Sitting on the sofa watching Christmas reruns

PICTURE the scene- you’ve had a huge Christmas lunch, stuffed your face, twice, then you progress to the sofa to relax and prepare for turkey sandwiches in the evening. Before you know it, 4 hours have gone, and you, and your bloated gut have not moved from the sofa! Not one bit! You try to get up, much like a beetle on it’s back and your back locks up! Clients come into the clinic saying “all I did was try to get up out of the sofa!” That’s cos you sat for too long on your butt and your back needs MOVEMENT!!

You can think about it much like a repetitive strain injury, where too much of one thing (sitting) fatigues your back so much so that it flares up. It’s a proven fact that your spine needs moving every 20-30mins whether you feel it or not……

My chiropractic tips are:

Get up every ad break, if there isn’t any ads then get up anyway!

Think about your posture when you do sit- your feet should be on the floor, your bottom placed right back into the back of the sofa, and your arms placed to your sides No crossing legs or putting them to one side of you Have several cushions to put behind you in the arch of your low back

Think about a recliner sofa if you do enjoy watching movies or lots of TV- this is much better for your back then sitting with your feet up in front of you on a coffee table or cushion

Breathe: when you don’t move your brain automatically has to work harder to get air in so practice doing diaphragm breathing (as you breath in let your stomach inflate like a balloon)

Don’t stress: although there is always loads to do, people to cater for, remember it’s a time to celebrate so practising gratitude is helpful to wash away the Xmas blues- send someone you love a text telling something you love about them, or write someone a letter (yes they still do those!).

So please don’t be one of those statistics that get back pain when getting up from the sofa. Learn from this blog and prevent it from happening in the first place. Then you can feel smug about it

As always take care and merry Xmas!