Inside Yoga 62 (29/10/12)
You might not want to sit down while I tell you the following: according to recently released research sitting down for prolonged periods can not only harm our health, which is something we might say we already know, but this study says that it can shorten our lifespan!
The Guardian reported this week, that the research, from the University of Leicester and published in the journal Diabetologia, combined the results of 18 studies and nearly 800,000 people. It found that prolonged sitting doubled the risk of diabetes and heart disease, and that the risk was not eliminated for those people who took regular exercise. Sitting is a low energy activity and it may be risky because it makes our bodies think we are in energy storage mode. This makes our bodies resistant to insulin (which mops up glucose), increasing the level of glucose in the blood and reducing levels of good cholesterols while increasing levels of bad ones. All of these changes increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The authors of the Diabetologia study say that on average adults spend 50 per cent to 70 per cent of their time sitting down, either at work, watching television or using the computer. These activities use up just one MET (metabolic equivalent) of energy expenditure. If you walk, you burn up four times the amount of energy used when sitting.
The relationship between sitting and ill health has spawned an area of study called inactivity research. Prolonged inactivity has been known for decades to contribute to back pain and obesity; now it seems we can blame it for killing people prematurely. But, as the Guardian pointed out, since most sitting occurs at work, is there anything you can do to reduce it?
Of course, I would recommend yoga as an exercise, and there are plenty of exercises we can do on a yoga mat. Plus walking, running and swimming, playing sport and so forth. But I would also suggest yoga, and meditation in particular, as a method of developing better self-awareness, which helps to make us more aware of our habits and patterns of activity. We can drift through hours of inactivity without noticing how long we have not moved from the seated position, whether it is at home or at work. And then the key is to take action – in other words, if we think “I have not moved for ages” then we do something, and not forget the thought and carry on not moving!
Suggestions at work include using stairs instead of lift whenever possible, walking over to a colleague’s desk instead of emailing or calling when you need to communicate. When I worked as a journalist I used to take the stairs, and sometimes I would run up them, instead of using the lift. There are a lot of opportunities to be more active without resorting to a marathon.
And I feel aware of it now, as I have been sitting at my computer to write this! It is a good time to stretch my legs! To see the Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/oct/21/is-sitting-bad-for-you
