A Tale of Two Seats
Isn’t she a beauty?
Last week, in the midst of a Zoom webinar, my body revolted. I’d been trying to adjust in my seat to get comfortable. I raised it. I lowered it. I scooched back a bit. I tilted forward. I put a block under my feet. Nothing worked. My bum hurt. My back pinched. My neck scrunched. My thighs ached. And no attempt at adapting to the seat made a bit of difference.
This was a seat I’d ordered from IKEA two years ago. It was really a stool, though marketed as an ergonomic one: adjustable in height, padded for extra comfort, swivel-able and tiltable for a range of movement, no back and therefore less confinement. And sleek to boot (I’m a sucker for clean design). Also, it was a steal at €80. (That should have tipped me off.) It must have suited me in the beginning, or I would have sent it back. Over time, as little discomforts showed up here and there, I think I just blamed my increasingly cranky body and not the stool itself.
Last week I had an epiphany: maybe I should stop blaming my body and consider that the seat itself was not providing the support my body needed. And besides, it was a rather dull grey, in a space splashed with much more vibrant color.
After the webinar ended, I got back online and started researching proper office chairs. The search was dismaying at first. There were the high-end chairs going for upwards of €600. Less expensive ones had reviews that were less than encouraging. Almost all office chairs seemed to fall within a color range of black to a rather dull grey.
Then my eyes fell on the one. It was initially the color that drew me: a dusty pink. Then the sleek design. (Yes, I’m a lookist). Then the ergonomic features, which included a back and arm rests. Then the reviews, which raved. And finally, the price: half of what those high-end chairs were going for.
I’ve now been sitting in dusty pink chair (I’ll call her Rose) for a week, and my body is in slow and steady recovery. I have to remind myself that I don’t need to hold my spine erect: the back rest does that for me. Relaxing into that is a revelation.
I’m writing this not just to give you an insight into my ongoing interior decoration in my Sidecar atelier. Two related threads stem from this:
Listen to your body
Literally. Seriously. Our bodies are talking to us all the time. Our senses are radars helping us orient ourselves in a rather chaotic world. Our nerves send us signals about what to pay attention to, especially when they are under stress. Sensations in various parts of our body are clues to emotions that may take us time to fully recognize. Those ‘gut feelings’ are years of lived experience now showing up as wisdom.
Treating our bodies to support - whether that’s a dusty pink office chair, a good nights’ sleep, healthy meals, a relaxing massage, or simply quiet time in a calm setting – is an investment in our overall vitality.
Don’t stay too long in a seat that doesn’t suit
And here I’m going to get metaphorical. Just as literal seats can get uncomfortable after a while, so can metaphorical seats, i.e. jobs, roles, ways of being. Rather than ignoring signs of discomfort, get curious about them. It’s too easy to start blaming ourselves and trying to adjust and adapt so that the seat feels more comfortable – or deciding the discomfort is the price we pay for staying in that role. Perhaps there are some adjustments that can create greater comfort. And once those have been explored and they aren’t enough, it may be time for a new seat: a new job, a different role, another way of being that feels more like the real you (and not the one you’ve molded yourself into and tried to accept).
When those epiphanies hit you, or even if it’s just a still, small voice buried somewhere in your ribcage, I invite you to reach out to me. I’m here in my (ergonomic, sleekly designed, dusty pink) Sidecar ready to provide you that support that perhaps you’ve gotten used to not having – like the backrest that didn’t exist on my stool, and oh, I’m so glad Rose does!
I can provide:
- Job search guidance
- New horizons exploring
- Adapting within present realities adventuring
- And other ‘ergonomics for the soul’ support
Speaking of bodies and seats, a couple of notes:
- I have one seat left for Sidecar Summit Portugal, November 20-24. Come join us to explore ‘Vital Leadership,’ which includes the wisdom of our bodies. Seats at Quinta Carvalhas are comfy!
- I’ll be co-facilitating a 3-session webinar with Dorchess de Koning of Awe Academy about the wisdom of the body. More to come in an upcoming bulletin. First session scheduled for October 22. (Time to order a comfortable seat!).
Yours in knowing when the seat fits, and when it’s time to shift –
Bridget
