by Jay Hiller, October 8, 2022
Photo by Kier… in Sight on Unsplash
Last spring at worky work, one of my teenage students complained about being made to sit at a table. For the rest of last school year and the beginning of this one, she’s worked sitting on the floor and I’ve joined her there. Yoga has made me stronger and more flexible than I used to be. And I know a secret that made it easier on me to teach from the floor: Use a lift.
Everybody knows that extended time in a chair isn’t that great. It keeps the deep muscles that are responsible for bending you at the hips in a short and contracted position. It’s easy to slump in a chair. But what do you do if sitting on the floor makes your back round or just generally feels uncomfortable? I recommend sitting at the edge of a some kind of lift. A pillow, a bolster, a stack of blankets (nice because you can adjust the height), even a yoga block–all of these make excellent lifts. Sitting at the edge tilts your hips forward, gets your knees below the level of your hips and makes it much easier to keep your back straight. Hope you’ll give it a try!
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