Sitting is the most common action performed by our body. We do more sitting than we do walking. Yet why do we complain so much about the way we sit? The answer lies in the fact that we have never understood how to sit correctly for comfort.
In my youth I was always told to 'sit up,' or my spine will turn crooked. Yet nobody actually explained to me how I was supposed to sit, in order to sustain an upright position.
The good news is that there IS a correct method of sitting that will relieve all your discomforts and is easier than you think to achieve!
It is more difficult to sustain, unless you remind yourself to remain in the same position; or you will end up slumping forward. Repetition may work for reminding yourself to sit like this, until it becomes a habit.
The bad news is that there is no such chair that can help you aid the process of good sitting, because it is your body that does the work and not the chair. You need to train your body to sit in this position, so your center of gravity starts in the pelvis and runs vertically up your spine.
I can say this with confidence, because as trained Occupational Therapist; I have learned to sit in this position through riding a bicycle.
I have personally cycled for many years in my recreation, which has helped me enjoy the outdoors, cycling around the English countryside, making new friends and helped me control my weight, because I also enjoy eating good food.
It has also resolved the postural scoliosis in my spine, which is caused by one leg being longer than the other. By learning to sit vertically, I have trained my spine to overcome the curve in my back when I stand; because I no longer stand with a curve in my spine. This does not happen overnight, but your body can learn to find another position of comfort, that will make things work in your body.
It makes sense for me that you should either take up cycling as a recreational hobby, or learn to take up the beginner's Yoga. Both of these activities will teach you where your core balance is positioned, which are your pelvic bones. Both of these activities will help you develop your core muscle strength that is so valuable for comfortable sitting.
I can see your astonished faces, to think that you need to exercise for improving your sitting posture. The human body is designed to move and you need to move so that certain parts of our body are strengthened for comfort.
Any activity that encourages balanced movement is all valuable for central core stability; such as walking, cycling, skating, skiing and hiking. Every one of these activities strengthens the leg muscles, as well as balances the central core muscles in our pelvic region.
We are not designed to sit all day, keeping our legs stationary. Our legs are designed with strong muscles that can be used in strong activity; so we can enjoy training them to help our body move.
To become comfortable in sitting, your body needs to be tuned into your body's needs for comfort; which originates in your core pelvic region. Your body needs to find your central core region and control this area of comfort, through balance and stability. This can only be achieved through cycling or practicing Yoga; which will synchronize the skeletal frame and the muscles together, for developing perfect harmony in correct postural sitting.
The author Gail McGonigal is trained as an Occupational Therapist, but is no longer able to practice her profession; because she survived, but not fully recovered from a severe case of viral encephalitis. It has left her with residual short-term memory and processing difficulties, that make it impossible for her to be employed. She is now developing a new niche market in comfortable, ergonomic and safe, daily living products; http://www.activelivingsolutions.net from her own physical limitations of overcoming back pain with postural scoliosis: Plus overcoming crippling and painful osteoarthritis both her thumb joints, by drinking alkaline water: http://www.activelivingsolutions.net/healing-water