Quick Stretch
Sitting even with good posture for long periods of time, with or without your Nada, is not ideal for your back. Even though you may NOT now be stretching your ligaments or distorting your discs, you are still putting pressure on your discs that will, after years of prolonged sitting, eventually compress and thin them down, making them less flexible and hence more liable to damage. Having thinner discs also means that your spinal vertebrae move closer together and start rubbing together in a way that will cause arthritis, and also leaves less room for your "peripheral" nerves, which pass out from your spinal chord through the spaces between your vertebrae and this pressure on the nerves can eventually cause pain, numbness, tingling or pins and needles in the legs and feet.
So what can you do about it!
Common advice these days is to get up and move around every half-hour. But these days most of us never significantly stretch our spines. Even yoga and Pilates exercises do NOT significantly stretch your discs. We have (probably) evolved from monkeys or something very similar, and we have the in-built ability to swing from tree to tree!! We don't recommend you do that - it is a bit too dangerous! However, just hanging by both arms from a comfortable support is well within our abilities, and provides a VERY strong and NATURAL stretch for our shoulders, spine and "lumbar" and "lower thoracic" discs.
The best way to do this is to hang from a bar that you can easily reach from the floor. The easiest way to do this is to install a "hanging-bar" in a doorway at home or at work. (Get your boss to install one; it will pay for itself in absolutely no time as sedentary office workers will need less time off work with back ache if they use it regularly) Don't panic; we are not talking about chin-ups or anything very strenuous; just relaxed hanging for about 10-15 seconds at a time!
(Don't hang from a doorframe or picture rail; if it is not a comfortable handgrip you will not be able to relax and get the full benefit)
If you have not hung like this for years, if you are overweight or if you have weak or damaged shoulders, wrists or elbows, just hang for 5 seconds per day for the first few days to make sure you are not hurting any of these areas! Hang with your palms facing forwards. When you are comfortable with your hanging, we suggest you get up from your chair every 30-45 minutes and hang for around 15 seconds!! That's not asking too much is it?
Do NOT pick you legs off the floor as this will mean you are tensing your spinal and abdominal muscles and this will prevent your lower spine from getting the full benefit. Just let your feet and legs relax and rest on the floor. At first you will probably only feel the stretch in your shoulders, but as your shoulders relax more and more, you will feel the stretch reaching down to the base of your spine.
We recommend that you DO NOT actually hang anywhere where your feet are off the ground, as stretching your discs and then dropping down to the ground (which would suddenly re-compress your discs) could damage a disc that may have already been weakened by prolonged sitting and slouching. If you experience back pain when hanging or if you have an existing spinal problem, don't use this exercise without first consulting with your back-pain specialist.
