A Short Pause for the Office Body

As a keyboard based worker my back often gets achey towards the end of the day and that’s how it was when I went to see Loulou to try out the Buttafly. After a quick look at me in standing, Loulou soon had me lying on the floor with the Buttafly positioned in a comfortable position so that my back was lifted up away from the floor. She told me she wanted me to lie there for around four minutes but even within a minute or so I could start to feel my back settling into a more comfortable profile, and the tension was easing. It was amazing how quickly I could feel the difference as my body adjusted to the new alignment and then when I took the Buttafly out from underneath and laid back flat on the floor I could feel how much my shape had changed. It was even more obvious when I stood up as you can see from the photos. It’s amazing how having the right support can adjust your posture.

One of the things that interests me most about posture is how quickly it can change. Many of us think of posture as something fixed.

“I’ve always sat like this.”
“My shoulders have always rounded.”
“My back has always felt tight.”

Yet posture reflects far more than the shape of our bones. It is influenced by our habits, our activities, our environment, our emotions and the countless ways in which the body adapts to daily life.

For people who spend much of the day sitting at a computer, those adaptations can become familiar. We may not even notice them until discomfort begins to appear.

A different kind of support

When Rob visited, I simply invited him to rest on a Standard Buttafly positioned beneath his pelvis. There was nothing for him to do, no exercises to perform, and no instructions to sit or stand differently. Just an opportunity to pause. Within a few minutes, he reported feeling more comfortable and more at ease. Afterwards (the photo on the right), the changes were obvious to see.

What interests me is how often people describe noticeable changes after such a simple intervention. Why does this happen – and how?
Perhaps it relates to the way the pelvis is supported, or the way parts of the body that are temporarily off-loaded. Perhaps changes in muscular activity. The body rarely works through a single mechanism alone. What remains most important, however, is the experience itself.

Small changes, big difference

The modern workplace asks a great deal of the body. Hours spent sitting, concentrating and engaging with screens can encourage patterns of tension that gradually become familiar.
And yet, a few minutes is enough to interrupt those patterns.
Not by forcing the body into a different position, but by offering a different experience of support.

How often should you do it?

The answer is likely to be different for everyone.
But perhaps the better question is:
How often do you give your body an opportunity to pause, reset and respond?

Sometimes five minutes can be surprisingly revealing.