Ever since the lockdown and work from home (#WFH) transition, many people have taken to #zoom or other online portals for almost all things which, at one time, were primarily Face-to-Face events.
Meetings have moved online (I’ve had more meetings with my customers and colleagues in South East Asia since the COVID-19 lockdown than in the past three years!), studies have moved online, tutorials and assignments, and even self-care seminars and programs have moved #online. These activities are evident from #socialmedia posts; snapshots of Zoom sessions, selfies of instructors in front of their respective screen(s), all such.
These photos also reveal one primary mistake:
Ergonomics has been largely ignored!
I have seen people slouched over their laptop screen looking down for long hours! Some of these online sessions are a full day long (with periodic breaks of course).
Looking DOWN at the screen for so long is an ergonomic disaster!
This is the proper way…
Press enter or click to view image in full size Proper Ergonomic Sitting Posture (Source: Internal Office Email from Mike Bailey, Director — Manufacturing Transformation Project)Personally, I have also transitioned to online sessions. The sessions that I facilitate online are a series of talks on the #physicsofpranayama. Pranayama is a powerful & therapeutic breathing technique from the ancient Indian Vedic tradition. It is one of the eight limbs of #YOGA as explained by Maharishi Patanjali in his authoritative treatise on the Yoga Sutras.
#physicsofpranayama sessions are two hours long. And over time (sometimes even multiple sessions in a day), faulty ergonomics catches up. Quick.
Bad Ergonomics is like Stress; it catches up stealthily and by the time one realizes that Stress (or Bad Ergonomics) has caught up with us, it’s already too late.
I have transitioned to an Ergonomically Proper workstation for my series of talks.
Press enter or click to view image in full size The #physicsofpranayama setup. Monitor is at eye level. Camera is positioned to the side of the monitor, also at eye level.The critical position is of the monitor and the camera. In the above setup, both, the monitor (top 1/3rd) and the camera (at the level of the top 1/3rd of the monitor) are at eye level. Of course, there is the mandatory cup of #chai!
Then there is the issue of lighting.
I have seen many people flock to the instantly popular Ring Light available on Amazon. In my opinion, that is not absolutely needed. Why? For that one has to understand the Physics of Reflected Light.
Most light sources have a concave reflective surface as their back cover. The basic idea is simple: Put the light source, i.e., the bulb, at the focal point of the concave reflective surface. Light from the bulb which is going away from the object to be illuminated would be reflected from the concave surface and the total light would be sent towards the object to be illuminated. So far so good. Except…
The concave reflective surface is hardly ever perfect. And the bulb is hardly ever at the focus of the surface. And the bulb is hardly ever a point source of light.
All this leads to the reflected light rays not being perfectly parallel and this in turn results in zones of dark and light on the object to be illuminated.
The Ring Light is a clever solution to this problem of light and dark zones. But, it is not the only solution. In techno we call this “Not a Necessary Condition”.
There are many solutions to the dark and light patch problem.
One is to use closely spaced multiple reflective light sources. Like so:
Press enter or click to view image in full size Home Lamp with multiple closely spaced individual light sourcesThe lamp in the above picture serves just as effectively. This is a standard Home Depot item which maybe you already have at home! Use it!
The multiple light sources in the above lamp cancel out the individual source’s imperfections and largely eliminate the dark and light patchy illumination problem.
The other option is to use a light source which is diffused across a cloth. An example is:
Lamp from IKEA. Bulbs are covered with a fabric across which diffuse light comes out eliminating the patchy illumination problem.This lamp in the above photo is from IKEA. Again, a household item which serves perfectly to solve the patchy illumination problem from bulb light sources.
All this is fine and dandy as long as you’re sitting on a chair and have a desk for the monitor etc.
There are situations for which floor sitting is most convenient. An example of such a situation is where the participants are enrolled into an immersive program involving various breathing processes, like actually learning the Pranayama technique. This involves specific hand positions and sitting posture that usually is not conducive to do on a chair.
Also, some Yoga Asanas are involved for which a floor space with a Yoga Mat is essential.
In such situations, here is my example of an Ergonomically Friendly setup:
Press enter or click to view image in full size Ergonomically Friendly setup for Floor SittingWhat makes the above setup Ergonomically Friendly?
- Back rest while sitting on the floor cross legged.
- Laptop screen is elevated to sitting eye level. This is done via a poor man’s desk aka stacked Amazon delivery boxes!
- Diffuse light (another model from IKEA) eliminates the patchy illumination problem.
- A phone stand (a four for $3 item at Amazon) is used to hold the phone in position to get a full body view while instructing Yoga Asanas:
Press enter or click to view image in full size A cheap (four for $3!) and effective phone stand to position the phone while facilitating Yoga.And there you have it!
Most of the items you need to solve the lighting problem are most likely already available in your home. If you don’t have the diffuse light lamp (from IKEA), be the inventor. Hang a sheet over the bulb lamp that you have to diffuse the light. Be creative! No need to spend the money.
Elevate the monitor or laptop screen up to eye level whether seated on a chair (at a desk) or sitting on the floor. Again, cheap solutions exist: Amazon delivery boxes! Why spend money if you don’t have to, right?!
Now that you are empowered, go make a difference! Change the world to a better place with your online presence.
In the vein of unabashed self promotion (sorry!), if #physicsofpranayama has piqued your interest, browse over to fb.me/physicsofpranayama to take a look! Like/Follow/Subscribe to that page to learn when our next online event is taking place. Events are listed for various time zones:
Press enter or click to view image in full size 28 day touch points of #physicsofpranayama worldwide. 1000 people mark at day 28!In just 28 days, since 20 March 2020, #physicsofpranayama has broken through the 1000 people touched mark! In the process, we have raised INR 307,050/- in India and USD 4,662 in the USA for charitable programs: Gift a Smile (India) and Care for Children (USA).
Both Gift a Smile and Care for Children are doing superlative work bringing holistic education for underprivileged children.
“If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.” — Confucius