The body learns to respond automatically with continued repetition, thus, practicing yoga postures correctly is important or otherwise wrongly executed postures will also become part of “muscle memory.” As a child, we could sit on our “haunches” in a deep knee bend, flat feet rooted to the ground as they do in Japan when dining. Then, in many countries, humans became adapted to sitting in chairs designed for comfort but not necessarily to benefit the spine and core organs of the human body. Many years passed and the “ergonomic” chair was designed and marketed for everyone. This type of chair, appealing to office personnel sitting long hours, provided lumbar support to maintain the posture and prevent discomfort. Hopely, however, people in offices do take an exercise or yoga break to use the muscles productively and regenerate oxygen flow to the body.

One of the main features of the “ergonomic” chair is to support a neutral position for the joints, align shoulders, spine, and hips. The chairs are adjustable to fit any type of body. According to research, adults in the United States sit between 6.5 to 15 hours a day, or 50% of working hours; this type of chair can help maintain body alignment at work but does not replace movement.

Ergonomic chairs do help prevent back pain by aligning muscles and the spine, reduce tension in the lower back and improve posture when walking, sitting, and standing. One yoga pose to practice, during a rest break at work, enhances endurance while lengthening the spine as demonstrated by the Shield Wellness Yoga class: “Needle Pose” that balances and lengthens the body as it levels out the spine. The vertebrate disks separate as the body is leveled out in a forward bend with one arm extended and the opposite leg lengthened straight back. The head is level with the spine as you lengthen in both directions. the leg you lengthen, the spine and the arm pulled forward to lengthen, the opposite side. The spine contains a cushioning substance so the disks do not suffer extreme friction when they move. The “intervertebral. disk is the cushion and joint between two vertebrae in the spinal column” (medicine plus).

An ergonomic chair is an assist to the body at rest as it is adjustable and designed to fit your body naturally. One of the main features is lumbar support.

When practicing the “Needle Posture,” the spine is awakened with concentration on lengthening. In Yoga, postures are first visualized in the mind, then executed in the body. Yoga requires thought and practice to obtain the greatest health benefit. It is the mind and habits that determine behavior. Yoga requires “new learning” about what the body needs. Does the body need to eat without analyzing content, caloric intake and amount of food or nutrition to eat? The mind establishes a criterion for the healthy intake of foods for nutrition, weight control and other factors. Individual research is a positive action to discover the best nutritional for the human body. Blindly, following ads, projected for profit, need thoughtful discrimination to avoid gloating due to seductive tastes. The first discretion for any yoga practice is considering the nutritional value for health, fitness, and wellness.

Join the yoga practioners at Shield Wellness Center in Sebring, 4597 Casablanca Circle (US 27 North of Sun and Lakes turnoff, go another block North and see the studio on the right). Yoga classes are FREE! Tuesdays and Fridays 1 - 2:30 p.m. and Thursdays, 5:30 - 7 p.m. Mats are furnished and we always have FUN learning!