How to Sit At the Computer

The 4 Essential KENTRO Movements

 I invite you to experience the Four Essential Movements for
effortless fitness and natural ease in all your activities. Begin now
with a free class on sitting at the computer with a healthy back and
free motion.

The Four Essential movements (KENTRO movement 1-4) are

to be practiced before you incorporate the 70 other KENTRO
movements into your activities. Begin by shifting the (1) pelvis (2)
legs (3) torso/arms (4) neck/head into centered weight distribution
with these Four Essential Movements. Practice the centering
movements slowly, with an open mind and relaxed attitude. This
approach allows your body to create beneficial readjustments and to
let go of holding patterns. Practice at your own rhythm. Sense what
feels appropriate. For all KENTRO movements, avoid tucking,
tightening, ‘holding’ or pushing your body. These learned postural
actions constrain joint/muscular function, preventing centered motion.
Expect to feel some ‘blissful’ aches. These sensations
resemble aches or ‘pulling’ feelings, comparable to what you may feel
after dancing or playing a sport. This is actually a positive sign that
tight tissues are becoming more flexible and strong, in a safe manner.
You may feel ‘blissful aches’ in the back, sacrum, shoulders and the
back of the neck. Forget about changing or improving your posture.
Profound release of strain happens when you view your body as
potent, pliable clay.
Always begin your practice with the First KENTRO Movement,
which focuses on the pelvis, the main center for physical strength,
fluid motion and subtle energies (dantien, in Chinese, hara in
Japanese, asana in Sanskrit).
Movement 1
Grounding
 Relax your body, specifically your abdominal muscles and
buttocks, so they can lengthen away from the torso (to be elastic and
strong) as you bend slightly forward, slowly. Avoid tucking the pelvis
or sticking out the buttocks. Place the palm of your hand on the top
of the buttocks (near the sacrum). Tell these muscles to relax,
allowing them to stretch freely. You will sense agreeable letting go of
strain in the pelvis.
Movement 2
Little Moon
 Simultaneously, move your legs slightly farther back, until you
feel most pressure toward the heel and just slight pressure toward the
front of the feet. Avoid tucking the pelvis, sticking out the buttocks or
tightening the abdomen. Instead, simply let your pelvis relax as your
legs slowly move slightly back, to align with the spine. The
combination of Movements 1 and 2 create the firm foundation for free
motion – the grounded pelvis rests on centered legs. Your hands put
slight downward pressure onto the pelvic bones. You will sense
stability in the legs and centered weight distribution.
 Movement 3
Shoulder/Arm Rotation
 In Movement 3, relax the diaphragm and let the base of the ribs
move slightly down, which straightens the lower back. Rotate the
upper arm muscles outward (elbow close to body) and let the arms
move slightly farther back, centered with the thighs. Avoid pushing
the shoulders back, raising the ribcage and squeezing the shoulder
blades together. Your upper back straightens. Sense relief of strain
in the shoulders, straightening in the upper back and increased
mobility in the arms - open bodied expression.
Movement 4
Goose Neck
 In Movement 4, Relax your jaw (chin down) and slowly stretch
the neck and head out front and to either side. Avoid clenching the
jaw and raising the chin, which arches and weakens the back of the
neck. After a moment, slowly move the head slightly back and up,
keeping the chin relaxed and down. This movement straightens the
back of the neck and upper back. Sense more lengthening and
stability on the back of the neck.
Practicing these KENTRO Four Essential Movements -
Elemental Placement for healthy motion – prepares the way for
centering your entire body in all activities. Also incorporate
Elemental Placement before practicing any of the other 70 centering
movements.
 Preparation for
Sitting Up

Often, after sitting up for an hour or so, we feel stiff and tired.
We are frequently told that our furniture is to blame for our discomfort.
By shifting how we sit, we may keep our lifestyle and our favorite
chair. Conventional foam wedges have a fixed form, which generally
accommodates a strained, rounded upper back, arched lower back
and tucked pelvis. These wedges act as a crutch and tend to
promote further compensations. In contrast, the KENTRO method
focuses on home-made wedges (a small pillow, folded sweatshirt or
piece of soft fabric). Fabric wedges are re-shapeable and can be
adapted to the height and bodily shape of the user and in accord with
the shape of the chair. Seats then become quiet allies in providing us
with a pleasurable, peaceful experience of sitting.
Over time, centering our bodies, while sitting up or engaging in
other activities helps us cultivate an exquisitely, practical way of
moving with comfort and ease. We can become more resilient as we
age. We feel at home in our bodies, sense connection, belonging
and aliveness.

