How to sit more comfortably at your computer

Considering I practice in the Pacific Northwest, a large percentage of my clientele spends their days sitting at a desk and looking at a computer.  This is probably true for a good deal of people that work in urban areas, but keep in mind that the greater Seattle area has companies such as Microsoft and Amazon being the most popular employers.  According to simplyhired.com, the most common occupations in Seattle in 2006 were management, professional, and related occupations (at 48%) and sales and office occupations (20%).

Photo by Bev Sykes

That indicates a lot of sitting, and with a lot of sitting tends to come a notable amount of back pain.  Most of the people I work with are suffering from back, shoulder, and neck pain from parking at a desk all day.

You’re probably at your computer right now, so before you become self-conscious and try to sit up straight, just notice how you’re sitting.  If you’re like most people, your pelvis is tilted back, your chest collapses forward, shoulders hunch, chin juts out, and you might even be leaning your head forward so you can see the screen better (depending on how your monitor is situated).  Also notice how difficult it is to take a really full, deep breath in this position.  This is what usually happens when we relax in front of the computer and forget what our body is doing.  How much do you really need to use your body when you are reading words on a screen?  It’s easy to forget about until you start to feel the crick in your neck or the ache in your shoulders and low back.

I hope you’re still slouching.  If you’ve already self-corrected, cut it out and go back to slouching for just a moment.

Now, sit up straight.

Often, when people decide to sit up straight they end up pushing their chest out, jutting their hips back, and doing something funny with their neck.  Understandably, it’s uncomfortable.  So let’s try something different.  Slouch again.  Now this time, I want you to imagine you have a string sprouting from the crown of your head, which is basically the highest point of your skull.  This string is shooting up to the ceiling, up to the sky, and gently pulls you up with it.  Feel the top of your head float up from this gentle pulling.  This should feel relaxed and comfortable.  Notice how easy it is to take a deep breath here.  Inhale; exhale – but with your exhale feel that string pulling you up even higher so you don’t collapse down as you let the air out of your lungs.  To reinforce this posture, you can even imagine another string extending out from your tailbone into the ground.

photo by Jessie Heaven Lotz

My goal here is to give you a method to help you begin to correct your posture when you’re sitting at a desk all day.  More importantly to you, correcting your posture like this will reduce the amount of pain you experience from your desk/computer job.  In the beginning, you are going to need to leave yourself clues to remember to do this somewhat regularly (read my post on establishing a new routine).  Eventually, you’ll begin to remember to do this on your own simply because slouching just won’t feel right anymore.  My clients that practice this technique are thrilled to find that they really do feel better as a result of it.  Ultimately, part of my job is to help you feel better, and every little bit counts.

If you’d like a demonstration of how to do this, along with some breathing tips, or for some extra hands-on help with that sitting-induced neck and back pain, contact me for a session.