For the past two weeks; I have had a dull and nagging headache — even long after my husband left for work in the morning! No really, all day, all evening - and I find it so difficult to concentrate on my work let alone work creatively!

This was different from other headaches I’ve experienced–it went all the way down my neck
and into my back, and the pain was mainly penetrating at the top of my
head. My two crazy wonderful children had wrecked my leather office
chair and for the last 6 months I have been sitting on a wooden kitchen
chair - sometimes for over 6 hours at a time.

Yesterday I was going to buy a new office chair - the kind that cradles your back and has a gel bottom - yet I hesitated…

This morning; my best friend and business partner called and said “I have been meaning to tell you this for weeks”… (funny how she chose this day) “I
purchased a giant exercise ball and I have been using it for weeks now,
I have had no headaches; no back aches; my posture has improved and
this morning while looking in the mirror - I don’t look like a boy
anymore - I have a waist again!” After a good laugh; I thought I need to check this out!

In my research; I found out that, “Sitting on an exercise ball,
your body is constantly making small adjustments with the postural
muscles, abdominals, gluteals and leg muscles. It is “active sitting”
rather than the slumping and poor posture we develop even in ergonomic
desk chairs.” http://walking.about.com/About_Walking.htm

While I do not make any health claims nor advocate this for those with serious back problems (do your own due diligence and seek the advice of a medical doctor)
I do know that for those of us who spend hours at our desks; this may
be a great and inexpensive option. Even if it is used for a couple of
hours a day.

Who knew a $19 ball was the answer to my two
week headache…the more I researched; the more I found that the ‘ball’
not only was a great Ergonomic solution to the home office; but would
allow people to roll with the punches of their business day too!

Now if I can just keep my kids from playing with my office chair; I could sit down and get some work done!!

Last 5 posts by Amy Ewart

• It's not just about Outsourcing...it's about a Lifestyle! - May 30th, 2007
• In Just 5 minutes... - October 29th, 2006
• Stop trying so hard... - October 14th, 2006
• Solo-E's - Entrepreneur of the Year Award - Nominate Now! - August 23rd, 2006
• Good Morning - Good Night! - July 10th, 2006

This entry was posted on Friday, November 24th, 2006 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Self Employed Work Habits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.