#ErgonomicChairs | Valentina Expressions

Train Ride

Travelling by train through mountains, valleys, forests and rivers is an exciting opportunity to enjoy the panorama of foreign countries and to meet new people. Some travellers get the computer out of their bag and stare at a screen for hours until the arrival, not me. I try to make eye contact with people, and if they seem friendly, I strike up a conversation. Sometimes it is just small talk and nothing else. I love it when I meet someone who will tell me the story of his/her life in just thirty minutes and suddenly becomes a new friend. Usually, women are more talkative and inclined to do that.

A few days ago, during my long train ride from Vienna to Verona, a friendly woman was sitting near me. We started to talk about the fable-like views of small alpine towns. The views were incredibly evocative and the snow was still there in some high areas.
Soon, I noticed she was not sitting in a relaxed way, as someone enjoying a train ride would be. She changed position in her seat often as if she was sitting on needles. Her sciatic nerve had flared up a few days before, she told me, just when she started her trip. That burning, pulling and needle sensation was too familiar to me.

Photo: Nir-Himi-unsplash

After a few decades spent perched on the drawing table, drawing houses and interiors, and after countless hours spent on computer work, I have suffered from lumbar fascia irritation myself, so I understand how painful and crippling it can be. I have studied this matter for so long and deeply, I have tried many solutions and resourceful remedies, so today I can give sage advice, but without the presumption of being a doctor.

I talked about identifying the sciatica type: is it disc-related, is it muscle compression, or is it spinal narrowing? I talked about how to reduce inflammation with the right supplements. Bottom line, no vitamin cures sciatic inflammation and the ageing cells, or so-called “zombie cells” as the lady called them. The most helpful approach usually combines:
Physical therapy/movement;
Anti-inflammatory supplements to regenerate the nerve;
Proper diagnosis of the underlying cause.

Since I developed this problem five years ago, I never took medications; I have been able to keep the lumbar fascia that causes sciatic pain in control. Chiropractic care three to four times a year, a lot of movement, walking, gentle stretches and learning about postures are all the things I do to keep the fascia in check.

The part most people overlook is the workplace setup, where we spend most of our day and where wellness needs to meet aesthetics. Being in the design world, I think of workspace as a designed ecosystem where posture, movement, and visual harmony all guide us into better habits. The goal isn’t ergonomic perfection—it’s effortless alignment.

The first element is the Chair as a foundation of elegance and support (not too plush). The chair for the lumbar fascia issues must slightly tilt the pelvis forward, keeping the hips just a touch higher than the knees and must not be bulky. A foot rest to shift leg position. Use linen, wool, and cotton in the workplace décor. Think European salon meets modern atelier, not office supply store.
The body responds to what it touches and unconsciously releases the tension.

The second important element is a Desk that encourages natural posture. A sit-stand desk is ideal, as the elbow needs to be at 90º when typing.

The third element is the Light, the invisible healer.
Warm, indirect lighting reduces muscle tension. The overhead harsh light is never a good idea in any room. A table lamp with a soft glow creates a more relaxed nervous system, which directly affects pain perception.

Give yourself a posture cue: place a Mirror thoughtfully to bring awareness. Mirrors always speak the truth.

Design movement into the working space, instead of forcing exercise. Create an “Anti-Sciatica Flow Zone” corner, meaning add a soft rug large enough for 2-3 stretches, candles and botanical scents to make it inviting and to calm the nervous system. This is creating a refined, restorative work area, or studio, where sitting doesn’t feel like a bed of needles, the body is supported and movement feels natural.

Verona on the River Adige

We reached the destination: Verona, Italy. We had a long talk, lunched together, and we got to know each other on various levels. We went in different directions. Verona is promising and I have many places to see. Who knows if our paths will cross again? If it will, we were meant to remain friends. Ciao.
Valentina

Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, certified color analyst-therapist, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a longtime blogger. Her books offer non-fictional, practical ideas. These ideas can be applied in the home, fashion, cooking, and travel.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Musical Chairs | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

I was in a deep sleep; nothing was going to disturb that peaceful phase of my rest. Suddenly I heard a sweet melody coming from far away, it was getting closer and closer, finally stopped right in front of my eyes with a curious display of chairs dancing on a music scale, as if the chairs were notes out of a music sheet. I followed the music, smiled and continued dreaming.

That was many moons ago, I was a student in the interior design university. The day after that dream, my class was scheduled to have a test on History of Furniture, which included the study of chair styles in each period of history and each period with its subcategories of every possible ruler or short-lived kings and queens and their short-lived customs. It was a load of information I had to retain and the pressure of doing well was high, at least it was for me, as up to that moment, I had received a few high honors already. At the time, my desire was to become the best home designer known and be empowered with knowledge that would help people improve their life with better spaces, colors, furniture, and lifestyle.

Chair Composition ©Valentina Cirasola

(Above Musical Notes in my furniture board: Free Clip Art by x7Vector).

I saw dancing in front of me Greek and Roman style, Savonarola chair, Chippendale, Queen Ann, cabriolet legs, Louis XV-XVI and all the Louis, freezes and linenfold, Empire style, Liberty Style, Modernism, and postmodern style, Asian style, Italian and Venetian style, French Bergères, fauteuils, Recamier, fainting chairs, gossip chairs and slipper chairs, Art Déco and Belle époque style…..blimey, I am out of breath just thinking about it.
That tune I heard in my dream was “Tea For Two”. I found two versions Nat King Cole played in his days of fame.

That pleasant and sweet dream remained in my memory. Later in the years, I learned one simple thing about chairs: their hidden meaning is POWER. A chair puts in focus leadership, the desire of emerging, acquiring or abusing power. The chair was invented to distinguish humans from animals, but mainly to distinguish the higher strata of society from the plebs and had a resemblance to thrones than chairs. The rest of the people and servants either sat on their knees (as we still see in Oriental cultures), on stones, or on stools and benches without the back.

The word chair in Greek (the base of all Romantic languages) translates in Kathedra. In Latin, the word chair translates in Cathedra as the bishop chair in the cathedral and the word Cattedra in Italian translates in desk from which to teach, thus requiring a chair to sit down and turn the setting into a place of authority.

The expression he/she has arrived often refers to someone who occupies a chair of importance in society, in a political career, as a President of a company, the chair of a University Dean, or the throne of a modern King and Queen, just to name a few. The Pope sits on a beautiful gilded chair.

To dream of being sited on a chair like a throne means the inner self is looking for an exasperated search for power while losing the grip on reality. To dream of being sited in an enveloping chair means to be surrounded by a suffocating female figure, or suffocating family. Interesting? Practically every piece of furniture in dreams has a particular meaning, which always refers to our inner self, searching for something, or emphasizing certain aspects of the dreamer’s character.

(Photo above found on http://naturalresultschiropractic.com/good-posture)

Humans first crawled, then learned to walk, soon after felt the need to sit down and invented the chair. The concept of comfort was not always present in the mind of the chair’s inventors and builders, their concern was to produce chairs fit for power. Today, with the long hours all of us spend at the computer we need to think in terms of ergonomics postures and sit on chairs that are going to protect our spine and knees. Comfort is of the utmost importance, style matters, price doesn’t. Your back supports your life, nourish it as you nourish your brain.
Like what you read? Sharing is caring. Pass it along to someone who’d benefit. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works on consultation and produces design concepts for remodeling, upgrading, new homes, décor restyling and home fashion. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Her new book on Colors is almost ready to be published. Stay tuned for ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors.
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