How much time do you spend on the floor and how old (ish) are you?

[MarmaladeMarxist]

I've just been to visit my sister and it got me thinking about this. As a deliberate choice her living room has no sofas/armchairs. She's got a kitchen large enough for a wooden table and chairs, and then there were 2 other smallish downstairs rooms that have been knocked through into 1 bigger room and it's pretty much entirely floor based. It feels a bit studenty at first tbh but the more I think about it the more I like it!

There's lots of cushions/beanbags that they move round the room depending what they're doing. There is a large coffee table that they often eat at, a TV corner, and a sort of reading nook. All at floor level. She's also got some low wooden stools that double up as moveable tables. She WFH most of the week and sits on the floor to do it. Her (teenage) DC do their homework, art, board gaming etc sitting on the floor. She is in her early 50s and is up and down off the floor about a million times a day, and it really shows in how easy she finds it!! She was telling me about how one of the key things as you get older is to make sure you get get yourself up off the floor because it can save your life as an older person.

I don't think I could give up my sofa 🤣 but it did make me think about how little I get up and down off the floor and that I should do it more. I did it more when my DC were little, obviously, but as they've grown up it's not something I need to do very much.

Same.

I'm fascinated by these replies. I never ever go on the floor, just my feet. It never occurred to me as an adult to be on the floor. Interesting that it's linked to better health, that makes sense as I find getting up and down awkward but I'm sure if I did it more often it would get easier

I like to watch TV sitting on the floor, with a big floor cushion propped against an armchair. Partly because I can sit closer to the log burner! Nearly 70, do Pilates twice weekly, and can get off the floor without using my hands!

At home? Not at all, but we've got wooden floors and they're super uncomfortable.

When we go to my FIL's house, if there's lots of people, I'll always choose to sit on the floor as it's more comfy than squeezing on the sofa with 3 other people and the dogs come and have a cuddle! 😂

We're going to put carpet in our lounge soon, but I'm not sure if I'd willingly choose sitting on the floor over a sofa!

See I wouldn't say I never go on the floor but I definitely don't do it as much as I should, because I do find it hard getting up and down. Or at least harder than my sister, who just boings up and down without using her hands. I would like to get better at it, so I'm going to make a concerted effort from now on!

Early 60's and up and down off the floor multiple times a day. Always been a floor sitter. Still easy atm. Providing childcare for little DGC definately helps keep my supple. Also worked with little children for decades! DH on the other hand, rarely gets on the floor and the odd time he does, finds it tricky to get up. Similar age.

I often end up sitting on the floor because the dog takes my seat on the sofa whenever I stand up! 65 and no problems getting up from the floor, but I do do Pilates. My mum couldn't even bend down past the age of 50, and I've got nobody to help me lace up my shoes, so I'm working on keeping my flexibility as long as I can.

I go to pilates once a week so am up and down front the floor a lot then. When we have a lot of visitors I am happy to sit on the floor and I sit on the floor to play games with grandchildren.
I couldn't get rid of all my chairs though. I couldn't cope without a dining table and chairs for meals or sofa to lounge on in the evening.
I am in my late 60s

I’m 38 and south Asian, a fair bit, meals are eaten on the floor, we do have a sofa, but unless my husband wants a cuddle I generally sit on the floor. If the kids are at the park etc I’ll generally squat while supervising rather than standing.

I love sitting on the floor too. I do like something to lean against. We have a couple of floor cushions and I've just always found it more comfortable. I've also done pilates weekly for a decade. And recently started yoga. Early 50s. I've arthritis in my hip now and I worry about losing my range of motion.

I dislocated my knee when I was 17 and about 10 more times since and I haven’t got up from the floor easily since. I do it when I need to with DD, I do understand the benefits of it but my knee is already to be honest.

I really find it very uncomfortable and yoga was especially nightmarish - I gave that up!

When you all talk about sitting on the floor do you mean cross legged, legs out in front or kneeling? Even as a child I didn't find sitting cross legged easy without something to lean on. I can get up off my knees without using my hand, but not from seated position. I would turn onto my knees and do it that way.

Thinking about this a bit more, i sit on the floor to tidy, do washing, change cat litter, fill the washing machine, tumble drier, sort recycling. So quite a bit

I’m 50 and unfit.

If I’m doing something - wrapping presents, sorting Lego, folding laundry, jigsaw puzzles - I prefer to sit on the floor as there’s more space to lay things out. I prefer to lie on the floor to read or draw.

When I am at a patient’s bedside, I squat to get myself down to the correct eyeline. It feels comfortable and stable.

However I have always hated standing around for a long time, and whilst obviously I can sit in a chair, I don’t feel relaxed if it goes on too long. Given the choice, I would rather sit cross-legged or squat (although I tend not to squat in this circumstance as it makes me feel a bit self-conscious). I get very fidgety if standing for too long, and would always be the first to give up my seat to someone else and go to ground.

I have always been this way.

The Japanese do this as do Asian cultures. When you think about, by sitting on the floor, they’re in effect doing squats all day long every time they get up and go down! In Asia, in the villages, elderly folk in their 80s and beyond get up off the floor with ease compared to your average 80yr old western old person..lifting weights (in this case, their own body weight many times a day!) strengthen the bones and is very good for your mobility and balance…

I'm fascinated by these replies

They are pretty standard for MNs! How may steps do you do a day? “20,000 before breakfast”. I’m trying to eat more plants, “I eat 30 a day”, etc etc

If the kids are at the park etc I’ll generally squat while supervising rather than standing

I have never seen anyone squat in public whilst having around unless they have been caught short!

I hate sitting on the floor ,I've never liked it even when at primary school !
However I've seen that Netflix blue zone program and how in some countries people that don't have furniture are doing better by having to get up and down on the floor

So I'm trying to force myself to do it once a day....tbh I've been forgetting. You have reminded me !

I'm a natural floor-sitter. 53. Not particularly fit or athletic, but I'm always comfortable on the floor.

My upper back and shoulders can’t stand it. My legs are fine but my shoulders need a chair to lean back again or I’m in terrible pain within 5 minutes. Can’t sit on a bench without a back or a stool anymore. In my sixties

My DDad did this, he had two massive cushions on the floor that matched the sofa. He liked to lay on the floor and watch TV etc, he died when he was 75.

I’m early 50s, but it’s been well over a decade since I was able to get down on the floor, and even then I’d need something to help me get back up! Mine’s due to physical health issues that started (some problems) even before I was 20.
the point made, by your sister, about people making sure they can get up off the floor for emergency/health issues makes sense, however if people can’t even get down there, let alone back up means that it isn’t even possible to “practice”. But I do agree it can lead to emergencies at times I’ve found myself being stuck on a floor after some kind of “fall” and not being able to get up!

I like the idea of this but with kids and dogs (and not much time to clean) I don't fancy sitting on my own floors! Clean floors, no problem

After years of being on the floor with my DC, working with other DC, and now playing with cats and DGC, I naturally gravitate to sitting on the floor. I do have chairs and enjoy a nap on the sofa sometimes, but generally, you'll find me on the floor. (Am early 60s)

I tend to sit on the floor a lot (right in front of my chair!) because I find it helps my back. My posture is better on the ground.

I have never quite understood the importance of getting up without using your hands. I can do it, but my upper body strength is pretty weak because I don't use it enough to support my body weight.

I am thinking of trying to get up from the floor more often using my arms as the greatest loadbearers, just to ensure they have the strength to do so. After all, if you fall as you get older, you might break a foot or leg and really need to know how to get up using your hands and arms as the key support.