Sitting is Killing You ? No it should not!! Sitting is not killing us then what ? Get tune with me …

Sitting: Is It Hurting You? Sitting is killing you! Sitting is next to smoking.

We are sitting ourselves to death.” Sitting is reportedly more dangerous than smoking, killing more people than HIV. These alarming statements highlight the risks associated with today’s fast-paced and modern lifestyles, which are becoming a major reason for health issues.

The sitting debate has been ongoing, with news sources often dramatizing the issue. Headlines like “Sitting will kill you, even if you exercise” (CNN, 2015) are common.

But standing isn’t the answer, and walking won’t help either, despite these being our natural states.

Neither is constant movement or exercise that involves excessive exertion. The smoking analogy holds relevance because studies have consistently shown that the effects of long-term sitting can’t be reversed through exercise or other good habits. The secret key lies in understanding naturalization and how to enhance it for modern lifestyles. Shame on us for letting sitting become a killer. Ironically, sitting is our natural pose, so why should it be lethal?

What have we done to ourselves?

This is a crucial time to refine one of our natural behavior patterns and enhance ourselves. Sitting is a natural human behavior, and our bodies are designed to handle moderate amounts of any position when done correctly in a natural state. What’s concerning about these studies is that they warn people about the negative and potentially deadly consequences of sitting for 6-8 hours a day, particularly for those of us with desk jobs.

Seriously, 6-8 hours? That’s half a day for most creative professionals. The claim that “sitting is the new smoking” might seem exaggerated, but it’s hard to ignore. Researchers, including Levine, have found evidence that prolonged sitting increases the risk of serious illnesses like various types of cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, digestive, kidney disease, and colon cancer, as well as numerous chronic health issues and, ultimately, death.

The hidden cost of slouching ; Physical habits leads to anatomical distortion which further leads  in gross level in distorted posture.

Sitting for extended periods with poor posture, characterized by rounded shoulders, forward head, and excessive hunchback curve, can lead to:
– Compression of the abdomen, causing fatigue, pain, and reduced productivity
– Muscle strain, neck and back pain, and headaches
– Breathing difficulties and potential long-term spinal problems, such as disc issues
– Strain on the neck and lower back, particularly in weak areas
– Tightening of the hips into a contracted position

This can affect anyone, even professionals like surgeons, impacting their ability to perform at their best.

To counteract these effects people simply push the chest forward and rolling the shoulders towards the spine can aggravate the issue, leading to increased compression stress on the lumbar spine, hips, and vertebral column.

This approach can:
– Further compress the lumbar spine
– Tighten the hips towards the sacrum
– Tuck the tailbone, increasing compression stress from above and below
– Potentially damage the spine and hips over time
Continuous process of distortion brings on and off uneasiness and discomfort where ease becomes disease.

When “ease” becomes “dis-ease,” it signals that our body’s natural balance has been disrupted. This transformation can be seen as a defense mechanism, alerting us to potential threats or stressors that need attention.

In essence, our body is communicating its distress, prompting us to take corrective action to restore equilibrium and promote overall well-being. By listening to these signals and addressing the underlying causes, we can work towards regaining our natural state of ease and vitality.

Apart from these poor postures direct effects, someone who sits with good form still needs to work on their body’s innate natural movement in their muscular architecture elongation to align spinal coloum  in daily activities. However, like a frog in boiling water, we often don’t realize the damage until it’s too late. The gradual adaptation to poor posture and movement patterns can lead to chronic issues, making it essential to be aware of our daily habits.

So if sitting is the new smoking, how do we quit?

Some of the responses ,

One response has been the adoption of standing desks. It seems a simple and logical solution, and the trend is booming from offices to schools. It has even been suggested that GPs, being arguably the most sedentary breed of doctor, should consider introducing a two-tier consultation model with shorter acute consultations held standing up.

But are we right to believe that standing is the solution to the sitting problem?

The obvious drawback is that standing still for extended periods is uncomfortable and may come with its own many more health implications (varicose veins, foot pain, spinal deformities, weak legs  and many more). It also requires willpower — a finite resource known to be depleted when completing other mentally demanding tasks.

The Alarming Trend Among Children:
The saddest part of today’s fast-paced modern lifestyle is that even children are developing slouched postures. During their critical physical, physiological, and psychological developmental stages, they’re deteriorating, and no one seems to be aware of the potential consequences and future catastrophes they might face. It’s concerning to see young minds and bodies being shaped by habits that could have long-term effects on their health and well-being.

An  engaging kids in physical activities and hobbies isn’t solving the main issues, implying that despite these efforts, the core problems persist.

