As I hurtle towards the end of my PhD journey, I find I am increasingly forced to sit for long periods of time. Writing, reading notes, teaching my online clients, sitting on long train journeys, sitting through presentations, writing this blog post...

So often seen as a non-activity that erodes the body, stresses the lumbar spine, reduces circulation – sitting has been likened to smoking in terms of the harm it inflicts on our body.

But it's also necessary. We sit to focus, for comfort, for safety. Movement is important, but rather than ignoring its necessity, I've learned to find a way of sitting that grounds me in my body, even if only momentarily.

The key to this is to locate the sitting bones.

The sitting bones (ischial tuberosities in anatomical language) are the hook-like bones at the base of the pelvis (highlighted in red on the image above). They are 3-dimensional, bending diagonally backwards from the front bones of the pubis, so that they are closer together in the front portion and further apart towards the back. They form part of the lesser, or true, pelvis, so often numbed by the tendency to slouch in seated positions.

I describe them as anchors for the spine, the root or heels of the pelvis. They provide a useful portal into pelvic and spinal organisation, reflecting postural habits (tucking or forward tilting), spinal asymmetries (having more weight on one side) and rotations (one sits bone shunts forwards/backwards).

In standing, and lying they disappear into the flesh of our buttocks, making them harder to locate. When we sit they become clear to us, we sense our sitting bones against our seat giving us a useful source of feedback so that we can glean more about our habitual patterning over this central base of support.

When we organise ourselves from the sitting bones, in sitting, we release downward and backwards pressure on the spine, so that posture re-aligns, breath becomes more free and the shoulder girdle can sit more spaciously above the rib cage.

By all means, don't sit if you can avoid it. But if you must, then do find your sitting bones.

Here's a really simple 10 minute practice to help you locate the sitting bones:

Enjoy!

PS: I teach a weekly Chair-based Pilates class online for seniors and anyone who finds getting down to the floor a challenge. More details HERE.

Image: BodyParts3D is made by DBCLS, CC BY-SA 2.1 JP <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.1/jp/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons