In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen evidence that working from home or binge-watching TV during this COVID-19 epidemic brings up another whole set of health issues.
More people with back pain than you can shake a stick at!
That’s understandable for a couple of reasons – let me explain:
Sitting too much by itself can tighten your quad muscles, and also your piriformis – both of which aggravate back pain.
Sitting while leaning over a computer, or looking down at your smart phone for long periods of time, causes what you may have seen termed as “smart phone neck.” In addition, when your shoulders are too far forward, that causes your rib cage to sink in on itself. Both of these physical postures cause your spine to be out of alignment, which gives you more back pain.
Another problem is the chair you are sitting in. For instance, I have a couple of friends who are both teachers who have been teaching their classes via computer technology for several weeks now. They have an office with a proper office chair in their home, but not two offices. So, one of them is often teaching Zoom classes in a room with a door that can be closed for privacy, but where he is sitting on a kitchen chair, or sometimes at a picnic bench on the screen porch. Sooooo, not good for your back.
What’s a body to do? Well, of course I have the answer to that!
Any time that your spine is out of alignment in some way, you’ll feel pain. Often, where you feel the pain is not where it’s actually coming from. That’s because an imbalance in the shoulder area can cause the lower back to take more of the strain, so the pain shows up there. Or, a hip issue causes you to walk and/or stand off balance and that can case sciatic pain that radiates all the way down your leg.
It’s important to find the actual cause of your back pain so that you’ll know what needs fixing. As a holistic health coach, I always look at your whole body to find the cause of your pain and then I recommend exercises that will help.
During this time of so many people sitting much more than they’re used to, there are a couple of preventative exercises I can recommend.
I’ve made the below video which demonstrates two very simple exercises that you can do while sitting in a chair to help keep that back pain away. I recommend stopping AT LEAST twice a day for the five minutes it takes to do these exercises. Even better if you can stop once an hour. Five minutes an hour is not too much of a break when it means that you’ll have less pain, breathe better, and keep as healthy as you can during these difficult times.
Please take a moment now to do these simple exercises with me and see for yourself how simple it can be to take care of YOU!
Best of Health,
Kathi