It’s good that the issue is being discussed, but  simply acknowledging the problem without offering concrete solutions or addressing the root cause won’t lead to meaningful change. It  requires a deeper understanding and a multifaceted approach.


*The Devolution of Human Beings: A Wake-Up Call*

Sitting is our natural state, yet today’s lifestyle is killing us! This stark reality highlights the devolution of human beings. It’s high time we become aware and improve our naturalization to cope with the demands of modern life. We need to evolve and adapt to regain our physical stability in both static and dynamic poses. The level of deterioration we’re witnessing is alarming, and it’s a wake-up call to reclaim our lost physical prowess and move towards a healthier, more balanced existence.

That shows at what level we are deteriorating our natural state of the central axis, which is the main column governing our whole organ system and connecting us to the universe. Where are we leading? It’s a profound question that prompts us to reflect on our lifestyle choices and their impact on our overall well-being and harmony with nature.

The Failure of Quick Fixes :
Sorry to say,the stark reality is that many fitness regimes and diets have miserably failed, and continue to deteriorate our bodily mechanisms at an alarming rate. Instead of acknowledging our own culpability, we tend to shift the blame to external factors like our profession, hobbies, diet, or even the weather. We conveniently attribute our ailments to travelling or other aspects of our lifestyle, forgetting that our body’s ability to digest nutrients depends entirely on the internal mechanism of our organ systems. The harsh truth is that we’ve failed to prepare and improve our physical body, It seems we don’t want to; we just use, overuse. Instead, we’re conditioned to accept disease as an inevitability. It’s heartbreaking, and it’s high time for a change, paradigm shift – we need to take responsibility for our own health and well-being, and make conscious choices to prioritize self-care and nurture our bodily functions.

The Shifting Narrative on Sitting :
In recent years, research has nuanced the earlier warnings about sitting, distinguishing between sitting for work and sitting for leisure. Some studies suggest that the risks associated with sitting may be more pronounced for those who are obese or inactive, while healthy adults might not face significant risks. Interestingly, standing desks have their own set of problems, including increased risk of varicose veins and atherosclerosis. Moreover, studies show that users of standing desks often return to sitting after a month. Given that people have been sitting for long hours daily for centuries, and ailments like heart disease and diabetes have risen more recently, it’s worth questioning whether sitting is truly the primary culprit.

Finding a Balanced Approach ;
The constant debate can be confusing. Instead of focusing on sitting or standing, perhaps the key is to maintain good posture and movement habits, regardless of the position. By being mindful of our body’s position and making conscious adjustments, we can reduce the risk of discomfort and injury. The phrase “the best position is the next position” might be hinting at the importance of movement and variation in our daily activities. I believe all positions are good for us—if done with habitual correction and anatomical distortion with conscious movement of voluntary muscles to make our spinal column in a better state.

The Overlooked Factors: Sitting Form and Furniture :
What is overlooked in all the studies and articles on the subject, is our sitting form and our furniture. Beyond one article that explored the benefits of sitting reclined, which is a relaxing but not a very practical posture, the medical literature seldom touches on how people sit, what they sit on, and what difference these can make to health and back pain. Bad furniture can contribute to harmful sitting, but even the best-shaped furniture can’t force us into a good posture. Sitting with a tucked pelvis, sucked stomach and rounded spine, dropped shoulders on the chest, compressing abdomen can lead to increased intra-abdominal pressure, which can compress internal organs and potentially cause harm. Compressing the spinal column forward or backward will lead to more damage. And it is damaging in today’s fast lifestyle at an early age. The same and many more mistakes we follow in our standing and walking posture, static as well as dynamic poses.

The Impact of Physical Habits on Health :
In my experience, a person’s physical habits of using the body physically, what the person is doing while sitting, and how they are sitting brings anatomical distortion in structure not only with the imbalance of muscular architecture but muscular stiffness and hardness which creates positive pressure within body cavities and that makes a huge health difference, both through correlated factors and through causation. Sitting with poor posture, whether from habit or from bad furniture, has many negative side effects, from causing muscle and joint pain in the neck, the back and as we know, chronic back pain can bring down our mood and keep us from being at ease, brings discomfort and stress to limiting not only lung capacity or circulation, even digestion which hinders the body’s ability to heal, remove toxins, and circulate oxygen but overall physiological function of all organs. All these processes are linked, and when one suffers, it is no surprise that other weak spots in a person’s system can take a big hit, even to the extent of increasing the risk of health issues like heart disease or diabetes.

