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.

Im on the floor quite a lot. Cutting fabric, doing jigsaws, playing with my son.

Does getting up without using your hands count if you have to get on one knee first? I can't do that thing where you just rise up from crossed legs.

A couple of years ago i read a similar thread on here and one of the answers was something like ''On the floor?! God i need about 2 weeks notice to get down there these days!'' and it really tickled me. The honesty and the fact that i agreed! I'd avoid getting on the floor if i could.

Well i started thinking about it and wondered how id become so unfit! Not overweight, but a crap state considering i used to be a super flexible dancer who could easily get up off the floor with feet on pointes and without touching the floor with my hands.

I started the next day - bought a yoga mat and started by just getting down there and sitting down cross legged. Something i used to do for hours. And boy it was uncomfy! My hips hurt and my back hurt. 2 or 3 mins max was all i could do. But i've done daily yoga now for 2 years and i feel so much better for it. My back is miles better, my arms are stronger, and i'm fine being the one to volunteer to go into the depths of soft play and sit and climb and roll about with my little grand daughter 😊👍

Don't be a stranger to the floor!

This is really interesting. A couple of years ago I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor; with my kids etc, and I remember thinking this was a good sign for my fitness and that my parents didn’t do the same at the same age.

Two years on I’m in perimenopause and have loads of issues with joint and tendon pain and although I’m still up and down a bit I find it so much harder. The change happened so quickly.

i really must find a way to be more like your family

48 and seldom on the floor, not age related, just have a lifelong slight hip problem which means getting up and down off the floor has always been a bit difficult for me.

As little as possible due to a knee replacement. If I do i have to plan getting back up carefully as I can't kneel.
It's the reason I left my previous job in a nursery which I'd done f15 years, I spent a lot of my day on the floor playing.

I'm 53.

I have two greyhounds and a cat who between them hog all sofas. So I spend a lot of time on the floor.

I always find eating kneeled down in Asia a bit strange but it’s comfortable enough. I wouldn’t do it in my house because I’d have dogs dribbling over me and you don’t want to get too close to our kitchen floor if you’re eating, usually. It’s not the cleanest.

Almost none. 53 years old.

1 hour/week at pilates
otherwise only when cleaning low things or drying dogs.

no problems with doing so from a physical point of view. I just don’t like it. My parents mainly sat on floors rather than chairs until they were in their 70s. My dislike of doing so is probably a backlash to that.

Being able to get up without using your hands is a sign of core strength and core strength is what is important for mobility and stability in old age, nothing to do with leg vs arm strength (everyone's legs are stronger than their arms, that's why we walk on our legs not our arms).

I wouldn’t give up my sofa but she’s totally right about making sure every day you sit on the floor at least once and obviously get up again.

I do a bit of Pilates most days so am on the floor and then up again.

I work with primary age children so often sitting on the carpet with my classes. I’m mid 50s. I find cross-legged comfortable and sometimes sit on the floor at home but would not be without a comfy chair! Would certainly be cheaper though!

I lived in Japan for a while and that set up was very common, very good for you and I reckon one of the reasons they have so many healthy older people. In fact it was going back there in my 50s that prompted me back to the gym and Pilates as I realised how hard I found it now. Agree with others that having a dog and getting down on the floor to play with her really helps!

Thank you! The 'not using your hands' bit has always puzzled me.

Push up onto your knees? Using core strength. Then you can stand from kneeling. No hands needed.

When I was a student and I'm my hippy days I always had an idea of having floor pillows etc. now I'm older you couldn't tear me away from a comfy sofa.

Not a huge amount. I gave myself a blood clot from kneeling on the floor for hours painting when I was pregnant with DC1. It’s put me off a bit.

We've got floor cushions (as well as sofas!), they are useful for when we have loads of guests but even when it's just the 5 of us DS likes to sprawl on the floor on them.

My MIL had an enormous floor cushion covering the floor in one of the bay windows in her upstairs sitting room. It faced south and was a lovely place to sit and enjoy the sun.

My legs and hips have always been a bit inflexible so it's chairs for me. Mid 60s now. Not been able to sit cross-legged since childhood and sitting on the floor is very uncomfortable.

I do a few exercises most days that include some squats and lunges and purposely getting up off the floor without using my hands - I have strong enough knees for lie-sit-kneel-stand.

My job involves sitting on the floor for up to an hour at a time, up to 8 times a day. But when I get home, I love my settee!

The test for longevity and general fitness is to do it without putting your hands or knees on the ground. I just looked it up.

I can't do it - can do with one knee easily but don't have the core strength to manage without. Something to work on!

Im not sure if its a known thing laying on the floor but I know that grounding techniques often involve pushing your feet into the floor. I also know a few children with SEN especially who prefer the floor. I think its the deep pressure and proprioceptive feedback.

I think Arabic seating is often like this, lots of comfy large cushions on the floor