How To Sit Properly to Avoid Neck Pain

We are spending so much time sitting, that we are having a Pandemic of poor posture!
Healthy sitting is a fundamental lifestyle habit contributing to proper posture.

When done properly, the posture system is supported and less strain is placed on the spinal discs and joint articulations.

Selecting a chair that is comfortable for you is important, but more important is how you sit in it!

Take a look at your workspace, and design it in a way that promotes comfort and supported sitting.

Proper posture while seated is not only important at work, it is important throughout your life. Good posture, is a habit that starts when you are young, consider the effect that poor posture while seated has on school-aged children.

This is the period in which they begin developing lifestyle habits. If they learn to sit with proper posture, this will become a norm in their daily life.

If they are seated for nearly 8 hours per day with poor posture, the health effects are debilitating and can greatly affect their performance at school.

POSTURE DO’s
Choose a chair that allows you to rest both feet flat on the floor while keeping your knees level with your hips. If necessary, prop up your feet with a footstool or other support. 

Make sure that everything you need is within reach so that you are NOT having to reach forward to it. This applies especially to keyboard, mouse and screen.

If you are using a laptop from home get yourself a separate keyboard, mouse and screen. This applies ESPECIALLY to a screen. If you are staring down at a laptop screen for 6+ hours a day, it will not matter how good your chair is or what exercises you do, you will have neck pain and eye strain. If a separate screen is not practical at least get a support to raise the laptop to eye level.

Utilise an ergonomic chair or a posture cushion for prolonged sitting to support the spine and to engage the core musculature. A posture cushion is an inflatable disc that encourages you to keep your abdominal muscles working.

Take regular posture breaks. Every 30 minutes close your eyes and extend your arms as if you’ve just one a race and take three deep breaths.

Every 60 minutes get up and move around for two minutes. Stretch your neck and shoulders and consciously look into the mid distance to rest your eyes.

If practical, arrange a stand-up desk so that you can alternate between sitting and standing throughout your day.

POSTURE DON’Ts
Have your chair so far away from your desk, that you have to lean forwards.  Move you mouse from your shoulder; you should be moving it from your wrist with your wrist resting on the table.

Have your wallet in your back pocket. When sitting on a wallet, it creates an uneven balance of the hips. Simply placing your wallet in the front pocket can improve posture and prevent symptoms associated with back pain or sciatica.

POSTURE SITTING BEST PRACTICE
Sit back into you chair so that the vertebra behind your belly button is pressing into the chair. Not hard, you just want to make sure that you have a firm contact and that you can feel the support in your spine and abdominal muscles.

Your shoulders should now be over your hips. Gently bring your shoulders down, until you feel light tension in your chest.

This will automatically lift your lower neck. Gently bring your neck into alignment by tucking your chin. Your screen should now be directly in front of you without needing to drop your eyes,

If you want top lean how to sit and much much more.

If you are sitting for 30+ hours a week and getting neck pain and headaches, consider taking our six-week postural educational program Perfect Posture Online where we explain how the postural system works in much greater detail.

We give you six easy to remember principles to apply throughout your day along with simply exercises that integrate these principles into your nervous system so that these postural changes become a natural habit.

*We write regular articles on topics related to posture and balance. You can read them by clicking the menu item ‘Posture’ to the right.

If you are interested in taking our online course on posture, please click the button below to take the first lesson for free.