photo credit: made-in-china.com

I have some pretty terrible posture, especially when it comes to sitting.  I tend to hunch my back and lean in a lot, usually over bent knees drawn in to my chest.  If I’ve actually got my feet on the ground, they’re probably not flat and at nice 90 degree angles as ergonomically recommended, but more likely to be crossed in strange twists or off to the side.  Recently people have been noticing how I cross my legs, then wrap the ankle of the top leg around back behind the calf of the bottom leg.  I guess not everyone is able to intertwine their legs quite so much, but it has been a pretty standard sitting position for me for years.  Then there are couches, which absolutely were not designed for people to sit well in.  There’s nothing that encourages a slouch quite like a sagging cushion.  All of this doesn’t do much for my poor weak and sore backside.  As of late, even short amounts of standing or walking leave me in slight pain and rather sore back there.

photo credit: rei.com

One of the solutions I came up with for this dilemma is a yoga ball.  A few years back, my roommate had a yoga ball in our room that we started off using as a guest “chair” but quickly began to use ourselves.  We discovered the benefits of just sitting on a yoga ball, which requires a certain level of balance.  Plus, it was low enough that we had to sit straight to be able to type on our computers while sitting on one.  The perfect way to “work out” and work at the same time, isn’t it?  Well, after that experience, I decided that I needed a ball of my own.  For quite cheap I got an entire set at Costco, including the ball and some other equipment to use with it.  I haven’t stuck that well to using the ball, but when I do it really helps.  It’s no wonder they’ve come up with this new chair that takes that very idea and makes it into a so-called product so they can mark up the price like crazy.  I guess it’s fair enough to say that their model really does look a little more professional, though I still don’t know if it’s acceptable office furniture.  Personally, I still prefer a good old normal yoga ball.

Maybe I should look into a back brace to keep me from slouching the way I do.