In a world built for sitting, here’s how to stay active — even when stuck inside
[This piece by Manoush Zomorodi also appeared in the Body Electric newsletter. Sign up here for a biweekly guide to move more and doomscroll less.]
It’s the season of “inside.” The kind of weather that turns your home into a little terrarium: warm light, hot drinks, a laptop — and a lot of sitting.
We don’t think of it as a modern invention, but all the time we spend seated is relatively new: For most of human history, chairs were relatively rare (usually a symbol of power), and everyday life involved a lot more shifting, squatting, perching, and getting up and down.
Why we sit so much
Then mass production made chairs cheap, plentiful and — crucially — everywhere. Offices. Schools. Living rooms. Once chairs became the norm, stillness started to look like “proper” behavior. By the late 1800s, seating was being designed to keep bodies in place for repetitive work. Later, school reinforced the lesson (“sit still to succeed”) and television reinforced it at home (“sit still to relax”). Today, phones and computers make it the default. We’ve built our world around sitting.
Where movement fits in
It can feel hard to integrate movement into your day, even when you want to. But movement breaks can help us feel more human, especially in winter.
So here’s your weather-proof challenge: pick two and do five minutes each today.
- March in place (or do arm circles) during a call. You don’t need to be on camera.
- Do laps around your dining room table — bonus points if you put on one song and dance
- Stair loop. Up and down for 2–3 minutes, then stretch, then repeat
- Hallway commute. Walk the length of your home while you scroll (slow enough to be safe)
Forget working out — let’s just interrupt the spell that sitting and staring at a screen casts over us!
More about the history of chairs and, of course, how to integrate movement breaks into real life are in the Body Electric book, out in almost exactly four months.
We love to hear from you!
Send us a video of yourself or email us at [email protected] to share your thoughts on how to keep moving.
Sign up for our Body Electric newsletter, or share it with a friend.
Didn’t hear the Body Electric series? Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the NPR App.
This story was written by Manoush Zomorodi and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour.
Judge rules 7-foot center Charles Bediako is no longer eligible to play for Alabama
Bediako was playing under a temporary restraining order that allowed the former NBA G League player to join Alabama in the middle of the season despite questions regarding his collegiate eligibility.
American Ben Ogden wins silver, breaking 50 year medal drought for U.S. men’s cross-country skiing
Ben Ogden of Vermont skied powerfully, finishing just behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway. It was the first Olympic medal for a U.S. men's cross-country skier since 1976.
An ape, a tea party — and the ability to imagine
The ability to imagine — to play pretend — has long been thought to be unique to humans. A new study suggests one of our closest living relatives can do it too.
How much power does the Fed chair really have?
On paper, the Fed chair is just one vote among many. In practice, the job carries far more influence. We analyze what gives the Fed chair power.
This complex brain network may explain many of Parkinson’s stranger symptoms
Parkinson's disease appears to disrupt a brain network involved in everything from movement to memory.
‘Please inform your friends’: The quest to make weather warnings universal
People in poor countries often get little or no warning about floods, storms and other deadly weather. Local efforts are changing that, and saving lives.
