Author Topic: Sitting on the floor  (Read 10845 times)

Rubyist

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Sitting on the floor
« on: March 08, 2015, 07:09:47 PM »
I've switched to sitting and lounging on the floor most of the time I'm at home, rather than in a chair or couch. I find it kind of fun, plus I've read a lot about its health benefits. Briefly, it's good because you adjust your position more frequently on the floor than when in a chair, and because of the greater exertion every time you get up.

I have a couch and and regular dining table and chair in my apartment, but I've switched to sitting on the floor for reading, watching TV, and using the computer. If I could get my SO on board, I'd love to get rid of the chairs and switch to furniture-free living, as shown in these links:

http://slowmama.com/parenting-children/parenting-against-the-grain-going-furniture-free/
http://radicatamedicine.com/2015/02/07/my-healthy-furniture-free-living-room-yes-a-living-room-can-be-healthy-and-make-you-healthy/comment-page-1/

In addition to keeping you healthy, foregoing a couch and chairs could save you money, if you're just setting up an apartment or were planning on replacing old furniture, and it probably makes cleaning easier.

I recommend the book Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman for a detailed explanation, but here's a short article explaining the benefits of sitting on the floor: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/floor-living-do-you-spend-enough-time-on-the-ground/#axzz3TjY5HnWB

Who likes to chill on the floor?

KMMK

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1464
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
    • Meena Kestirke Insurance
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2015, 07:51:35 PM »
Absolutely, when the floor seems reasonably clean and in places where people won't think I'm super weird for doing so. Growing up, my family ate most of our meals sitting on the floor, plus at temple services. It's normal to me.

Duchess of Stratosphear

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 343
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2015, 12:51:03 PM »
This is interesting to me because I don't have much in the way of furniture because my pets just ruin it, so I've sort of felt like I need to come up with some kind of pet-proof furniture solution, and maybe that solution is just to not have furniture! I like it. A few pillows would be much easier to clean or replace when the cats trash them, which they inevitably will. I guess I wondered if I was hurting my back by not having furniture (I have hard back chairs around my dining room table), but maybe it's the other way around. Very interesting to consider. And I was dreading "having" to buy furniture someday anyhow.

Ynari

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 558
  • Age: 31
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2015, 03:12:02 PM »
Hi, I'm freznow and I hate chairs.

One time, in an internship, the company had computer monitors on moveable claw arm things. Normally I sat on an exercise ball, but I figured out how to move the computer screen down so I could sit on the floor.

Nobody had a real problem with it, except people would ask where I was since they couldn't see me over the cubicle walls.

I prefer to spend most of my lounging at home sitting on either floor or bed.  Chairs are only for eating at the table.

Gerard

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1570
  • Location: eastern canada
    • Optimacheap
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2015, 04:49:07 PM »
I figured out how to move the computer screen down so I could sit on the floor.
Nobody had a real problem with it, except people would ask where I was since they couldn't see me over the cubicle walls.

Plus you're totally set up for a cubicle fort, the envy of all co-workers.

kiblebuka

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 75
  • Age: 35
  • Location: NE US
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2015, 06:06:49 PM »
If I didn't have back problems, I'd sit on the floor more often. Without something to lean against I end up hunching over a lot.

galliver

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1863
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2015, 06:49:32 PM »
I found this very interesting. My parents haven't had a couch since their last one (ancient garage sale piece) fell apart when I was 10ish. My mom did make some awesome cushions out of an old foam mattress, though, about 2.5ft x 4ft x 3 in maybe? We'd lounge on those while watching movies. Or build forts. Our LR was generally pretty empty so there was lots of space for dancing, wrestling, somersaults, etc. Good times. :) I'm perfectly comfortable sitting on the ground, not sure if it's from our living room or numerous camping trips and general un-fussiness. I do actually strongly prefer to have my knees above my hips...and as a short person, that doesn't happen for me in most chairs! I also loved that one family's jungle gym in their living room, that was awesome.

Nonetheless, I do think it's a responsibility of parents to teach their kids mainstream table manners, which would be hard without a table. I also wonder about the biomechanics of activities like eating off a ground-level plate (particularly non-finger foods, like soup), or of doing artwork, writing, reading etc. (since you have to hunch over or arch your back up significantly to accomplish this...I was always discouraged from doing it for that reason, which worked for everything except reading).  Sounds like the Bowmans' kids are too young for this to be a real issue yet, but I am curious what the plan is.

Going back to "tribal" forms of movement would probably be good for our bodies, but can only be accomplished to a limited extent in today's society, I think, in terms of our need to learn and do certain tasks like reading, writing, computering, etc. Which is by no means to say we shouldn't try.

Ynari

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 558
  • Age: 31
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2015, 10:54:35 PM »
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu

Tables don't have to involve chairs!  (Though, relatedly, there are leg-less chairs common with kotatsu's and in Japanese design. They're basically a seat and a back. Meditation-style kneeling cushions or benches also help if sitting on the floor with nothing is uncomfortable.)  I'm a fan of one-pot meals and it's a dream of mine to have a kotatsu-like table with an induction cooktop so I can have hot-pot with the family. Also, it'd have to function as a tea table because tea is important!

