compression

Esther Gokhale shows the benefits of stretchsitting to wellness and yoga host Lizzie Lasater in a clip from their YouTube video, Is Sitting Aging You?

There’s no doubt that dysfunction abounds when it comes to sitting. Most of us spend many hours on poorly designed chairs, in poor posture. As many people know all too well, poor sitting habits can definitely set you up for chronic back pain and tension. The good news? With just a little time and awareness, we can learn to sit well. There is real beauty and functionality in sitting done skilfully! When you do, sitting becomes not only comfortable, but also healthful and therapeutic.

In our culture a loss of up to 50% of the height of the discs as we age from our twenties to our fifties is considered normal. It follows that the herniations, nerve pain, and arthritic change that accompanies this chronic degeneration of our discs is also not seen as unusual. Pain and reduced ability to function is normalized.

Over the years, I have often shown students with recliners that they can get a compression-relieving stretch in their lower back as the backrest slides away from the seat (assuming the mechanism is designed advantageously). This is something you might like to try out for yourself.

In Spring last year we launched the Gokhale® Wedge. For years, our students have been requesting a convenient, ready-made wedge for upright sitting without a backrest, one that doesn’t require folding blankets and other makeshift (pun intended) measures. The requests also specified an attractive item to enjoy around the home or office, and that it be of durable quality, keeping its shape and good looks with daily use.