How different cultures keep ground movement part of daily life
In countries like Japan, the ground remains a natural and integrated part of daily life. Meals are often eaten seated on the floor, social time happens at low tables, and moving between standing and sitting is something that happens repeatedly throughout the day, across the lifespan.
This isn’t framed as exercise. It’s simply how life is lived.
What’s interesting is that researchers have long observed differences in mobility and independence in populations where these habits are maintained. Studies looking at older adults in Japan have found that regular floor sitting and rising is associated with better lower body strength, balance, and functional independence in later life.
Not because there is anything particularly special about the floor itself, but instead it’s because of what it asks of the body, again and again: to bend and lower with control, to coordinate and have the strength to get up. All of which are patterns of movement we need, but increasingly don’t practise.
Why modern western lifestyles reduce movement variety
In Western life, we have gradually removed these opportunities. Chairs, sofas, raised surfaces and labour-saving conveniences have made life more comfortable, but they have also reduced the range of movements we use each day.
We’re not moving less in an obvious sense. Many people exercise regularly, walk often, and consider themselves active.
But it’s the variety within our movements that’s narrowed.
We spend less time close to the ground. We move through fewer joint angles. We rely less on our own strength to get up and down.
And over time, that changes how those movements feel. It’s rarely sudden, but it can gradually creep up on us. Until the ground begins to feel like unfamiliar and we stop ‘visiting’ for fear we won’t be able to get back up again.
Why it’s not about ability, but exposure
The part that matters – is that this shift is not really about ability. It is about exposure and exposure over time.
If you continue to move through a wide range of positions regularly, your body maintains a level of familiarity with them and therefore capability. You retain options and feel more confident exploring them.
If you stop, those options don’t disappear overnight, but they can slowly become less accessible.
The good news, thankfully, is that this works both ways!
How to reintroduce ground movement into daily life
Reintroducing the ground into your day doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your routine. It doesn’t mean abandoning chairs or forcing yourself into positions that feel uncomfortable.
It might be choosing to sit on the floor while watching television, even for a few minutes. It might be getting down to sort something out rather than bringing it up to a table. It might be playing with different positions while spending time with family at the weekend.
These are small shifts, but they really do have a cumulative effect and it can be surprisingly quick. “That change can happen quite quickly. Very early on in the course I could sit more easily cross-legged on my non-habitual side” was a comment made by Lesley in the January cohort of Reclaim Everyday Ease
Each time you do, you are not just “doing a movement.” You are reminding your body that this is still within your capability. You are keeping that option available.
And perhaps more importantly, you are changing the way you see your environment, not just as somewhere to move through efficiently, but as somewhere full of opportunities to move differently.
The question is worth sitting with (pardon the pun), and perhaps literally so! Not “can I do this perfectly?” but simply: could I spend a little more time here? And what might begin to feel different with a little more practice?
‘Reclaim the Ground’
If this has made you think differently about the ground, and your relationship with it, you might find it helpful to explore that a little further.
That’s exactly what Reclaim the Ground is for. It’s a focused mini course, £49, that takes you through getting comfortable on the floor, step by step and at your own pace, the first two weeks of my fuller method and a complete, doable beginning in its own right.
The body that drifted away from the ground will drift back toward it, given a reason and a little consistency, and this is a gentle way to start. You can begin here: Reclaim the Ground.
Wendy
