Sitting for 7 Hours Feeds Depression

Your brain’s functioning depends on blood flow, which is decreased by prolonged sitting.  In the article Encyclopedia of Depression, published in Psychology Today, author Linda Andrews sites three recent studies that have assessed the psychological effects of sitting:

1. In a study of over 3,000 government employees in Tasmania, Australia, those who sat over six hours each workday scored higher in anxiety and depression on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale than those who sat less than six hours per day.
2. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine studied 9,000 women in their fifties who sat seven hours per day were three times more likely to suffer from depression than those who sat fewer than four hours per day.
3. Researchers from the Society of Behavior Medicine studied men and women to determine if time spent sitting outside of work—watching TV, using a computer, riding in a vehicle, and socializing—impacted mental wellbeing. For women, non-work hours spent sitting, regardless of which activity, had a negative effect. For men, only non-work hours spent on a computer had significant negative impact.

Even breaks as short as a minute can help.

Chunyi Lin, author of our Spring Forest Qigong course, recommends tailbone tapping for one minute between each hour of sitting. The tailbone is a gate for the kidney energy – the life-force energy – to flow. To get your energy flowing, try this:

1. Stand up with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Lean forward so there is a slight curve in your spine.
3. Tap your tailbone and sacrum area with cupped hands or loose fists (check the illustration if you’re unclear of where to find your tailbone and sacrum).