Ah, the Holidays are upon us . . . we have even made it through one. I should have actually done this post BEFORE Thanksgiving, but I hadn’t actually thought of it as a blog post until last week when one my students thanked me, saying it really helped her during her travels recently. One time when she had traveled she said sitting in one position for so long really affected her hip adversely. So I made a suggestion to her. This is a suggestion to help with the long hours of sitting for travel whether it be in a car or on a plane (or even a bus or a train). The best thing to do, of course is to get up and walk a bit . . . stretching your entire body, but that is not always possible. Sometimes it is HOURS before you can get up. So one way to help fight off that soreness that overcomes the body is to shift your sitting position.
Sitting with your legs curled up under you or outstretched in front of you would be a way to shift the way you are sitting, but again, I am talking about sitting in a car or an airplane where the room might not allow for curling your legs under you or stretching them out in front of you. So an alternative is to just take something and stick it under one buttock. It could be a rolled towel, a jacket, a scarf, a pair of socks . . . something soft and comfortable, but that will give you a bit of lift. Granted having one hip hiked up higher than the other is not really optimum posture, but it sometimes is enough of a shift to prevent that sitting-in-the-same-spot-for-hours-soreness that comes on. After a little while, move the bundle. You can move it lower down your thigh, or under your leg at the edge of the seat, or to the other buttock . . . just move it. Then after a little while – you are deciding on the length of time you move it – move it to another place. You can move it randomly and just put it wherever you want or you can be methodical and move it from one cheek, down to the thigh, down to the lowest part of your thigh, then up to the next cheek . . . going in a pattern. Whatever works for you. Whatever allows your body to get a bit of a shift.
This can work if you are driving too, as long as you can safely still work the gas and brake pedals.
Again, this is not the best thing . . . .getting up and moving would be the best think, but sometimes that just isn’t possible . . . so this is the next best thing. It can help a lot. It relieves the muscles giving them a break from being in the same spot. Being it the same spot tires them out. Let the rolled up towel (or whatever) help let your muscles relax and prevent them from getting tired and sore.
What are your tips for preventing soreness associated with sitting for a long period of time?
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