Not sitting 'normally' on sofa

[sunshine244]

I've had several appointments at home recently. People come in and sit on my sofa like they are supposed to - sitting upright, feet on the floor. They look totally comfortable that way.

It made me really conscious that I never sit on a sofa like that. I generally sit sideways or with my feet up. In the evening watching tv I often lie down. If I try to sit 'normally' I end up with a minimum of a knee up on the seat and it still feels far too unnatural and uncomfortable.

Aibu?
Yes - learn to sit on the sofa like a proper grownup
No - no one sits upright on sofas

I lie on a sofa length-wise (as in its foot/my feet are facing the telly), propped up by lots of cushions, feet up on the arm and often under a blanket.
DP has his own sofa and assumes a similar position.
Lodger sits/lies on the 'long' bit of an L-shaped modular thing.

No one sits 'properly' in our house when we're watching telly. It's all about the slouching If I go to someone's house and the form is obviously for sitting 'properly', I feel like I'm in a waiting room or something, and tend to tuck my feet up under me to try to feel a bit more cosy.

However, if someone came to the house for an appointment and we used the sofa (I wouldn't, I'd be more likely to sit them at the table, but for the sake of argument) I'd find it a bit surprising if they leaned back and propped their feet up. Don't know why, really; it seems a bit hypocritical

I’d sit uncomfortably in other people’s houses ( straight), then all over the place on ours😅

Isn't this part of the reason for the couch at the therapist?

I always put my feet up at home- either curled up under me or stretched out on soft cubes I keep in front of the sofa for that purpose. It’s not comfortable to sit “properly” on most sofas, because they’re too deep to sit with both your back supported and your feet on the floor. Nothing to do with core strength, my core is fine. In fact, I’d much rather sit cross legged on the floor than perch on the edge of a sofa like a nervous little bird.

I never sit normally on my own sofa but I always would on someone else’s (unless it was a close friend or family member).

I think these days lying down on the sofa is generally not encouraged…

You can't compare people visiting in a professional capacity to people just chilling in their own homes

I never sit on anyone's sofa with my feet on the floor , my legs just spring up into comfy mode 😀

I always have my feet up. I think it's circulation related, as I'm uncomfortable with them down.

I never sit "normally" at home either, I sit like you do. I will curl up in an armchair too.

If I were to someone else's house I would sit normally unless I knew them very well.

I'm fairly short so most sofas are too deep for me to sit normally on unless I have a cushion behind my back.

It's also a running joke in the gay community about not even being able to sit on a chair straight 😂

At home I sit on my right hip, right leg bent and flat on the couch in front of me, left leg bent upwards so left foot rests on top of the right foot, left elbow rests on the upright left knee with arm bent so hand can fiddle with hair/ears/face/necklace, and right hand feeds the face/doom scrolls on the phone/moves the curtain so I can see who is outside.

In other people's houses, I sit like I have manners.

My husband sits “properly” on the sofa and is weird! Sofas are made form slomping about on

Haha.... I always behave myself at other people's houses. My family all sit on sofa's 'properly'. Friends a bit more mixed. When I get the opportunity I prefer to sit on the floor or a beanbag etc at friends houses as its easier to have legs moving.

I wouldn't expect a professional to lounge on my sofa. I think it was more that everyone else looked comfortable sitting upright but I found it excruciatingly hard to do it for such a long period.

Maybe I need more work on core muscles although ADHD is also a factor probably. I just can't see how it's comfortable sitting still like that.

Omg this used to be me and i remember googling why

Not just sofas, any chairs

A decade later i started getting a bunch of awful weird symptoms and was diagnosed with pots

Its because of blood pooling in the legs

Mine wasnt as severe as it is now, now i can see my feet turn bright purple, feet were fine back then

But i suspect i always had it, it was just very very very mild/non existant back then

Being unable to sit normally was my first and only symptom since i was a teen

I always end up putting my feet up too. As a pp said, I think it’s cos I have a weak core that I can’t support my middle well in the normal sitting position

I had a guest do that barely 10 minutes after he’d arrived! A Canadian cousin of about 50 who I’d never even met before!

I sometimes catch myself in some very odd positions on the sofa & wonder Wtf I'm doing. Often I'll be sat on one of my feet, or both legs resting over a dog, or half laying & holding out one leg at a time - sometimes both, nothing wrong with my core strength -, one leg twisted behind me.

Sitting 'normally' (car, train, plane, cinema, restaurant) is really uncomfortable & I fidget like mad, usually have to sit with a foot tucked under my bum.

My feet never touch the floor when I'm on the sofa. Either cross-legged, or just curled to the side. Maybe if I was in a "polite" situation, but even then I'd struggle. It feels so... unsafe to have your legs dangling there...

I bought a sofa with high arms so I could sit with my back against the arm and legs outstretched

If course I would sit properly if visiting people.... Apart from a few friends where we lollop on the sofa

Do what you like. Why do you care what's 'correct '?
P.S. no such thing. At 5 ft 1 my feet don't hit the floor on most sofas.

My mum insisted I take piano lessons. First from Nana & then from a teacher. I took them for years, but was never very good.
But one thing they taught me was excellent posture.
I can’t slump on the sofa or an easy chair without correcting my posture.
It sucks sometimes.

Surely there isn't room for everyone to sit with their feet up on sofas if you have guests round and no-one wants someone else's feet next to them. Lolloping around is for when you are at home with no guests

I would sit perched on a sofa if visiting someone I don't know/in a professional capacity

At a good friend's house I will lean back /slouch a bit

At my family/at home I lie down, neck propped up. It took years of DH telling me this wasn't normal before I finally found out there really was a medical cause (I have a rare neuromuscular junction disorder so by the end of the day my head literally feels like a cannon ball on the end of a string ).

The vast majority of sofas aren't designed to be sat upright on unless you have some weirdy gigantuan proportions. Most chairs are also designed to be bloody uncomfortable too.

Unless there's a foot rest there's no choice but to curl up on a sofa because it's ridiculous to sit upright with your ankles wraggling off the end and deeply uncomfortable too.

I have to sit cross legged on most office/ dining chairs because dangling, unsupported legs get painful quite quickly. Lots of cars also have stupidly deep seats that dig in behind the knees and in some cases obstruct the angle necessary to reach the pedals for driving. Many cars are painful to drive, triggering cramps after quite a short period because of the pressure points and tight angles. As a passenger I often have to sit cross-legged on long journeys because of the strain on my knees from stretching around overly long seats.

Sitting on the foor beats most chairs and sofas.

The world is not designed for the comfort of averagely short women!