After taking one of the classes I am still having trouble using a laptop while stretchsitting without strain. All day I use a laptop placed in my lap with a monitor sitting at eye-level on a table in front of me. As a chair I am using a standard folding chair with the stretchsit cushion attached. It seems like the laptop is too low in my lap and forces me to hunch after a while, even after resetting my shoulders / using the cushion to anchor my back.
Do you recommend I avoid putting it in my lap at all and place it on a low desk? But then, the monitor would be too low unless I somehow raised it. Perhaps that is the only option. I have tried putting a pillow in my lap to raise the laptop a bit and give my shoulders less strain, but over time the pillow shifts or slips and I end up tightening the muscles in my legs to control it, which ends up about as bad as not having a pillow.
-David
3 years 2 months ago
12/15/2010 - 7:51am
Hi David,
Yes I would suggest getting the laptop off of your lap and finding a low desk or a desk with a pull out drawer. What we often find useful is to have the laptop propped at an angle and then an external keyboard placed below to keep your shoulders back. In this way the moniter will be just below eye height (which is compatible with having the chin slightly angled downward) and the keyboard in arms reach.
Or, as you suggested if you are using a separate moniter, you would want to raise it so you are not tempted to drop your head, while placing both the laptop and moniter on a lower desk.
Good luck!
Best,
Charlene Hannibal
Gokhale Method Teacher, San Francisco/Palo Alto