STAND UP AND SIT DOWN

                            

You may be knowing that the elephant is the strongest and  the horse is the animal with the best stamina. But both of them do not sit or lie down during day time. Can we affod to do so? If we try, we can definitely do that but at the cost of  bodily injuries. The above two animals are doing so because of their genes. The nature has endowed them with this quality. On the other hand, the man has activities involving both sitting and standing. However, when the balance between the two is disturbed, it brings in its wake pain, stiffness and several physical and mental ailments.  

Acharya Rajneesh once said that behind every physical labour, there is a defective notion that the individual thus would amass so much of wealth that not only himself but his children would also gracefully live without moving their hands and legs. So he struggles for years, earns sufficiently and then loves to be sedentary which begets multiple diseases, denying him the happiness from his hard earned money. Unfortunately heavy body and no work in our society, till recently, were treated as the traits of belonging to an opulent family. People around him appreciate his this extraneous show off.

The modern medical science says that the sedentary and cosy living invites several life-style diseases. What happens is that while working, our metabolism is activated. On the other hand while sitting or sleeping, body functions like respiration, blood circulation, digestion etc. become slow. If this situation is allowed to prevail for long, these bodyl mechanisms start gowing weak and ultimately malfunctioning. That is why, you might have seen high executives standing up from the chair and reading papers. They develop a healthy habit of avoiding lifts, if possible and attending calls on mobile in standing or moving position. The prolonged sitting, which was slowing the body functions, start getting reactivated. If one sits continuously for more than an hour, he should get up or move for at least a couple of minutes. People who exercise for an hour, are in a false world of satisfaction and keep on sitting or sleeping for the remaining hours of the day. They should also several times  reverse the order by standing up. Post- lunch stroll is a good habit.

   Similarly, due to professional compulsions or reasons otherwise, the people who stand longer, are suggested to sit down. In 1970s, when I was in Jamshedpur, I had seen workers of machine tools section, Tisco and assembly section of Telco doing their duty by and large in a standing position. I personally know that most of them had joint pains in feet and waist. There was hardly any even working arrangement to provide the break. I have read about a similar situation in Europe at the time when the first World War started in 1914. The workers in ordnance factories were ordered to multiply production of arms and ammunitions, of course on war footing. As a result, they kept on working in standing position for a much longer period beyond the stipulated duty hours. There the hospitals were full of patients suffering from body stiffness, joint pains, mental heaviness and several other ailments. The govt., under pressure had to provide stools, benches and such other things so that the workers could take brief rests and revive their energy.

The above brief account is there to emphasise that for men, there should be a balance between activity and rest. So if you are sedentary, stand up and if you are the standing lot, sit down. Follow this small tip and ‘khul kar jiyo’.