I love this Japanese piece of art - http://www.designboom.com/design/shin-yamashita-land-peel/  The "land peel", a modular/foldable floor/table/desk.

Squatting is good for you! Having to get up and down from the floor may also help maintain your mobility later in life, so it's a good habit to have.

Revelry

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 52
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2015, 06:17:13 AM »
I find this idea very intriguing as well and have started implementing.  The immediate benefit is that it's not very comfortable so I'm nudged into stretching and moving into different positions, not just sprawled on the couch.  I can imagine this having some significant accumulative benefits.

And +1 on the indoor monkey bars!

acepedro45

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 261
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2015, 01:51:15 PM »
I will be the first to admit that this is weird and not for everybody, but I sleep on the floor every night. I got into the habit of sleeping on a hard surface years ago while visiting Japan. These days, almost every mattress I try hurts my back and doesn't let me sleep soundly.

I own a bed but it is a sham. When I first started dating my now-wife, she once came over and asked why my pillows were on the floor. I stammered sommething unintelligible and threw them on the bed. Eventually I divulged my secret.

She sleeps on the floor now too but only because she is a wonderful person and a good sport. Whenever I'm away on business or out late, she goes back to our bed.

Rubyist

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 42
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #10 on: March 15, 2015, 12:40:13 PM »
So, anybody want to share a photo of your living space set up for floor sitting?

I have nothing special. I'm sitting on a folded up blanket with my laptop on an ottoman. It's not really comfortable, but I change positions a lot.

lise

  • Guest
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #11 on: March 15, 2015, 01:55:07 PM »
I'm a sloth and love lounging on my comfortable couch and sleeping in my comfortable bed. 

However, I have never found an office chair I find comfortable.  So I have a standing desk at home now.  Love it.

Bracken_Joy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Location: Oregon
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2015, 01:57:04 PM »
I love this idea. SO and I slept on a mattress topper on the floor for a year, and it was the best sleep I ever got. I couldn't stand the dust when we moved to a place with wood floors though (even if I sweep every day, it gets on the edges of the blankets), so we got our mattress/boxspring back (were lending it to family). When we move back somewhere with carpeted bedroom though...

Never thought about it with a living room though. Maybe we just won't replace our couch after we move. Hmmmm.

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2015, 02:47:40 PM »
I have a toddler, so I spend a lot of time sitting on floors.  I find it hard on my back.

I do have a backjack floor chair (google it) that I absolutely adore.  It's my preferred seat in the living room for when we watch movies.

I kind of feel like a shill stumping a product like that, but this is one I actually use and like.  There are alternative floor chairs out there that let you recline on the floor, but this is the only one I've tried.  I usually have to fight the toddler for it.

dilinger

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 461
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2015, 02:50:25 PM »
Years ago I made a 9ft long beanbag couch based upon this instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/bean-bag-sofa--bed/

Because of the profile, it often felt like lying on the floor, and lent itself well to partial floor reclining.  For example, my butt and legs would be on the floor, while my head and back were supported by the beanbag couch (for watching movies).  It was so much nicer than having a real couch, in terms of flexibility, repositioning (and moving), etc. 

I gave it away when I moved across the country, but boy do I miss it!  Our normal couch has been destroyed by the cat and toddler; plus it's uncomfortable and ugly.

Secretly Saving

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 418
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2015, 07:50:33 PM »
I always make sure that I have floor chairs in my classroom for students.

laka

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 40
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2015, 07:38:51 AM »
So, how do you deal with the dust/pet fur/ I have two cats and a dog, and an old house with worn wood floors (so lots of little crevices in between boards and at baseboards).  I sweep and vacuum all the time, but I feel like whenever I (or the kids) are on the floor we end up just covered in crud.  Would an area rug help? Do I just need to wait for the animals to pass (they're all old, so we've been talking a lot in the house about death, not trying to be morbid)?

Cromacster

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1695
  • Location: Minnesnowta
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #17 on: March 16, 2015, 07:56:18 AM »
I don't purely sit on the floor.  But I do try to get about an hour of floor time per day.  After sitting at a desk for such a long time I have pretty tight hips and hamstrings, which can lead to back problems.  So a combo of sitting on the floor and a new standing desk at work are part of the plan to fix some of my issues.

Retire-Canada

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8678
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #18 on: March 16, 2015, 08:37:34 AM »
When I had an apart with wall to wall carpet and floor to ceiling windows I sat of the floor [no other furniture] on meditation cushions and had a low Japanese style table in the living room for eating on and as my desk.

Worked great. I did use the wall to lean against when I was tired.

My current house would not be an awesome floor sitting environment. My GF owns the furniture so I'm using it, but I've got no desire to own a sofa.

-- Vik

lise

  • Guest
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2015, 08:48:17 AM »
With area rugs and carpet - the dust is still there - it's just not as visible to you!

