Give your back health and posture a helping hand with active sitting

’m going to say two words, and predict that on reading them, you’ll instantly sit bolt upright. Ready?

See, told you. We are all guilty of slouching, especially in sedentary jobs that keeps us tapping away at a keyboard for more hours than is natural. In fact, there’s nothing natural about sitting down all day, biologically speaking. Humans were designed to move.

Yes, there is the standing desk to improve posture while you work, but they feel a little too extreme and in the home they’ll eat up loads of space. When I’m on deadline, I need to be able to focus, not spend precious minutes shifting from side to side preoccupied with thoughts of when I might be able to sit down next. A standing desk might work in the office when I’ve got colleagues to hold me accountable, but what about when I’m left to my own devices on WFH days? Can I be trusted to have my own back?

Over lockdown my WFH office furniture consisted of a dining table and a solitary chair. While I’ve finally swapped my table for a bona fide desk, the hunt for the perfect work chair continues.

While there are plenty of ergonomic desk chairs on the market, the kneeling chair piqued my curiosity. It resembles a rocking chair with added knee pads and works by engaging the core using the three essentials of healthy sitting according to Back in Action: movement, balance and forward tilt.

While office chairs look jarring in a domestic setting, I liked the quirkiness of this curved Varier chair. It comes in a choice of black and light wood frame with a variety of backrest, seat and knee pad colours - I chose a black frame with blush upholstery over the cushions so it doesn’t look too out of place in my living room. The chair comes without knobs and adjustments, arriving in one piece to my door with extra floor shields to protect hard floors. This means you can get to work sitting in it immediately.

After decades languishing in dining and office swivel chairs, this new kneeling chair design offered a fresh proposition for my body. Going in bum-first, I navigated my legs through the gap between the knee pads and tucked my limbs in so they were resting comfortably, toes angled for extra support. This caused the chair to tilt forward ever so slightly so I found myself naturally rebalanced by leaning against the backrest, pushing my shoulders back and torso upright. This is the ‘active sitting’ the brand talks about and it engages your core more effectively.

Sitting in the chair is comfortable, even for a chronic fidgeter like me. It helps that there are a number of ways to perch; in reverse so your chest leans against the backrest; with one foot hoisted up onto a knee pad and even with one leg tucked diagonally under, as is my standard seating style. It doesn’t, however, support crossed legs, a position which has been roundly called out by health experts for its terrible effect on health and posture.

Although I could focus, I found myself getting up more than usual compared to my old chair. This is not a negative by any means; anyone with a desk job knows that they should move more. I didn’t feel as sore once the day was done and while I sat in the chair in short bursts initially, I’m building up to use it more every day.

Slouching is a terrible force of habit that I’ve had for years, so it will take longer than two weeks to unfurl my spine back into its proper upright position. That said, I’m sitting in my kneeling chair more by the WFH day. I like the aesthetic and the colour choice and the fact the 50cm tall seat slides neatly underneath my desk is a big plus. I won’t trip over it or even notice it when I don’t need it.

I can also see myself using it when guests come over as extra seating. It’s unusual enough that I’m sure everyone will want to have a go.