out of the flowerpot, and your head is like a flower gently moving at the top of the stem. Ask the little muscles of your neck to do less, so that your head can move freely, to take the pressure off your spine.
Can you ask for lightness at the top of your head?
Think of the way this flower is balancing on its stem… Can you balance your head on your neck the same way?
How does that change your balance in sitting?
How did these tips tips work for you? What questions do you still have?
Please comment or send me an email!
For further help, see me for hands-on, individualized coaching at your location in Chicago or via Skype.