I’m an active person, and when I’m stuck sitting for 8 hours, it takes all the strength I can muster to keep myself from doing three laps around the office or using my potted plant as an arm weight. I lose focus. I squirm in my chair and try to do stretches, but nothing keeps my posture straight and my mind alert.

So, I started surfing the web for an alternative strategy. I came across the “Balance Ball Chair” on Gaiam’s website. All the reviews raved about how the ball/chair forces them to sit up straight and balance. It apparently comes with all these desktop workouts that you can do once sitting up straight gets tiresome. This all piqued my interest.

I called Ben and he thought it was a wonderful idea, so I went ahead and got the chair. Well, today was my first day with it. I’m wearing a dress and, despite what some reviewers had said, it really wasn’t all that embarrassing. Getting it into the office, however, was.

Naturally, I got the last parking spot – which was great in its own way, since at least I got a parking spot, but it was the farthest one away from the office. So, there I am, rolling my new Balance Ball Chair towards the building and everyone in the lot is just staring. I can only think to myself, “Don’t be embarrassed, Natalie. You’re smarter than they are for getting a great chair that’s going to help your posture and balance.”

But the I more tell myself that it doesn’t matter what others think, the quicker my pace becomes. I get into the building, swipe through security, and get in the elevator. “Phew! I’ve made it.” Then I realize there is a person right there with me and they’re going to the same floor I am. I look up at the digital display near the ceiling of the elevator: 1, 2…

“I’m sorry, but that just looks like a giant bowling ball!” Between her guffaws I looked down at my cute little balance chair thinking, “Strangest bowling ball I’ve ever seen.”

“I must ask, what is THAT?” This was it, my moment of truth. Should I dodge the bullet and say, “Heck if I know, I’m just delivering it to this floor,” or should I own up to my ergonomic values? I inhale. “Oh, well I’m so happy you asked! It’s a Balance Ball Chair. I have terrible back pain at the end of the day and this great “Bowling Ball” is exactly what I need to make sure I stay alert throughout the workday and pain free once I get home.”

She still laughed, but at least I had defended my ways. I trotted down the aisle toward my cubicle and sighed with relief when I finally arrived. “Okay chair,” I thought, “it’s time to see what you’re really made of. ” I sat. Not too bad, but what if I sit with my legs crossed? Nope can still do that, how about if I slouch? Okay…so if I slouch I loose my balance a little. What if I sit all the way forward in my chair? Woah! Completely slip off. I guess it doesn’t actually stop me from continuing all of my bad ways, but it down make them much more difficult to reinforce.

Once satisfied with my chair’s performance in all of my tests, I let it test me. I rolled from my computer to my drawer across my itty cubicle, which was a pretty sticky endeavor, took out the “dektop guide” and opened to page one. “With ball in place in chair, sit upright with sit bones directly on top-center of ball.” Too easy! I kept flipping to something more worthy of the title Cubicle Gymnastics. Then I came to page twelve, “Begin by sitting sideways on lower edge of chair…Lie back over ball, reaching hands and legs out.” Now, that’s what I’m talking about. I locked the wheels so I wouldn’t roll out into the hall and really attract stares, clsoed my eyes and leaned back. (inhale) It felt amazing! (exhale) It was only lunch (inhale) and already my chair was proving to be a (exhale) wonderful investment in ME. The only annoying thing about it is that it makes rolling around your office with ease very difficult.

So, two lessons in today’s message.

1) Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself, no matter how silly everyone will think you are.

2) Try the Balance Ball Chair if you’re having sitting issues or want to prevent such issues from occuring.

(Photo Credit: willspot)

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Gunnar Keep My Eyesight

I’m currently working at Southern California Edison, trying to see if energy policy is more alluring to me than health. And I literally spend all day in my cubicle straing at my computer monitor. Besides driving me nuts to be sitting all day, the monitor is just killing my eyes.
If you have the same problem listen close becuase here’s what I’m doing and it’s working magically for me.

Gunnar Optiks (yes, with a “k”)

If you have concerns over the strain your computer monitor is causing your eyes, I can’t emphasize this great tool enough. I sound like an info-mercial right now, but just let me explain…

I’ve never worn glasses, except sunglasses, and do not want to start now that I’m beginning to spend every work day in front of the computer. I look like a librarian when I have them on, no matter their shape, and even the smallest lenses look huge on my face and I’m too poor to have to need them. Glasses cost anywhere from $100-500 for a reasonable pair from places like LensCrafters and that’s just for the frames.  I am absolutely avoiding them.

So, there I sat in traffic on the I-10 after my first day of work with a splitting headache, determined to find a way to maintain my eye sight. Then I saw it. A giant billboard on the horizon with “Gunnar Opitks” plastered across it: ”Computer eyewear from planet kick@$$.” Yes, I know most bad ideas come off of billboards and late night info-mercials, but I thought, “With this headache, I’ll give it a shot!”

As soon as I got home I went online to find out exactly what Gunnar Optiks were and whether they were a hoax. That’s when I saw that every computer geek website I stumbled across was applauding the new technology, and with so many four star reviews on every website that I had to go in and try them on. I went to their Los Angeles retailer (In Focus Vision Center) and within 10 minutes walked out with my new pair of Gunnars.

They took a couple days to get used to, I have to admit I did get a little bit nauseous form the new perspective especially from the strange yellow tint, but I didn’t go home with a single headache all week. I don’t quite understand how they help, but just by my personal experience they’re really light and they just seem to clean up the images you’re seeing on the monitor. The monitor colors aren’t changing, but they’re just not as intense through Gunnars – they seem more neutralized. But, you should really try them for yourself.

Funny how you must wear glasses to avoid wearing real glasses.

(Photo credit: Spookygonk)

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Balance Ball