I've heard some fitness gurus liken sitting to the new smoking. This may be going a bit too far. But there is no doubt there is an epidemic of sitting, and sitting in such a frozen state for such long periods that it makes the worries about carpal tunnel in the '90s almost quaint. There is such a super-focused gaze now, directed only short distances onto little screens, that freezes the whole body in a perpetual state of flight-or-fright whether working or playing. Elbows locked, limbs locked, the body locked in awkward positions and the eyes narrowed into a tunnel vision - not across plains and through forests - but on a tiny rectangle.
I can't imagine this is healthy for eyeballs, particularly little kid eyes, but I deal almost daily with the physical fallout from adults mired in the "Sitting State". So many times they complain of arm or shoulder pain, when it's a cramp, lack of mobility, and tightness in the upper chest and thoracic spine that is the cause of the pain and problems elsewhere.
You can do these arm movements daily on the ground or while standing or while using a therapeutic ball. These balls are fantastic alternatives to chairs when you really must sit. They are fun to sit on even when you don't have to sit! They relieve the entire spine, and the buoyancy you feel as you gently bounce on them is the buoyancy experienced on your body inside. But of course, you can use them as physical aids and one way is to aid in the opening of the chest with these slow and gentle arm rotations. The rotation can be small at first -- they needn't be as wide as demonstrated below. A limited rotation has to be expected if you've developed certain hunched habits in the Sitting States. In time and with practice, the rotation will widen out and will become smoother.
Squat in front of the ball and lean your upper body back; let your neck and back of the head round back to meet the arc of the ball. Keep the knees bent and engage with the arms at the side of your body. Start to make the connection between the arms and the heart center: Feel the arms growing out of the upper chest or the heart center and start to move the arms side into a "T" position. Move slowly so you can build on the picture of the arms lengthening out of the heart center, which corresponds to the thoracic spine in the back.
I can't imagine this is healthy for eyeballs, particularly little kid eyes, but I deal almost daily with the physical fallout from adults mired in the "Sitting State". So many times they complain of arm or shoulder pain, when it's a cramp, lack of mobility, and tightness in the upper chest and thoracic spine that is the cause of the pain and problems elsewhere.
You can do these arm movements daily on the ground or while standing or while using a therapeutic ball. These balls are fantastic alternatives to chairs when you really must sit. They are fun to sit on even when you don't have to sit! They relieve the entire spine, and the buoyancy you feel as you gently bounce on them is the buoyancy experienced on your body inside. But of course, you can use them as physical aids and one way is to aid in the opening of the chest with these slow and gentle arm rotations. The rotation can be small at first -- they needn't be as wide as demonstrated below. A limited rotation has to be expected if you've developed certain hunched habits in the Sitting States. In time and with practice, the rotation will widen out and will become smoother.
Squat in front of the ball and lean your upper body back; let your neck and back of the head round back to meet the arc of the ball. Keep the knees bent and engage with the arms at the side of your body. Start to make the connection between the arms and the heart center: Feel the arms growing out of the upper chest or the heart center and start to move the arms side into a "T" position. Move slowly so you can build on the picture of the arms lengthening out of the heart center, which corresponds to the thoracic spine in the back.
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