---------- From: Ralph Strauch To: Multiple recipients of list SOREHAND Subject: Re: chairs Date: Tuesday, April 22, 1997 5:48PM On Sun, Apr 20, 1997 8:07 AM, Amy Mina-Coull wrote: >i have an appointment with a firm which claims it specialises in rsi, neck and >back. they offer postural training with chairs. most of their products are the >kneeling style. any experience out there with them? thoughts? my back says it >needs good lumbar support but i dont' know much about this. > I use one of the kneeling style chairs, a Swedish "Balans" chair, and I like it a lot. I think this kind of chair can be very good, but there are some cavaets that you need to keep in mind about them. You need a well-designed chair. The Balans people do a good job with their chairs, but some of the cheap knock-off's I've seen just don't quite get it right and end up imposting stress on your body rather than reducing it. The chair (and this is true of any ergonomic aid) provides an environment in which you can reduce the stress you impose on yourself, but it doesn't guarentee that you will. Think of it as giving you "suggestions" about how to support yourself as you sit. If you listen to those suggestions, the chair will help you balance yourself more efficiently on your spine, which is how nature intended us to support ourselves. if you fight them, it won't. I realized this when I had a client with a bad back who told me he had tried the Balans chair and it made his back worse. When I explore this further, I realized that he kept his back tensed against the suggestions the chair was providing, so it just became another source of stress. When he learned to relax his lower back and allow it to move, he could align it the way the chair intended, and he could use the chair. To be really useful, the "postural training" you mention should do more than just tell you "sit this way." It should help you become more aware of your spine and how you use it to support yourself, and teach you to use that awareness to keep yourself balanced on your spine as you sit. Ralph ================================================ Ralph Strauch, Ph.D., Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner author of "Low-Stress Computing: Using awareness to avoid RSI" Somatic Options, Pacific Palisades, CA -- 310/454-8322 rstrauch@somatic.com http://www.somatic.com/