The Silent Development of Health Issues :
People don’t realize anything is wrong until it’s too late and keep convincing wrongly. Nothing happens suddenly in our body, it is a continuous process and the body whispers and always gives small and big hints like the tip of the iceberg and compensates for its mechanism but we ignore it with so much distraction and availability of entertainment. Studies have repeatedly shown the effects of long-term sitting are not reversible through exercise or other good habits.

The Limitations of Standing and Moving as Solutions :
What if we stood a lot more at work or studied and kept moving around? Would our productivity improve as well as our health? How?

It’s big No No No No No Not at all. The obvious drawback is that standing still for extended periods is uncomfortable and may come with its own many more health implications (varicose veins, foot,leg pain, lack of venous and lymphatic return, distorted spine, acidity, digestion etc. many more related issues). So how does keeping moving will work, this also requires willpower — a finite resource known to be depleted when completing other mentally demanding tasks. The same is true with walking, how walking will correct our distortion within as there is no improvement in walking skill also, instead the process of damage is continuous and suffering is there. Sitting is killing but standing isn’t an answer, neither exercise nor keep moving, and these are signs that we are losing physical stability as well as mobility due to lack of elastic property of muscles are most ignored factors. Therefore, this won’t work either.

The Elusive Root Cause
What is the root cause behind?

Today, modern science has made it very easy to understand our body’s physical and physiological state. But they do not know what exactly our beings’ naturalization is. Hence, root causes are unknown. Our body keeps whispering, but we ignore the process of damage, further it gives signs and symptoms, and we treat them with physical and chemical mimicry. Whether from physical habit or any profession or from bad furniture or weather conditions, there are many negative side effects, from causing muscles, joint pain  and as we know, chronic neck , back pain can bring down our mood, restlessness, anxiety and fatigue, to limiting heart – lung capacity and circulation, which hinders the body’s ability to heal, remove toxins, and circulate oxygen.

Breaking Free from Ignorance :
We should avoid our own ignorance about our own self and be aware of our nature which is an easy state and better to avoid this major trap due to our lack of awareness and consciousness. Such knowledge hence in today’s fast lifestyle, majority are suffering with so many various Health issues though it differs with each other and living life with prescribed drugs or remove and replace method. So, the end result shows that we are higher beings and deteriorating more at the genetic level of health. We are convinced that unnatural or abnormalities are natural because everyone is suffering. We are stuck in treating signs and symptoms with physical and chemical mimicry.

The Missing Link to Optimal Health :
There is a missing link as lack of knowledge about our own naturalization and then how to use it to improve our own beingness as a bipedal with erect structure where the spinal column is most vital and vulnerable too.We have curvatures in the spine to make us physically stable and balanced . The area where curvature changes movement is more  thus these are weak links and according to the law of physics weak links collapse easily.
Hence, the end result is that our structure is collapsing, according to the law of physics which is anatomical distortion, and osteoarthritis are common – the root cause of all diseases. In any way we are suffering – will suffer. It’s very sad, this is happening in a fast way in today’s lifestyle.

Our Spinal column is indeed a critical and vulnerable part of our anatomy, playing a vital role in supporting our structure, facilitating movement, and protecting the spinal cord through which we are getting connected to inner organ systems and Univers. Any misalignment, injury, or degeneration of the spinal column can have significant effects on our overall health and well-being.

Hence, we must work within our body systematically and not to damage systematically and not just give different physical activities that lack improvement in our physical, physiological, and psychological problems

How do you overcome the drawback of sitting? and improvise our sitting.
Many famous thinkers can be quoted on the benefits of sitting calmly.
Secret of nature which has a strict law which is simple but not easy and not difficult to follow also.
“Sitting is our natural ease state.”

To overcome the drawbacks of sitting and improve our sitting posture, it’s essential to adopt natural sitting positions that allow our bodies to function optimally. Sitting is, after all, our natural ease. By sitting on the floor in various positions such as open knees, kneel sit, tripod sitting with a wide base and expansion of musculature, cross-leg sitting, and resting squat, we can bring stability to our central axis and open up spaces within our body cavities. These natural positions enable the body to be held steady for extended periods, allowing all organ systems to work functionally and skillfully well. This approach, combined with standing and walking, aligns with our natural behavioral patterns, promoting overall well-being and health.

Chair sitting is bad ;

We should understand how our modern lifestyle, particularly chair-sitting, disrupts our natural design and leads to health issues. We’re not designed for chair-sitting, which damages our naturalization and disrupts the functioning of our voluntary muscular architecture. We’ve lost touch with our ancient memory of muscle movement, which unfolds in a specific sequential order and direction. This natural sequence is evident in infants as they develop movement patterns that eventually become automated. However, today children are skipping these sequential orders. We are unaware of the importance of conscious learning and intellectual understanding. As a result, we’re using our automated movements harshly, leading to a loss of natural behavior patterns. This disconnection contributes to various health issues, leaving people unaware of the intricate balance and harmony that nature intended for our bodies.

