Dinner is Served (On The Floor)

When I was 18, I had a friend who was a lot older than me and when I visited her the only furniture in the house was a rocking chair (reserved for her partner) and a futon mattress that was used as her sofa. It never occurred to me to ask her why she’d chosen this living arrangement; I guess I chalked it up to her being ‘alternative’. Fast-forward a good many years later and here I am, in my own furniture-less abode.

Getting rid of furniture didn’t happen overnight, in a flash of inspiration. I’d come to loathe all the endless specific exercises we’re told we need to do to maintain health and, at one point, I had a huge list and felt overwhelmed at getting through them everyday. The tipping point came reading ‘Move Your DNA’ and I realised that all of these movements were artificial attempts to deal with a problem that had a simple solution; get rid of your chairs. If the squat is as important as we’re always being told it is, wouldn’t it just be easier if I had to squat because the comfy sofa option was no longer there?

‘The elimination of furniture was a way for us to take a step closer to all-day natural movement. It's an easy step because it does not require more time to move more when you live without furniture. It’s also a difficult step because it’s hard to wrap our minds around the fact that furniture, while completely normal, is entirely unnatural for the human body.’

- Katy Bowman

Dinner | Gua Bao

Slow-cooked five-spice pork

Steamed Bao Buns

Peanut & coriander crunch

Pickled vegetables (mooli radish, cucumber and carrot)

Pork Crackling

Hoisin mayonnaise

Romaine lettuce and spring onion salad

As with everything that’s new and outside your current routine, ditching all your furniture and lounging on the floor won’t happen in an instant. Transition is involved and it’s taken me 3 years to get to the point of not only living without furniture but feeling completely comfortable and at home on the floor. We will make more blogs and videos showing you how you can make the change but the first step is your perception and your thoughts. When you understand inherently why you’re doing something, it doesn’t matter how other people react. Going against cultural norms takes courage and confidence - you might feel embarrassed, ashamed or judged. Don’t go furniture free because someone told you, or it’s popping up on your social media feeds, do it because it feels right for you, because you get it.

We know the sedentary way of life is exacting a huge price - it’s unsustainable for our bodies and for the planet. Too often, we feel powerless when faced with change and slip back onto the sofa and turn on the TV to forget about the state of the world. Well, there’s always something we can do and it may seem small and insignificant but we all need to start taking responsibility for our health - prevention is always better than cure (because sometimes there is no cure). Having a living space that immobilises you and reduces your movement means you’ll have to find that movement somewhere else because it’s a physiological necessity that we move.

Maybe it’s because there’s no specialised equipment involved or money to be made, that going furniture free hasn’t caught on as much as other trends yet comfort at every opportunity creates weakness and vulnerability; we don’t become strong, resilient and antifragile by cushioning ourselves from the world. Removing furniture has meant that I move more and, even though I’ve given up stretching I’m more flexibile than I’ve ever been.

Enjoy a time-lapse of a meal and see how many times we move.

- F

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