10 Ways to Combat All This Damn Quarantine Sitting
by Allyson N. Brupbacher
We are all quarantined because we are trying to avoid a dangerous plague. But did you know that sitting around all day was pretty dangerous too?
We all know that we need to get up and stand every hour. Most of us have watches or phones that guilt us to do exactly that. But during this quarantine, it’s so damn hard to get up and get moving (thanks Newton for explaining to us that objects at rest tend to stay at rest).
“Sitting is the new smoking,” warned Wired magazine in 2013. And research links highly sedentary lifestyle with a shorter life span. In fact there is a study that shows that even sitting for more than 3 hours a day can cut your life expectancy by 2 years. Another study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that every hour you sit in front of the TV can slash your life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes and for every 6 hours sitting and watching TV can cut your life expectancy by 5 years. Holy crap! There goes my plans to binge watch Ozark over the weekend. Sitting can also increase the risk of having chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes and even cancer.
And it’s not just the act of sitting that is problematic. Being static just doesn’t make the body “stuck” it makes the mind stuck too. Sometimes we need a little break just so we can get blood flow and get our brains to re-group.
Here are 10 easy ways to counteract all the sitting we have been doing since we have to stay in and stay home.
1. Neck rolls
Benefits: Releases tension and stress and increases flexibility.
How to Do it: slowly tilt head toward one shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds. Alternate sides.
Benefits: Tightens and strengthens your gluteus muscles. Relieves back pain.
How to Do it: Lift one glute up and almost off your chair/couch/floor. Then shift to the other glute. Do it back and forth for 30 seconds. Next squeeze both glutes together and hold for 10 seconds.
3. Arm circles
Benefits: Works shoulders and improves posture
How to Do it: Raise your arms straight out to your sides to form a T-shape. Press your shoulder blades together. Extend arms with palms down, thumbs facing forward. Do 20 forward circles. Flip your palms up with your thumbs facing behind you and to 20 backward circles. Repeat 2-3 times
4. Sitali breathing
Benefits: It releases tension and relieves stress and anger and brings you a more balanced and clear state.
How to Do it: sit in a chair or flor in a crossed-legged position with your eyes closed. Stick your tongue out and curl up its outer edges (if you can’t curl your tongue try to form a slight “O” with the mouth). Inhale through the mouth, letting the air over the tongue, feeling a cool breath, and then exhale through your nose.
5. Football fast feet
Benefits: Brings your heart rate up
6. Forward fold
Benefits: Gives a deep shoulder and hamstring stretch. Provides release for lower back and helps with stress and anxiety. Also allows blood flow to the brain.
How to Do it: Stand with your feet at hips width. Slowly bend forward from the hips. Bend knees slightly to give a release to the lower back. Hold for 1 minute.
7. Pigeon pose
Benefits: Opens up flexibility in the hips. (called the king of hip openers). Opens up the chest and shoulders.
How to Do it: start on your hands and knees. Bring right knee forward towards your right wrist. Your right ankle will be somewhere in front of your left hip. Slide your left leg back and point your toes, your heel is pointing up to the ceiling. Keep hips level as you walk hands forward and lower your upper body towards the floor. You can rest your forearms and forehead on the mat. Hold each side for 2 minutes or more.
8. Child’s pose
Benefits: Helps turn us inward and slows our minds. Gently opens up the back, hips and shoulders
How to Do it: Sit down with your legs folded beneath you, toes touching and knees spread apart from each other. Drape your chest down between your thighs, bringing your forehead to the floor. Choose to extend arms in front of you or resting by your sides. Breathe deeply.
9. Windshield wipers
Benefits: A gentle massage for the lower back while stretching the upper thighs. Works deep into the hips and lower back.
How to Do it: lie on your back with your legs bent and feet slightly wider than hips. Flex feet while keeping heels on the floor and toes pointing to the ceiling. Gently windshield wiper your knees from side to side.
10.Legs up the wall
Benefits: Stretches the hamstrings and lower back. Pelvic floor relaxation. Facilitates venous drainage and increases circulation. Soothes swollen or cramped feet and legs.
How to Do it: Scoot your bottom to a wall. Put your legs up in a comfortable position. Hold for at least 5 minutes.
This blog is not meant to add one more thing to your list of why I need to shame myself today. It’s not mean to make you feel like you are not “winning” because you’re not like all your “friends” on social media crushing it every day. This is meant to remind you that—sure we have days that getting out of bed is a feat. But it doesn’t take much to neutralize those days. It doesn’t take much effort to offset some bad practices we are picking up right now. And most importantly, remember this: it’s okay to have a bad day—we all do. But if you can live by this rule of thumb: you should have more good days in the week than bad (and substitute that with pretty much anything—more days you exercise than not, more days you are mindful about what you eat than days you eat fast food, more days you don’t drink than days you do, etc. etc. etc.) than those bad propensities are harder to turn into habits.
(Special Thanks to my teenage daughter for modeling all the poses.)
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