I just found my new favorite meditation and relaxation position.
Lying on my back, knees up and balanced in a relaxed position, flat on the floor.
Yes, I find relaxation here.
Babies
As babies, we sat on the floor, crawled around on the floor, and played on the floor. Eventually we got ourselves up to walk. Suddenly, boom – we could be sitting on the floor again. No problem That was okay.
We lived on this surface, padded or not. We sat, crawled, got up and down with such familiarity with the floor. Or even the grass or dirt outside.
Growing up has adapted us to a different world of cars, couches, lounge chairs, and desk chairs.
Are we missing something?
Others
What about the traditional Japanese that sit on the floor at a low table to eat?
What about third-world artisans that squat as they fashion their wares?
What about gardeners that not only sit kneeling, sit cross-legged on the earth, and squat to reach the plants?
Those adults are familiar with the ground.
I could do that in my 20’s when I was practicing karate. I had a low living room table where I sat to do crafts or to eat. I squatted as I pulled weeds.
It is harder to do now.
What happened?
The culprit
Biomechanist and “full-time mover” Katy Bowman says that problem is the repetitive nature of what we do.
We are always looking down, sitting, and doing more sitting in chairs. It makes our tissues waste away. Then we have less ability to make other kinds of movements.
Besides, joints stiffen without varied movement and it hurts to try other movements than what we are accustomed to.
Slow and systematic
Katy recommends a slow and systematic return to the floor.
Take your shoes off. Lie on a bed that is not so cushy and sleep there. Use a smaller pillow.
She explains that a different softness or hardness of surface provides different loads to body.
A soft surface allows your tense body to remain tense without you feeling it. Have you ever felt like you had no pain until someone touched you? You had unrecognized tension that was facilitated by your cushy living.
A not-so-soft surface begins to stretch the muscles, beginning to relax them. When the muscles go with it, they become more supple, and hurt less when you get up.
She says a pillow fixes your head position all night, so whatever tension is there, remains there. If your neck is allowed to stretch because it is in varied positions at night, it is like doing stretching exercises. You don’t even have to be awake to get the benefits of this stretch.
By lying on a surface that does not give much, as you move to different positions as you sleep, you get a cross-training effect. It is possible to get up more relaxed, without stiffness, she says.
That is exactly what happened for me when I laid on the floor to relax.
Me on the floor
I moved my limbs as I felt they needed to.
My feet went wider apart to accommodate the relaxation of my pelvis. Later I extended my legs and felt no pulling in my lower back. The length I felt in the back of my legs was remarkable – the backs of my knees were touching the floor.
When my upper back started relaxing, I crossed my arms with my elbows up and hands touching my shoulders like a hug. That gave relaxation to different parts of my upper back.
By shifting my body and bending or extending my arms and legs, I was proving different loads to different parts of my body. I kept shifting as I felt I needed to and felt more and more relaxation.
At one point, I even heard a pop sound from a vertebra as it adjusted. No need for a chiropractor!
My dog
I looked over to see my dog.
I noticed that he is as comfortable on the floor with me as he is in his slightly padded dog bed. He spends time daily sitting or lying outside on the concrete patio or in the flowerbeds.
His head lies on the side of the dog bed, or on the ground in front of him, or to the side. It doesn’t matter.
My dog can sleep comfortably in any position anywhere.
Humans are the only animals that have adopted soft beds and chairs. It looks like we have suffered for it.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
By the way
Tony Riddle, the Natural Lifestylist, says that sitting is not the new smoking.
He distinguishes that it is the way we are sitting that makes it detrimental or not. He says that sitting in various positions on the floor is healthy and can show us how to do it.
Also, he says that standing is no better than sitting in a chair if you are not aligned.
And . . . Did you know that the inability to get up off the floor without using your hands is correlated with approaching mortality?
If it is not otherwise contraindicated:
Play with it.
Get down on the floor and see what it feels like.
Roll around, finding a comfortable position. Bring your knees up feet wide, or down, arms up or out.
Let the floor push in to different parts of your body like a good massage. Feel your muscles relax and lengthen.
What does it feel like when you get up again?
Return to the floor whenever you can.
P.S.
I can help you get aligned so that you can more easily be comfortable on the floor. Call me at 928-649-9234 for a Bowen Bodywork appointment.
