(This piece by Manoush Zomorodi additionally appeared within the Physique Electrical e-newsletter. Join right here for a biweekly information to maneuver extra and doomscroll much less.)
It is the season of “inside.” The type of climate that turns your house into just a little terrarium: heat gentle, sizzling drinks, a laptop computer — and plenty of sitting.
We do not consider it as a contemporary invention, however on a regular basis we spend seated is comparatively new: For many of human historical past, chairs had been comparatively uncommon (normally a logo of energy), and on a regular basis life concerned much more shifting, squatting, perching, and getting up and down.
Why we sit a lot
Then mass manufacturing made chairs low-cost, plentiful and — crucially — all over the place. Places of work. Colleges. Residing rooms. As soon as chairs turned the norm, stillness began to appear like “correct” habits. By the late 1800s, seating was being designed to maintain our bodies in place for repetitive work. Later, college strengthened the lesson (“sit nonetheless to succeed”) and tv strengthened it at residence (“sit nonetheless to calm down”). As we speak, telephones and computer systems make it the default. We have constructed our world round sitting.
The place motion suits in
It could really feel exhausting to combine motion into your day, even while you wish to. However motion breaks may help us really feel extra human, particularly in winter.
So this is your weather-proof problem: choose two and do 5 minutes every at present.
- March in place (or do arm circles) throughout a name. You do not have to be on digital camera.
- Do laps round your eating room desk — bonus factors in the event you placed on one tune and dance
- Stair loop. Up and down for two–3 minutes, then stretch, then repeat
- Hallway commute. Stroll the size of your house whilst you scroll (gradual sufficient to be secure)
Neglect figuring out — let’s simply interrupt the spell that sitting and observing a display casts over us!
Extra concerning the historical past of chairs and, after all, methods to combine motion breaks into actual life are within the Physique Electrical e-bookout in virtually precisely 4 months.
We love to listen to from you!
Ship us a video of your self or e mail us at BodyElectric@npr.org to share your ideas on methods to maintain shifting.
Join our Physique Electrical e-newsletteror share it with a buddy.
Did not hear the Physique Electrical sequence? Pay attention on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the NPR App.
This story was written by Manoush Zomorodi and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour.