In the modern lifestyle, we have lost and forgotten at early our natural, ancient memory of voluntary muscular architecture. Which has specific sequential order and direction in the flow of movement of muscles. This memory unwinds step by step in the developmental stages of infants, then that goes into automation. Today, many are skipping these sequential orders. As we have not learned this consciously and intellectually without improvising, we are using this automation harshly, this losing our natural behaviour pattern and wanting to achieve many more physical skills. Thus, people are stuck into many more health issues and still unaware of what nature is.

I am sharing this profound wisdom! I am emphasizing the importance of recognizing and aligning ourselves with the universal laws that govern our bodies. Our nature , our “prakriti” or individual constitution is influenced by these laws, and by tuning into them, we can harmonize our being and achieve optimal health and well-being.

It’s a beautiful perspective, encouraging us to embrace the interconnectedness of all things and work in harmony with the universe, rather than trying to manipulate or control outcomes through external means.

” Yoga shatra” knows the secret of nature, which governs our own body and thus gives guarantee  and which further leads us to a higher state of sitting positions  that describe
“ Shir Sukham asanam”
Why do human physical forms need Sthira ta?

We are part and parcel of Mother Earth, which has strong gravitational force and is rotating at a fast speed with an anticlockwise direction. So we have anti gravitational and clock wise forces within us, but they are weak. Physical stability for our bipedal and vertical structure is most vital as we are bipedal with vertical structure. The role of voluntary muscular architecture is very essential to keep us stable in both static and dynamic poses. Contraction is a strong and passive force for any stimulation that happens as it is a defensive mechanism, but ideally, that has to be in smooth form that is the quality of the nervous system. This is one of the reasons that our motor system has a tremendous load and  pressure of contraction to keep us physically stable in any static or dynamic pose.

Indeed, muscle contraction is a powerful force that can occur passively in response to stimulation. However, expansion and elongation of muscles, as seen in infant development, are essential for healthy growth and maintenance.

Yoga Shastra, the ancient Indian text on yoga, recognizes the importance of expansion and elongation in achieving optimal health and well-being. By acknowledging the natural forces within our bodies and working with them through conscious movement of voluntary muscles for fractional variations in density, we can overcome obstacles like ill-health and cultivate a state of balance and harmony

I am emphasizing that through ancient memory of muscles which child does in unwinding stages , expansion and elongation for proper development and improve mechanisms which are most  essential for health.

“Sthira Sukham Asanam”

Shira is physical stability – equilibrium of forces

Sukha is in Marathi language

Su = Suvyavasthit – well-administered or a harmonious balance. 

kha = Avakash, i.e., inner space within our body.
Asan = to be. Our existence ( It doesn’t mean to sit).
As our human beings, our sitting poses are a natural, and ” yoga shatra ” describes  further to evolve as a meditative state of sitting . I call them super human poses, but we have to work very hard to reach these states, and today’s century is harder. Where muscular architecture is in an easy state with forces within and the outside of the body are in an equilibrium state to get tune with the universe. ” Tatoh dwandan anabhighat”

Here
“prayatna-śaithilya-ananta-samāpatti-bhyām “ means
The key to success in this regard is voluntary muscular architecture and its ancient memory which is imbibed in our ancient brain in a formless coded form in which infants unwind and then it goes into automation and which we have to learn consciously and intellectually.

Therefore, with ancient memory of muscles  which has specific sequential order and direction in flow of movement. With regular, sincere, and dedicated practice with devotion and pathway of effort – failure and success where direction of efforts has to be in ideal which becomes progressively easier, i.e., effortless combined with deep contemplation (samapatti).

To get shirata , equilibrium of forces within and outside the body yama  and niyama is to strictly follow physically the laws of nature “Pravruti”that is Universal while working on our own physical body. In front of laws, prayers do not work. Just follow the laws or suffer.

Human spices are biped and vertical ,hence, the physical state of our physical body as a matter is the key, and how we work within is most important .

Elongation and expansion are vital for human beings.

