I was recently sent a link to The Ultimate Guide to Workstation Ergonomics, over at HR World. While the tips offered are basic – though helpful – what I really think is great is the extensive list of links below, to all kinds of resources that might be useful if you're trying to learn more about ergonomics and your options. Check it out. 

To their list of recommendations, I would personally add:

11. Find a body-mind class of some kind, whether it's yoga or Feldenkrais or Tai Chi or whatever... just something that is going to help you start to learn to listen and respond to your body (as most people in our culture are pretty adept at ignoring its signals), while also building strength and flexibility. Just jump in – it's never too late to start.

12. Invest in bodywork (massage, craniosacral therapy, one-on-one Feldenkrais, etc) with someone who comes highly recommended. There are many different modalities out there, so ask around, and don't be afraid to try a few people until you find someone you want to work with. (Same goes for yoga teachers, actually!) Think of the money you spend as an investment in your well-being, rather than a frivolous splurge.  

Oh noes! You may remember a while back, I wrote a post about the perils of bad computing posture. Many of you probably read it, shuddered, and carried on merrily with your poor postural habits... yes? (Trust me, I am not nearly as much of a model for proper ergonomics as I wish I was. I count myself among those of you who did not rush out to change your entire set-up.)

Well, today, via my friend the Instapundit (who has kindly linked to me on a number of occasions), I came across this quite distressing article. 

Read 'em and weep:

• Back specialists say as many as four in five patients have chronic nerve damage caused by working on portable PCs.
• One expert said he had seen dozens of Xrays showing signs of degeneration in the joints of regular laptop users.
• He is also quoted as saying: "I also see many people in their twenties and thirties with a dowager's hump - a rounding at the base of the neck - after only a few years of looking down at a small screen while sitting slumped on a chair for long periods."

Watch out, my friends. You only get one body in this lifetime. 

So what can you do?

• Take regular body breaks. Stand up, move around. Do some stretches right in front of your desk. (Look for the YFG podcast coming soon, I promise.)
• Get a raised laptop stand and external keyboard for the bulk of your computing. Try not to spend hours in compromising positions (like slumped in a chair with your laptop on your knees).
• Get a good chair. I didn't really understand the power of a good chair until I started borrowing one belonging to a friend where I work... and completely fell in love. I have never felt anything like this chair (it's a Keilhauer and sadly retails for $1200) and I swear I could sit for hours in it without getting most of the weird pains that other chairs cause. I actually spoke to an industrial design / human factors / ergonomics guy recently who told me that you really do have to spend at least $500 to get a quality desk chair. Start saving. It is worth it. If you spend as much time in your chair as you spend in your bed, shouldn't you make sure it's supporting you?
• Take stock of where you could be more effective with your time. If you find yourself wasting time online a lot, you might as well be going for a walk, or doing anything else that gets you out of your chair. Laundry! Play with your kids! Take a yoga class! Your body will thank you. 

I really can't stress enough how important it is to take responsibility for your body before things get bad. Sometimes we avoid making changes because the scope of the issue feels too big (ie, you don't know where to start). So take a deep breath, accept the way things are right now, and start to make small changes. You deserve to be comfortable in your one blessed body.

Watch out – your poor geeking-out posture stands to do you more harm than you might realize.

My friend Thomas sent me a link to an article that pretty much sums up why I think Yoga for Geeks is particularly necessary and timely these days. (Of course, geeks aren't the only ones who spend too much time at a computer... these days, a lot of people do, many of whom would never identify as geeks. But since I have such a fondness for so many of the loveable, hunched-over geeks that I know, I'm choosing to put my energy in that direction).

It shouldn't come as a surprise if you've been paying attention to your body *at all*, but as it turns out, "a slew of ergonomics and other posture professionals... all voiced the sobering truth that human beings were not designed to fold themselves into computer workstations each day." And in case you were wondering,

"The most egregious ergonomic crimes I see include sitting without any back support for more than one hour at time; extended reaching in any direction, causing problems for the shoulders, neck and upper back area; awkward neck positioning and rotating the neck repeatedly; and people … pitch[ing] forward off their chairs," said Deborah Read, MOTR/L ergonomics consultant.

Also really bad, apparently (and also unsurprisingly), is cradling a phone between your ear and shoulder. Buy a headset. (I'm guilty.)

What probably scared me the most was the description of the earliest warning signs of repetitive stress problems – because almost everyone I know experiences them. These include tightness and soreness in the upper back and shoulders, and unfortuantely people tend to carry on as usual until they have symptoms down into their wrists and elbows.

Most geeks I know describe pain around their shoulder blades and upper back. Almost everyone has this pain right where your arm joins to your back, kind of around the back of your armpit on your mouse arm. (You know the one. And you know what it's from.)

So what are we doing to ourselves!? Are we all going to end up crippled down the road? Are we all going to end up dropping out of the wired world and moving to a small community to walk barefoot and free in our organic gardens, where our bodies can slowly return to a state of ease and comfort? (Oops, perhaps that's just my own fantasy.) Will technology save us and will our governments start providing all computer workers with proper workstations as a public service?

My advice is to take this stuff seriously, starting now. If you want to be able to keep saving the world through code, design, and online communtiy building, you'd better start making it sustainable.

• If you can afford it, invest in better equipment for your workstation.
  
• Don't sit slouched over the laptop for hours.
  
• Drop and relax your shoulders.
  
• Take regular breaks to stretch your neck, shoulders, and wrists.
  
• Don't ignore persistent pain.
  

And dammit, go to a gentle yoga class (or tai chi, or pilates, or whatever) once in a while. Your whole self will thank you for it.