It was the week before exams in the second semester of 3rd year university. I had recently been told by my academic advisor that I wouldn’t get into any grad schools unless I started to “sprinkle some A’s” onto my transcript. So pressure couldn’t be higher. I devoted the next 7 days to studying – and nothing else.
I spent my time between the typical gray desk chair in my room and the cold metallic chairs of the Science Building. In either location, my sitting position could only be described as “celebratory.” It’s like I had started as a driven, determined, young temp and after busting my hump for 33 years, I was finally sitting in my desk as the CEO for the first time. I was laying back like I MADE IT, which is probably how Drake sits now. It felt fabulous. I reclined as much as I could in my chair, put my legs up on the desk, and put the keyboard on my lap. Predictably, after 3 days in this position, I started to feel some numbness and tingling in the ol’ tailbone area. Who cares, your still a no-talent 3rd year psych student, keep studying.
After the 5th day, I had a full-on bruised coccyx. The only way I can describe this pain is that it felt like I had stayed up all night getting paddled at the local frat house, only they had turned the big wooden paddle sideways and hammered combatively on my tailbone for a day or so. That might be a bit of an over-share, I’ll be more mindful of this in future posts. 
My wife, a loving and supportive woman, but also a smart-alec, was very sympathetic. She decided to get me a gift that would reduce my pain, but also serve as a little jab. She presented me with a fully wrapped box as I was sitting in her living room with her roommates. To my surprise, it was an inflated rubber donut pillow. She and her friends had a good laugh as I took it out of the box. In a show of good faith, and also because I desperately wanted to ease the intense throbbing pain in my coccyx, I put the circular pillow on the couch and sat on it. For a moment, it was actually comfortable, as the pillow protected my most personal of vulnerabilities. Then, I heard a muffled squeeking sound, followed by a loud “pop!” The cowardly pillow had burst. From an inch or two above the couch, I dropped like a brick and sunk deeply into the cushions. In the middle of this old battle-axe of a couch was a thin metal pole, which was positioned perfectly between my glute-hams to take on the falling weight of my entire body directly on my tailbone. I was in so much pain that I think I saw Tupac. I fell to the ground, holding my battered coccyx. In so many ways, I would never be the same.
What did I learn? Well, when I sat for hours in a recline position with my feet up, I shifted my weight from the big meaty thighs and butt, to the poor little tailbone. Essentially, the weight of my upper torso and the weight of my legs were all being supported squarely on my tailbone. To illustrate this, think of sitting upright as the letter “L” and sitting reclined with your feet up as the letter “V.” The weight of the V is being held up by a tiny little portion of the overall letter, while the L’s weight is more evenly distributed. This unfortunate situation is why the V walks funny and is far less approachable.
Sit as little as possible, and sit correctly.