Bracken_Joy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Location: Oregon
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #20 on: March 17, 2015, 08:29:12 AM »
So, how do you deal with the dust/pet fur/ I have two cats and a dog, and an old house with worn wood floors (so lots of little crevices in between boards and at baseboards).  I sweep and vacuum all the time, but I feel like whenever I (or the kids) are on the floor we end up just covered in crud.  Would an area rug help? Do I just need to wait for the animals to pass (they're all old, so we've been talking a lot in the house about death, not trying to be morbid)?

That's my struggle right now (have a dog, and a very small apartment so dirt gathers very quickly). It was much easier when I lived somewhere carpeted. The carpet holds the dirt "in place". Not good for asthma, but much better for floor living. At my old place, I just did a quick vacuum once a day, a "good" vacuum once a week, and a deep clean with a steam cleaner every few months. The more often I steam cleaned, the more time I spent sitting on the floor- which led to lots of yoga, reading, stretching, push ups, etc.

lise

  • Guest
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2015, 08:33:20 AM »
So, how do you deal with the dust/pet fur/ I have two cats and a dog, and an old house with worn wood floors (so lots of little crevices in between boards and at baseboards).  I sweep and vacuum all the time, but I feel like whenever I (or the kids) are on the floor we end up just covered in crud.  Would an area rug help? Do I just need to wait for the animals to pass (they're all old, so we've been talking a lot in the house about death, not trying to be morbid)?

That's my struggle right now (have a dog, and a very small apartment so dirt gathers very quickly). It was much easier when I lived somewhere carpeted. The carpet holds the dirt "in place". Not good for asthma, but much better for floor living. At my old place, I just did a quick vacuum once a day, a "good" vacuum once a week, and a deep clean with a steam cleaner every few months. The more often I steam cleaned, the more time I spent sitting on the floor- which led to lots of yoga, reading, stretching, push ups, etc.

I love my steam cleaner!  Just hot water, no chemicals!  Yes it is a bit of investment for a good one but I love mine for an all wooden floors apartment. Brand is Haan.  I paid ~ $150 via amazon warehouse deals.  I researched a lot and Haan came out on top.  You can spend less on a shark or bissell.

Bracken_Joy

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Location: Oregon
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2015, 08:37:49 AM »
So, how do you deal with the dust/pet fur/ I have two cats and a dog, and an old house with worn wood floors (so lots of little crevices in between boards and at baseboards).  I sweep and vacuum all the time, but I feel like whenever I (or the kids) are on the floor we end up just covered in crud.  Would an area rug help? Do I just need to wait for the animals to pass (they're all old, so we've been talking a lot in the house about death, not trying to be morbid)?

That's my struggle right now (have a dog, and a very small apartment so dirt gathers very quickly). It was much easier when I lived somewhere carpeted. The carpet holds the dirt "in place". Not good for asthma, but much better for floor living. At my old place, I just did a quick vacuum once a day, a "good" vacuum once a week, and a deep clean with a steam cleaner every few months. The more often I steam cleaned, the more time I spent sitting on the floor- which led to lots of yoga, reading, stretching, push ups, etc.

I love my steam cleaner!  Just hot water, no chemicals!  Yes it is a bit of investment for a good one but I love mine for an all wooden floors apartment. Brand is Haan.  I paid ~ $150 via amazon warehouse deals.  I researched a lot and Haan came out on top.  You can spend less on a shark or bissell.

I was very fortunate to get mine free. A family member had bought it new, used it about 1 yr, then it started to lose the ability to heat, so they replaced it. I spent some time tinkering and found where a connection point was loose. The SO did some of his electrical magic, and boom, new-to-us free cleaner =) I passed it on free to another relative who is starting their life out when we moved to our tiny city apartment with no carpets.

I'll keep the brand name in mind. When we move, I'll definitely have my eyes out for another. (I also only did water, no chemicals, although I would sometimes pre-treat with a baking soda sprinkle, vacuum it up, then deep clean. I did vinegar and water for "dog spots" as well)

ShaneD

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 184
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #23 on: March 19, 2015, 10:18:02 AM »
Another primarily floor-sitter, but I do need something to lean against.

snshijuptr

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 148
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Southern California
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2015, 10:34:49 AM »
We do a lot of floor sitting at our house, but I showed this to my husband and now we are debating getting rid of our kitchen table. I would prefer either a short table or a pub height table for floor sitting or standing. I figure I will just get our folding table back from some friends who are long-term borrowing it while we figured out storage space.

SCUBAstache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1143
  • Age: 38
Re: Sitting on the floor
« Reply #25 on: March 21, 2015, 12:17:20 PM »
This thread is making me really consider selling my couch/chair. I think I'll keep the bed for the sake of the boyfriend. Like most I have an office job and chronically tight hamstrings and hips. I gravitate toward my couch and spend many, many hours lounging passively. It's nice, sure, but definitely a bad habit. I'd like to think I'd be more active without the furniture, or at least have to engage some muscles / change sitting positions more often.

Hmmmm.