Hi Muraski, Thanks for your inquiry about reading posture. To first address sitting in a chair, sitting has been considered an 'unnatural' posture for our body's. When most of us sit, we allow the spine to settle in such a manner that the vetebra compress heavily into the intervetebral discs. Comparing this to standing, standing actually produces far less compression in the spinal region than sitting. The other factors to prolonged sitting are the development of lower and upper cross syndrome that Dr. Carla Cupido describes well (http://www.myyogaonline.com/videos/workplace-wellness/lower-cross-syndrome) - a significant imbalance of tightening and weakening of tissues can develop. So for sitting, the basic alignment tips are: *find the center of your sit bones and shift your pelvis into a balanced placement. *sit tall out of this balanced pelvis keeping your chest and back open *relax your shoulders as you keep you head aligned over your spine *have proper chair sitting height - knees should not be higher than the hips. *arms should be able to rest so the forearms can find a support just at elbow level - have your reading material at a level that encourages your head to stay upright .... for reclining, there are less issues with gravitional compression on the spine, but depending on your reclined posture, you can still encounter poor alignment of the spine and weakening of back line tissues - when reclining: *insure that your head can totally rest back and be supported - without this support, the front of the neck over strengthens and the back of the neck develops chronic tissue tension due to improper gravitational lines. *make sure your lumbar spine/lower back is not collapsing - explore a variety of cushioned support at the lower back that maintains a natural lumbar curve. *again, watch that holding reading material does not tighten shoulder and chest muscles (hence causing upper cross syndrome) ... overall, become aware of 'blockages' as your posture becomes 'off' - take little breaks to stop, breathe, and do a few short stretches/twists - stand up if needed to reopen the body and get a flood of extra circulation - do some of the seated WorkPlace Yoga Flows in our program to learn how to quickly restore balance even while sitting. Hope this helps! Namaste, Kreg MyYogaOnline

By an expert about a year ago in verdun, CA

Thanks very much for your detailed response. I know now why I have neck soreness! Great tips for reclined reading, and the link to the lower cross syndrome video is most helpful. Cheers!

about a year ago in Montreal, CA

Good recommendations!Another thing people can do if it's possible, is to do the grocery shopping locally, and on foot. There you get the walking, and lifting. But what about posture for reading? Supposing someone reads several hours a day, either at a desk or reclining. What would be the best posture?

about a year ago in Montreal, CA