How to undo the damages of Sitting

Staying in any position for an extended amount of time leads to trouble. Take a moment to counter the effects of sitting for long periods of time. For every hour that you’re sitting at your desk, or in your car, I want you to move for 5 minutes. If you get up and walk around the block, up a few flights of stairs, or jog in place, MOVE! MOVE! MoVE! Get the blood pumping! Activate those muscles to keep them engaged in motion. 

After sitting for hours on end we feel stiff. Our muscles get use to being in a shortened state and little by little they become sort of stuck that way. Then it takes a lot more effort to stretch them out and retrain them to a healthy resting length. When our muscles become stuck in a shortened state of being, we end up with headaches, things pulled out of alignment, and aches and pains all over. It’s all connected. The tight hamstrings, in the back of your legs, can pull the hips and glutes out of place, putting stress and tension on the low back and continuing to cause trouble all the way to the top of your head and the bottom of your feet. This imbalance can cause low-back pain, poor posture, aches and pains in seemingly unrelated areas, and jsut leave us feeling crumby. If you set a reminder on your phone to go off every hour to remind you that it’s time to move, you’ll be taking a big step toward your goal of being pain free.

Here’s another helpful post for self-care inbetween massage sessions: The Tennis Ball Trick