Think about all the things that happen in your kitchen. You're orchestrating ingredients—chopping, dicing, grating, sautéing, steaming, roasting. You're wielding an impressive array of gadgets: grinders, mixers, air fryers, microwaves, dishwashers, ovens. You're navigating spaces from floor-level drawers to overhead cupboards, hoisting grocery bags, cantilevering heavy pots, and balancing precarious stacks of dishes.
There's one essential component we don’t think about much—until it starts complaining. Our own body.
How to Sit on the Floor, Part 3: Sitting with Legs Outstretched
This is the third post in our multi-part series on floor-sitting. Read Part 1 on floor sitting and Part 2 on squatting!
It’s very common for women in Africa to sit with their legs outstretched. I’ve seen rows of women use this position to spin yarn, engage in idle chatter, sort items, and more. I’ve seen babies massaged by women using this position both in Burkina Faso and in the U.S. by a visiting Indian masseuse who does traditional baby massage in Surat, India. In Samiland I saw this position used to bake bread in a lavoo (a Sami structure very similar to a teepee).
The Sami, who I visited in July 2015 (see my post Sleeping on Birch Branches in Samiland), bake with outstretched legs in