While screen time and technology often make our lives easier, they also make us more sedentary. Here's why we should decrease our passive sitting and how dynamic sitting can help the whole family be healthier in the long run.
We often think of sitting as a leisurely activity. Plopping down on the couch is often the reward after a long workday or physical hike, but the passiveness of sitting all day at our desks is often one we overlook but should pay close attention to. According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention the average adult spends an average of 6.5 to 8 hours sitting per day. But just because it’s looked like status quo doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Lack of movement has been linked to everything from everyday back pain to longer term issues like decrease in life longevity. Now, anyone who has experienced back or neck pain can tell you how much it can impact your overall wellbeing.
Pain is an indicator that there is an imbalance in the body. If we do not respond promptly, this pain shifts to the psychological and emotional level. Lack of movement therefore not only endangers our physical health, but also has a significant impact on our psychological well-being. Even without the pain.
The solution? Regular movement. Especially movement in nature. Getting outdoors and moving your body can provide relief from painful symptoms as well as more vitality, relaxation and creativity.
We know it’s not easy to always fit activity in with busy family schedules of school, work, and activities though. We should also look at simple ways we can incorporate movement into everyday (often sedentary) duties, like, adding dynamic sitting into your work and school days.
Why Dynamic Sitting
Dynamic sitting is a healthy practice in which one does not sit rigidly on a chair, but rather moves and changes one's sitting position again and again. Our flexible stool made with pieces from our product line, the Stapelstein® Originals and a Stapelstein® Board, is the sophisticated alternative to conventional inflexible seating furniture. And the beauty is that the whole family can use it and it’s multi-purpose.
How to Use Our Products for Dynamic Sitting
The Original elements and board can be easily adjusted to the appropriate seat height by stacking Original elements the right level and then adding the Board as a seat. By placing the curve of the Originals on the floor, movement comes into sitting. The ergonomic stool is suitable for both children and adults and is a benevolent addition. For example, it can be used as a desk stool for children. If the stool is not needed in between, the stacking elements serve many uses that include free movement, creative play and even allow them to be more independent in everyday life, when used as flexible staircase.
When used in Dynamic Sitting position, the pieces encourage movement and ensure that the trunk and back muscles are well supplied with blood. The fasciae, as the deep-lying muscle layers are called, benefit significantly from the small dynamic movements. While just doing desk work or homework, you strengthen your back through active sitting. It also helps improve your posture. All of this helps increase your capacity for resilience, create cognitive clarity and emotional balance.
The Positive Impact of Dynamic Sitting on Children
Does sitting still really promote concentration? Numerous observations show that passive sitting has a negative effect on the willingness to learn and on receptiveness. Therefore, there is a plea to give much more importance to the moving basic need of the body. According to the WHO, children should be actively active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Children who sit on a dynamic desk stool achieve better learning results, can concentrate many times better and are more balanced. Therefore, there is a need to pay much closer attention to the basic movement needs of the body. According to the WHO, children should be active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Dynamic sitting in daycare and school
Dynamic sitting offers many advantages in school and kindergarten for both children and educators:
- There is a clear link between physical and mental tension and the positive effect on the receptiveness and endurance for learning-intensive phases.
- Children who sit on a dynamic stool can focus on a topic longer, engage more deeply with the learning content, and are more attentive.
- Educators can meet the child at eye level with an upright posture, as the height is variable.
- In contrast to the passive sitting posture, dynamic sitting satisfies the innate, developmental urge to move.
Movement should always be an option. Especially, for children. Not only is movement a form of freedom for kids but it's part of building lifelong healthy habits and wellbeing. Imagine a world where we never had to sit still.
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