NPR: Helping the back by improving how you sit

To Fix that Pain in your Back, You Might Have To Change The Way You Sit

NPR. August 13, 2018. Michaeleen Doucleff

Man sits at loom and weaves
Excellent posture while sitting makes it possible for this Indian man to work as his loom, every day, without back pain.

NPR reporter Michaeleen Doucleff went on an interview assignment in California. She got her story and was surprised also to get a lot of personal benefit.

Michaeleen had been suffering for ten years from chronic back pain while sitting. She learned that the pain didn’t come only from sitting too much, but more so from how she was sitting.

It turns out — she was slouching! Not intentionally, but she was letting her back round into a “C” — or a cashew nut.  It is not good for her, or any of us. The article goes into nice detail about the mechanics of sitting like this, and especially the damage to the inter-vertebral disks. By contrast, the weaver above works all day in comfort — because his sitting is upright and active.