We, as biped species, have to learn and make efforts to extend ourselves first . Infant ( flex pose in womb) unfolds and extends with a holding centre of gravity, which differs with each individual. Here, intellect has no role, and it has gone into automation.
Flexer muscles are very strong by nature and it’s a strong reflex action and defensive force also. Therefore, how we work on our body is the most important factor .
Gravity itself is a very strong force that always takes over .
Which makes us sink ( decreasing joint spaces) and shrink( inflammation, tumour)
*When “yoga” talks about  “samatva yoga uchate”,  “equilibrium of forces,” and “zero gravity,” we can not create zero gravity that means we have to create a strong Anti Gravitational force. There are techniques to learn and in today’s modern lifestyle where our use of body differs and  we can’t go back thus we are far away from nature hence  modifications is important.
“Yoga Asana” does not give different forms to our body and goes from one form to another.
It is about, How to anchor gravity and create an anti gravitational force in our body with anticlockwise and clockwise motion to make us stable on mother earth to understand space within and outside with other forces through the strongest system which is totally under our own will and  control.
*It is very important to learn joint and muscle senses and prepare them to behave like a biped.
*Remember that , loading unprepared muscles, in the process, it always leads towards distortion.

*Flexible people be more aware as for them going into the pose from loose joints is easy hence conscious movement of muscles is not easy . So called forward bending of the back compresses the disc at their front edges, and they tend to bulge to the posterior side, called disc protrusion. When the surrounding muscles go into spasm and disc aggravates spinal nerve roots.
And backward bending compresses discs at their back edges . Musculature has vertical spans that are very weak by nature. They are under tremendous pressure to make us physically stable in all positions with reference to our mother earth.In this process, these muscular architecture becomes hard and can’t hold and align the skeleton.
* Simultaneously, inner soft tissues are in stress to hold this all extra pressure along with increasing their own workload. Here, the inner environment gets totally in chaos ( imbalance in homeostasis and hormonal system)
* Try to understand why the conscious movement of musculature architecture is important to make us physically stable in a sitting position for a longer time ? Where concentration is clear with a stable mind.
Try to understand this first and work accordingly. Better, otherwise suffering is bound to happen.

Many famous thinkers can be quoted on the benefits of sitting calmly.

*Sitting with good form at ease State can allow you to enjoy other activities that enrich your life and help you maintain mental and physical health.


*This baby naturally sits with good posture and surely does not find it tiring or uncomfortable in the least.

So wave goodbye to your anxiety about whether your desk job or your 3-hour seminar are going to give you health woes. Work on your form,

* Sitting is a natural human activity, and our body is strong enough to handle moderate amounts of any position when it’s done well.

It seems a simple and logical solution, and the trend is booming from offices to schools.

The obvious drawback is that standing still for extended periods is uncomfortable and may come with its own health implications like varicose veins, foot pain,leg pain back and neck pain which is a sign of many more health issues.

I was and I am the only odd person saying and learning and teaching which I call the secret of nature which is simple but not easy and not difficult also.
Isn’t it a shame ,where we are leading? This shows what level we have lost Physical stability.
How many of us understand and work on accordingly before it’s too late.

If we are not stable physically where Movement of Earth is imbibe in us.
Yoga knows about zero gravity and equilibrium of inner spaces with outer spaces . If we are not making intellectual efforts to create anti gravitational force ,along with rotational force and atmospheric pressure.
Do we need to work compression force in our body, or do we need to learn how to learn decompression? Ask this question to yourself ?
Not only  so called a sedentary in our fast lifestyle but physically and  active lifestyle where  fitness exercise is also not an answer.
It’s high time we must be aware and work on it correctly and appropriately. It’s High time to bring back muscles ancient memory and improve ourselves within ?
Infant does this action on his own efforts – failure and  success, sit , stands and walk.This all goes into automation due to harsh use and not learnt consciously and intellectually. How many of you know the same mistake we are doing in the name of exercises.
I am working on it and getting the best results. Learn the alphabet of our beautifully designed muscular architecture with their own ancient memory, reprogram them in our conscious brain . Then only we will learn the body language , how and what efforts to do, and what should happen in our daily routine postures.

If you learn as early as possible, you will prevent yourself from many more illnesses and diseases.
One should and must understand how our motor system has tremendous pressure to make us physically stable and the importance of the physical state of organ systems. Then one can  imagine a variety of  movements, and that also automated how much violence we are doing in our own body in today’s modern lifestyle.ol

Here’s the hard truth: The probability is over 70% that you are sitting as you read this blog post. You were probably sitting for the 60 minutes before reading this blog post, and you will probably sit for the vast majority of your day after reading this blog post. Full disclaimer: I’m also sitting as I write this blog post for a longer time, and I am not a writer.

You sit once we get up from sleep, sit on a comode, for a bath, and sit to eat breakfast. You sit in  car on the way to work. You sit in front of your workstation all day (and night). Then for entertainment or hobby or dinner . Then you sit in front of Netflix with a beer, trying to slow down your racing thoughts, knowing you probably should’ve known.

And the worst part is, you probably already know that sitting is killing you.

Swati Joshi