Victory...and a question.

Body: 

Hi! Just had to share a little victory...well, a big victory for me. I'm new to Whole Woman and liking the support I see in the forums. Having read several posts, I guess I can consider myself blessed - because of the singing I do, I am aware of the natural posture and have always "listened" to my body, trying to correct things that just did not feel right (like lumbar support in a car seat not feeling like it is in the right place no matter how I adjusted it). This website and the DVD, First Aid for Prolapse, has enlightened me to how important it is to remain mindful of posture in all things one does. So when hubby and I went to a fall festival yesterday, I tried to be mindful of how I was walking and moving about, trying to maintain correct posture. We were on hard ground and asphalt for over 5 hours, breaking only for lunch and I managed to survive the whole day with no back, hip or knee pain, and very little ankle and foot pain. Yeah, me! Have had a few twinges of pain in the lower abdomen in the evening and today but they have been brief and easy to deal with. Hoping the WW workout will ease that as I work the program.

I have not had a chance to order the book, Saving the Whole Woman - hope to do that this week - but was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers. I have a desk job and sit most of the day. My job is shared between two departments. One position is at a desk that is really built too high so I have to keep the chair higher than I care to. Because of the hip and low back pain that I was experiencing, I did get an adjustable foot rest so I can keep my knees up and thighs more parallel to the floor. The other position is at a desk that is at a more correct height but the chair is really poor quality...not as adjustable as I would like, so again I use a foot rest to ease the hip and back discomfort. Both have armrests which do not make it easy for sitting in a position other than feet on the floor. I tend to scoot forward in chairs to avoid slouching against the back rest and to make sure that I sit up straight. Is there anything else I could do to protect my posture? Or do I just struggle though the work day, maintaining posture when I am standing or walking, and just be more mindful of sitting posture when I am home? The process to replace furniture at work is awkward at best so I may have to make due with what I have, but I would take suggestions into consideration in this area and discuss options with my supervisors.

Thanks for everything, ladies.

Forum:

I can certainly relate to problems with office furniture. I inherited a chair with my current position 5 years ago, which was before my prolapse "discovery", and was still sitting in it 3 years ago when prolapse knocked on my door. I'm pretty sure that chair did me NO good. This chair was big and soft and low and refused to roll around and forced me to sit with a really really collapsed spine. I eventually swapped it for someone else's reject chair - they thought the seat was too hard, but it was perfect for me. The angle of the seat had something to do with this - or should I say, no angle. It was parallel to the floor which meant that I could sit towards the front of the chair, I did not have gravity pulling my butt towards the back. This angle is sometimes adjustable in chairs.

Do the best you can. Any kind of rest or cushion that keeps you from sitting back will help. Experiment and don't be afraid to ask for something different. - Surviving

A chair that has a seat that is truly horizontal is really the best as Surviving has found. You could make or buy a small cushion filled with some buckwheat husk. This is a wonderful filling material because it sits where you put it, enabling you to make the cushion higher at the back and even smaller at the sides for those annoying seats that have raised sides, that force your thighs together. It doesn't collapse like many of the synthetic fillings, and it does breathe.

There are many ways of killing a cat.

Louise