The VS. Series: Sitting vs. Resting
Five-thousand years ago when the chair first appeared in the Egyptian culture, it came to being as a place to rest. It was a time without spreadsheets, email, and Powerpoints, and the chair was simply a tool to take a load off—a place to catch your breath before you headed back out to a nomadic life of hunting and gathering.
Fast-forward to today and you’ll see that the chair has chartered a course like most technology. It was designed to make your life better, but ultimately it sucks you deeper into a dark crevasse, like the cushions in your college couch. You really don’t want to be there, but you can’t get up.
When I launched FluidStance, it was common for friends or strangers to confess to me they were a “sitter.” They hated it, but it was where they were. They were victims of the lifeless, padded bliss that while designed for comfort, actually brought pain from sitting too long to their joints, circulation, and even their minds. Their life had come to a standstill (literally) and they didn’t know what to do. It was like chairs had suddenly become airline seats we blindly make our way to. They were seat-belted into a device that could only be unlatched when the “captain” said you were safe to move. Well, it is time for a new captain.
It is time to shift from a culture of sitting to a culture of rest. Go hard when you can and rest when you need a break. Chairs are not evil, but our dependence on them can hold us back. Make a chair your rest-buddy who holds you when you need a break, not the device you’re “supposed” to use in order to be productive at work. There is a time to sit, a time to stand, and time to get moving. When all three balance into your life, your work will flow, your focus will grow, and rest will be that moment of magic when you have unleashed your potential of adding the greatest value to our culture. FluidStance CEO and Founder Joel Heath created The Versus Series in response to how we’ve become a culture of “versus.” Us vs. Them. Hot vs. Cold. Analog vs. Digital. Work Hard vs. Play Hard. Old vs. New. Sitting vs Resting. You get the idea. Stay tuned for more from Joel as we continue to build out this series. And we’d love to hear thoughts, ideas, and suggestions for more topics! Comment below or email on Sitting vs Resting us at [email protected].
