Humans haven’t always had such easy access to chairs. Yes, it’s way more comfortable than finding a way to sit or relax on the floor, however, this is simply a tradeoff with lower body range of motion.

This series is aimed at highlighting some of the classic ways humans have relaxed without furniture, but also gives huge benefits to mobility and overall health.

The first position is a kneeling seated position, also called seiza.

If you’ve never done this position before, it may feel incredibly uncomfortable. You might not even be able to fully lower yourself into the position. 

That’s ok.

Starting off, place progressively smaller objects in between your but and your feet.

At some point, sitting in this position will feel comfortable enough to do other things. It’s great for meditating, listening to a podcast or audiobook, finger stretches, breathing, and general relaxing.

Sitting in seiza forces you to engage many parts of your back and knee that are completely supported when sitting in a chair. Over time these areas of your body work hard behind the scenes to support lower body range of motion.

This range of motion boost plays out really well in pretty much any physical activity. For my climbing, I feel much more secure in a drop knee position, and have an easier time creating tension throughout my lower body. I also have far less pain when I jump down from the top of a climb. For general mobility walking, running, and jumping are easier. 

If you’re actually interested in this, try to give it 30 straight days of a few minutes total. Listen to your body though, and avoid pushing through sharp pains. You don’t have to do it all at one time and can increase the time if you feel the difficulty decrease.