De"throning" the Western-style Sitting Posture

I reflect on a lot of things in life. Perhaps my original thoughts on certain things appear counterintuitive to accepted social practices, but later I discover to my pleasant surprise that what I came up with, using my own instincts and powers of reasoning are actually supported by strong scientific evidence. One of them happens to be my dislike for the almost round-the-clock western-style sitting posture (sometimes even sleep that ought to happen in a “natural” pose) that has become pervasive and this post is on that.

Eastern cultures originally never had chairs in their grand order of things in daily life. Hatha Yoga teaches us several physical poses like Padmasana (Lotus Pose), Vajrasana (Diamond or Thunderbolt Pose), Sukhasana (Easy Pose) etc. These are the “sitting” poses. Then there are the “standing” poses and “supine” poses that are meant to be done only for the purpose of exercising, while the sitting poses came naturally for things one did such as eating, reading, writing, chatting with others and so on. Falling at the feet of elders to get their blessings was mandatory as it forced one to do a “Sashtanga Namaskar” (bowing with eight limbs of the body touching the ground), which is also part of the “Surya Namaskar“, perhaps the best exercise routine ever.

Somewhere along the way, due to the successive invasions by other cultures, we gave up our good old ways practiced over thousands of years and adopted their habits and practices. The western sitting posture as exemplified by its source, the “chair” is one such. Think about it – today, if we are not standing, walking/running or lying down in the horizontal position, we use only one posture for sitting, whether it be on a chair at home reading the paper, sitting on the “throne” to answer nature’s call, driving (including the “car seat” for the baby), the “ergonomic” chair at work and having breakfast/lunch/dinner in the same position. Where is the variation in our pose that is so needed by the body to keep it supple and flexible? No wonder we have cases of spondylitis, arthritis and other “itis” affecting people even in their 30s, since the whole body is kept frozen at a particular angle for entire lengths of the day (and sometimes the night too).

Edward Tenner in this excellent article in “The WILSON QUARTERLY” on “How the Chair Conquered the World” says – “For men and women of all stations, sitting Western-style affects more than the spine. While the water closet as we know it dates only from the 19th century, the contrast between the Western seated position for defecation and the Asian and African squatting posture has long been familiar to travelers. In this century, Western physicians and designers have subjected the commode to the same scrutiny as the office chair, and most agree that it promotes straining and constipation. (Along with diet, squatting seems to have kept the common Western inflammation of the bowel, diverticulitis, out of Africa.) The architect Alexander Kira’s definitive 1976 monograph, The Bathroom, cites overwhelming medical opinion against the throne-toilet as we know it; yet so accustomed are we to the sedentary life that no significant market has ever developed for redesigned fixtures.”

This view is also echoed by Dr. Rad Saeed, an Iranian radiologist at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, who conducted one of the most remarkable clinical studies on toilet posture in 2002 (more on the study here). Somehow because of the cultural shift that happened that put the chair on a higher pedestal (figuratively and literally) than the squatting position on the ground, we started associating higher status with the chair and subsequently venerated it beyond its utility value (as just another way for the body to get exercise for a “brief period” in a particular pose). I use the chair too (or rather I should say am forced to use it), but realizing its limitation and its hazards, I don’t let my feet dangle over for too long and keep shifting position constantly (sometimes sitting cross-legged or half cross-legged when not having to observe social graces like at a meeting). I think that has served me well so far.

You may say it is almost impossible to give up this way of sitting, so used as we are to it and I certainly agree. But the least we can do is first have cognizance of what we are doing and why we are doing it so that we can explore alternatives as also take preemptive action to ward off any negative effects of doing so. After all, we owe our health to ourselves first, more than to others since we can have others attending on us, giving us medicines or performing surgery on us, but will have to endure the pain and suffering ourselves. If this post has at least made you think from a new angle on what you are doing daily, more from reflex than with any conscious thought put into it, perhaps it has served its purpose.