chairs and chair alternatives

In 2020, I read Galen Cranz's book The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body and Design, and it had a strong effect on me. Galen Cranz argues that sitting in a 90-degree angle chair is fundamentally unstable and at odds with the human body. "Good" posture is essentially impossible to maintain in a chair, which throws the body out of balance. She studies chairs through an anthropological and historical lens. For example, during British colonial rule in India, workers in a factory would squat on the ground while working, and chairs and stools were forced upon them. Prior to colonization, it would be normal for, say, a teacher to lead a classroom seated on the floor, adding chairs to a classroom became a way of bringing it and the colonial subjects closer in line with Western ideals.

Chairs are associated with Western modernity and "development". We would consider it odd, to, for example, sit on the ground on the train, or a subway platform, in an office, or in a university lecture. Chair sitting is associated with being dignified, clean, professional, etc. Galen Cranz challenges these assumptions, encourages us to see them as dependent on a specific cultural context, and explore other ways of interacting with our environment through out bodies. I've tried to challenge chair-sitting and experiment with different ways of relating to my environment with my body in my work and recreation in my home.

Some context: I am 5'11, able-bodied, male, cisgender, 155-165 pounds. These is in many ways, a highly normative body, and the physical environment of the world is rarely not designed for me. These experiments may, for whatever reason, not apply to you, they only reflect my experience, but I encourage your own exploration and experimentation in the context of your body. I would contend that this exploration would be only more valuable for people whose bodies deviate from the norm in some way. I am not a yoga practitioner, ergonomics expert, or anything -- this is not a prescriptive guide, but an invitation to exploration.

A lot of this guide will be biased towards thinking about being at a computer, which is, unfortunately, where I find myself much of the time.

sitting

Chair sitting's inherent instability generally leads to people hunching over, putting strain on and weakening their necks and putting them into a posture that is difficult to maintain comfortably over time. This is because in a chair, the Pelvis is tilted upwards, forcing the spine to curve forward, pushing the neck forward.

"Good" ergonomics tells you that the solution is to sit up straight, with a natural curve in the spine. However -- have you ever seen someone sit stably like this for a long period of time? Have you ever been able to? Galen Cranz argues that the 90 degree angle of the chair necessarily pushes the pelvis forward on the chair, making it almost impossible to maintain this posture without strain. When I sit in a chair such as the $2000 Herman Miller Aeron chair depicted in this image, I generally have some sort of dynamic, fidgety, twisted posture, and no matter how hard I try, I find myself hunched forward, and I'm sure anyone observing an open plan office will observe something similar.

Alternative, more 'stable' seating generally involves something that puts your pelvis at an angle other than 90 degrees. Something like, sitting on a kneeling chair, the edge of a stool (I have a rocking stool with a cushion on it) or the lip of a sloped chair. However, this requires strength and flexibility that you may not have. I myself have been able to maintain a "pelvis-forward" sitting posture for only a relatively short period of time. I'd be interested to see whether practice and strength training changes this. Still, this posture does feel constructive to me, it feels like it's something I could get better with in time.

I also sometimes sit in a reclined chair. Currently, I'm in this chair writing this. In this position, I'm very relaxed and leaning back, with my laptop or a book on a pillow on my lap. I type on my laptop in this position, but it's difficult to take professional calls seated like this, given the position of the camera relative to my face. However, I've found a laptop keyboard that is comfortable to type on for long periods of time, so this works quite well for me. I never, ever work on side or personal projects at a desk or in an office chair -- I would find this unbearably unpleasant, like an extension of work.

standing

Standing desks and sit-stand arrangements have become very popular in recent years. I do stand sometimes for work and find it nice to pace around while on meetings, etc. I used to have a standing-only desk, but I get tired quite easily. Standard for a while definitely takes practice and may require developing some strength. I stand on a yoga mat.

the floor

When is the last time you sat on the floor for an extended period of time? I recommend trying it and seeing where your body goes, what does it find comfortable, uncomfortable, etc? Here are some ideas for floor sitting and postures to experiment with.

A Zafu is a round cushion that elevates the hips, similar to the 'sitting' postures discussed above. When I'm sitting on the floor for an extended period of time, I will generally sit on a Zafu, which allows for more stability rather than sitting directly on the floor. Sitting on it took me some practice, but now it is quite comfortable for me. For a while, this was the main position that I did work in, and I still work on my computer sometimes on the floor , but it is relatively static and non-relaxed, so it's difficult to maintain all day. You probably want to put your Zafu on some sort of soft mat, like a yoga mat or Zabuton.

Some ways of sitting on the floor:

• Sukhasana, aka "Criss-cross applesauce"
• Burmese posture
• Half Lotus
• Seiza -- I generally do this with a pillow between my hips and feet.

Learning to do a full squat, where your full foot is on the ground, can be a valuable posture. Some people struggle with this, but it was never difficult for me. It may require developing some flexibility. In some cultures, this is a natural resting position people maintain for hours, I'm not able to do that, but I do sometimes do this squat when I'm waiting for a train/bus, extremely tired, and alone or in a mood where I'm unconcerned with people judging me.

lying down

I will often lie in bed or on a couch with my upper back elevated and neck supported and either have my legs straight or have my knees up and my laptop or a book on my knees. I have less to say about this, because most of us are used to lying down, but one comment I'd like to make is that I find lying down to be a very reasonable posture to work on things. Most of the code for flounder.online, I wrote supine. I often lie down while working at a laptop, and would encourage you to experiment with it.

Constructive rest is a good posture for relaxing and listening to a podcast or something.

mindset

conclusion