Four Guidelines for Sitting Up

Begin with Elemental Placement – the Four Essential KENTRO

Movements. Then apply the following guidelines for Sitting Up with
centered motion. Place a fabric wedge toward the front edge of a
chair.
1. Place your hands on top of the pelvic bones. Relax the pelvis
and bend forward from the hips – as though they were a
‘hinge’. Sense a ‘pleat’ in the groin area (where your legs
start). To ground your pelvis, let the abdominals and buttocks
relax and lengthen away from the torso. Allow a one-foot
space between your knees to center the legs. Keep a little
more space between the big toes than between the heels for
centering the feet with the legs.
2. Sit down on the front edge of the wedge. Bring up the torso
slowly, without raising the ribs. Sense most pressure on the
front surface of the pubic bones. Your pelvis is centered
(thanks to the wedge) and will support the weight of the torso
and head. Your hands may put downward pressure on the
pelvis, to help you sense the pelvic muscles stretch away from
the torso. Let one thigh slant slightly diagonally downward
(with the foot close to the chair) to place your pelvis and torso
into comfortable, centered weight distribution. Extend the
other leg slightly out front so that it acts as a counterweight,
allowing you to bend forward or turn the relaxed pelvis easily,
from the ‘pleat’ area.
3. Continue grounding (relaxing) the pelvis. Move one arm at a
time, keeping the shoulder down and relaxed. Rotate the
upper arm muscles outward (elbow close to body) and allow
the entire arm to move back, centering it with the torso.
Simultaneously, move the ribcage slightly downward. Sense
softening through the diaphragm/solar plexus area, with a
corresponding straightening in the lower back muscles. Next,
stretch your head out front, then slowly bring it back and
mostly up, keeping your chin down and shoulders down and
relaxed, away from the ears. Sense straightening in the upper
back and back of the neck.
4. Drop your hands onto your lap and stay in this relaxed
placement for a moment, giving your body time to realign you
into comfort. Avoid ‘holding yourself up’ and tightening the
abdomen. You will sense no muscular effort in your neck,
torso and pelvis. Continually ground yourself by bending
forward from the relaxed pelvis – the main center for strong,
free motion.
Image of Angie at Computer
With KENTRO practice you may easily lengthen and strengthen your
back by bending forward and typing from the naturally strong upper
back muscles. Avoid squeezing the shoulder blades together and
pushing the shoulders back. Instead, allow the ‘back of the heart’
area muscles to do the typing by letting the shoulders drop away from
the ears and centering the arms, which straightens the upper back.

To tone the pelvis, bend slightly forward with one of your legs
stretched out in front of you (as in image ?). Rotate the inner thigh
outward, to center the leg. Simply ‘tell’ the foot to lift off the floor
without actually doing so. Avoid tightening the abdomen. You will
feel toning throughout the buttocks, core pelvic muscles, abdominals,
thigh and knee area. Practice this active stretch for a moment, then
rest. Alternate legs.

These KENTRO guidelines reflect the essence of yoga in our

everyday actions. Patanjali (the founder of Hatha Yoga) said
“posture [asana] is to be seated in a position which is firm but
relaxed”. A centered pelvis can be our firm yet relaxed ‘seat’ all day
long. Sitting up while meditating, eating, playing an instrument and
typing can all have the same value and centering quality. Combining
Elemental Placement with sitting at the edge of a wedge will free us
into sensing how to sit with vitalizing comfort in any seating position.