7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong (from Cracked.com)

As some of you know Cracked.com is a comedy website that delivers engaging, intriguing and occasionally educational articles on various topics. Today's most-shared entry is on some everyday practices that we apparently manage to get quite 'wrong':

7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong

reply to post by daisyglaze


good thing I don't do any of those things

reply to post by THEDUDE86


Their article titles are deliberately condescending. I eventually learned to ignore since they post some pretty amazing stuff. Actually they were indirectly responsible for my return to ATS after I got into their more esoteric articles. Good job too.

Ive been breathing through my stomach for about 4 years and its the bomb.

Interesting read. For some reason I have pooped at a squatting angle like the article suggests for my entire life. Was actually quite embarrassed about this until I found out that eastern cultures do it this way. Not sure why I do it that way.

reply to post by OUNjahhryn


Good going! I was thinking recently about starting a kundalini yoga program. The exercises emphasize stomach breathing but I'm afraid of the non-physical consequences. I think pilates sorts out my breathing though - all related medical issues disappeared when I started 3 years ago. I wonder how much more we could fix if we simply breathed right...

my sister just had a homebirth baby. She got a pool for water in the living room and squatted in it. Labor to baby only took an hour and a half, she had very little pain and (ewww) no tearing.

The doctors have turned having a baby into a big business, and they are doing it wrong

Originally posted by Tallwater2
Interesting read. For some reason I have pooped at a squatting angle like the article suggests for my entire life. Was actually quite embarrassed about this until I found out that eastern cultures do it this way. Not sure why I do it that way.

Pretty neat. I used to wonder why some cultures still use squat toilets before I read up on the benefits.

Some benefits of using squat toilets are:

It is less expensive and easier to clean and maintain.

It does not involve any contact between the buttocks and thighs with a potentially unsanitary surface.

Squatting might help to build the required exhaust pressure more comfortably and quickly.

Squatting makes elimination faster, easier and more complete.

Elimination in squatting posture protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.

Squatting relaxes the puborectalis muscle which normally chokes the rectum in order to maintain continence.

Squatting securely seals the ileocecal valve, between the colon and the small intestine. In the conventional sitting position, this valve is unsupported and often leaks during evacuation.

For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare the mother-to-be for a more natural delivery.

Squatting may reduce the occurrence or severity of hemorrhoids and possibly other colorectal disorders such as diverticulosis and appendicitis.

Source

So squatting is good, yeah.

Since I don't want to be remembered as the girl who only posts about poop I'll also add that I like the author's subtle pro-Tesla moment here:

The idea that an uninterrupted eight hours is the only sleep pattern natural to mankind is surprisingly recent. Before someone who wasn't Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, people in areas with more than eight hours of darkness usually slept in segments: three to five hours of sleep, an hour of wakefulness and then another three to five hour nap. The hour or so of awake time was used for quiet reflection, sex, smoking and pretty much everything except staring at the wall terrified of insomnia.

reply to post by daisyglaze


It's rather good, although I already knew it all...
What does hack me off is the throwaway line that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. I know that many, perhaos most Americans believe that's true, but it's provably not.
Vicky
Ever hear of Popovism? (A concept invented by the Readers Digest, but ironically, it's an American habit. Next thing, y'all will be claiming to have invented the wheel...)

reply to post by Vicky32


Nooo, the author points out that "someone who wasn't Thomas Edison" invented it. They're pretty anti-Edison over there. I know what you mean though, even though I'm not American (contrary to popular belief, including my own mother's. )

Great stuff. I already started the no soap thing around the beginning of the year, but I see I will have to adjust my practice a little more by going easier with the wash cloth to preserve that protective layer. I can vouch for the fact that my hair is softer and body isn't in constant "reaction" overdrive to all the chemicals in soap. Its a pleasant, strangely peaceful/comfortable thing to take a shower these days.

Next step - get a stool for the bathroom.