4 of Clubs - Sit on the Floor

Here are a few methods to get started with floor sitting. Remember to pay attention to your body to avoid injury and pain while attempting this tip.

If you experience any chronic joint or back pain, please use caution when attempting floor sitting. Seek advice from a qualified health professional.

Kneeling
Kneeling is a common floor posture. To kneel on the floor:

1. Start standing and step one leg back while shifting your weight to the front leg.
2. Slowly and gently lower your back knee to the ground. Keep the toes on the floor and ankle flexed.
3. Place your shoulders over your hips. Lower your front knee to the floor. Place your knees shoulder-width apart. Rest your buttocks on your heels. To help reduce pressure on your knees, it is an option to bend one knee and plant your foot on the floor. Another variation is to kneel on a soft mat (Nunez 2020).

Cross-legged
Another common floor position is sitting cross-legged. To do it:

1. Sit on the floor. Bend both your knees, moving them outward. Place one foot under the opposite knee.
2. Shift your weight to your hips, instead of your feet. Place your belly over your hips. To help decrease pressure on your hips, use the edge of a folded blanket to sit on and/or place cushions beneath your knees (Nunez 2020).

Bent sit
If you suffer from knee or ankle discomfort, the bent sit is a good alternative:

1. Sit down on the floor then bend both your knees and plant your feet on the floor.
2. The feet should be placed wider than hip-width apart. A wider stance will prevent you from rounding your back. Ensure the belly is over the hips. (Nunez 2020).

There are several advantages of sitting on the floor.

Firstly, the reinforcement of better posture and body stability is an advantage. Floor sitting forces you to engage your core for stabilisation since there is no assistance from a chair.

Secondly, there is less hip tension as prolonged chair sitting can potentially make your hips tight and stiff. Sitting on the floor it allows a person to easily stretch the hip flexors.

Thirdly, sitting on the floor increases flexibility. Seated positions allow a person to stretch their lower body muscles more.

Finally, it improves mobility and promotes more muscle activity through the action of actively stretching certain muscles. The postures of floor sitting require more muscle activation than from sitting in a chair (Nunez 2020).

The negative prolonged chair-based sitting impacts of both the physical dimension such as musculoskeletal pain in the body and swelling of lower extremities and the mental dimension such as chronic stress, mental health issues and poor academic performance are well researched.

Meanwhile, the traditional way of ground (cross-legged) sitting seems to have positive effects on these dimensions. Within the physical dimension, cross-legged sitting improves blood circulation, back/core stability, and overall body flexibility. Within the mental dimension with the aid of enhanced concentration or meditation, cross-legged sitting can induce a calming effect to help with stress reduction. Additionally, the supplementary long term health benefits are balancing the body energy systems and improvements in longevity (Srivastava and Atreya 2024).

Small changes CAN make a big difference – that’s what The 1% Club is all about.

More helpful tips here:
https://www.healthline.com/health/sitting-positions

A useful demonstration video here:
Clark D. (2017). 4 ground positions for improved sitting & better posture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTN63spRXj8

Nunez, K. (2020, June 25). Sitting on the floor: Benefits, precautions, and best positions. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/sitting-on-the-floor

Srivastava, A., & Atreya, S. (2024). Comparing the Pedagogical Setup of Contemporary Chair-Based Sitting With Traditional Indian (Cross-Legged) Way of Ground-Based Sitting: A Narrative.

Clark D. [MovNat]. (2017). 4 ground positions for improved sitting & better posture [Video file].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTN63spRXj8