The Way You Sit Makes You Sick

One evening, my dad sat on the floor and leaned on our green sofa on his shoulder. He was actually half sitting and half lying on the floor. He even crossed his leg while watching TV. As you can see, his back curved badly without any support. Bored with the TV program, he curiously felt his heart beat on his wrist.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly my dad realized some of his heart beat went longer…

Thuuuuummmmmmp....... Thuuuuummmmmmp.......

There was seven slower beats in a minute. So he uncrossed his leg while still leaning on the sofa. Again his heart beat slower a few times. But it was only three times in a minute now. He then sat upright immediately and took his heart beat.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

No slower beat! His heart beat smoothly all the way. So what caused the difference in his heart beat? How you unknowingly torture your own body with bad posture? Your heart is crying if you sit improperly Every time you sit with bad posture like my dad, your heart cries. Why? Because it must now work much harder to circulate blood all over your body.

Imagine drinking a glass of ice lemon tea with drinking straw. With straight straw, you have no problem quenching your thirst. Bend the straw slightly and you’ll definitely have harder time sucking water out. What if you bend the straw 90 degree? I bet you can’t get a single drop of it.

That’s how hard your heart has to work if you sit with bad posture. If you bend your back and neck, you’re also bending the tiny blood vessels network around those important areas. Since blood flow is partially obstructed, your heart must pump harder to force it through.

What happens if your heart is tired?
If you’re always giving a hard time to your precious heart, it will become tired easily. When your heart is tired, you’ll have poorer blood circulation of course. Eventually, it leads to all sorts of sicknesses including premature aging.

And to make matter worse, you’re crossing your leg too! When you put your right leg on top of your left leg, you’re actually pressing the blood vessels on both tights.

Foot is the organ furthest to your heart. Pumping blood to and from the foot takes extra effort since it has to counter gravity force. This is hard work on its own. So why would you increase your heart’s burden by crossing your leg?

Damaging your backbone with bad posture
By crossing your leg, you’re also twisting your backbone at your back (of course!). And by hunching, you’re making your back bone curve forward awkwardly. All these postures create uneven pressure to your backbone discs. And it leads to premature wear and tear.

With continuous torture to your backbone, you will eventually get backbone slip disc or bone spur. Either one give you unbearable back pain, sleepless nights and colorless life. Surgery puts you in risk of half paralyze but doesn’t guarantee complete cure.

Your neck may have the same fate if you don’t sit straight and maintain its upright position. The blood vessels network in your neck is even more complex. Your brain requires lots of blood all the time. And some important blood vessels to the brain pass through holes in upper backbone.

Once again, prolong bad posture around the neck may cause bone spur or protrusion. When it totally presses against the main blood vessel, you’ll get stroke. Yes, bad posture may lead to stroke.

Compressing your organs with bad posture
Let say you have a nice bedroom with a bed, desk and cupboard. You also have a dining room and living room complete with your dream furniture arranged nicely.

Now imagine if your bedroom suddenly becomes triangle and shrinks to half. Your living room becomes round in shape and shrinks to half. And your dining room becomes pentagon in shape and shrinks to half. Then, your toilet and kitchen expand to twice its size.

What a mess!

Can you still sleep, dine and relax in your house? I guess not. You even have difficulty walking inside. And I’m sure you won’t let your house in a mess like that.

However, you definitely mess up your organ’s space inside your body with bad posture such as hunching. Your heart, lung, liver, kidney and stomach will be compressed. They will cry, work slower and deteriorate much sooner.

The main cause of all diseases
The top three main causes of all diseases are diabetes, constipation and bad posture. So remember to sit, stand and walk upright. Make sure your back and neck are always straight.

Drop the habit of crossing legs. It’s okay if you cross your leg once a while. However, crossing your leg whenever you sit is definitely bad. Good posture makes you healthy and vibrant. Your body energy can flow smoothly and you will feel less tired.

Having a good posture is a habit. And habit can be cultivated if you’re fully determined. So make it a habit to have good posture yourself while continuously encouraging your family members too.