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Slouching is traditionally considered to be a “bad” posture — with some claiming it will damage your spine and cause pain.

懒散的坐姿在传统上被视为一种“不良”坐姿，有些人还声称坐姿懒散会对脊柱造成损伤，导致脊柱疼痛。

The great news is that in the past two decades, there’s been a plethora of rigorous clinical studies conducted which have concluded that there’s no relationship between slouching and spinal pain. There’s also no evidence that people who slouch are more likely to suffer with back or neck pain compared to non-slouchers.

好消息是，过去二十年来，大量严谨的临床研究得出结论称，坐姿懒散和脊柱疼痛之间没有关系。没有证据证明，坐姿懒散的人相比坐姿不懒散的人更容易背痛、脖子痛。

There’s also no clear evidence that slouching while sitting at your desk or while using your phone causes damage to the spine. Even the UK government’s latest guidance on working with screens puts less emphasis on an idealised posture at the workstation.

也没有明确的证据表明，办公或看手机时坐姿懒散会对脊柱造成损伤。就连英国政府对于坐在屏幕前工作的最新指导意见也不再强调理想的办公坐姿。

Instead, they emphasise the importance of adopting comfortable positions, varying your positions, avoiding awkward positions (such as flexing or arching your back or neck) and including regular breaks from your static posture throughout the day. All of these tips will help reduce the risk of developing pain and muscle fatigue.

相反，这一指导意见强调，要采用舒适的坐姿，不时地变换姿势，避免不自然的坐姿（比如弯曲或拱起背部或颈部），并在一天当中定期活动一下，不要长时间保持静态坐姿不动。所有这些建议都有助于减少身体疼痛和肌肉疲劳的风险。

There’s a pretty good reason why slouching doesn’t damage our spines, and that is because our spines are designed to allow movements as diverse as Olympic weightlifting to limbo dancing.

有一个很好的理由可以解释为什么坐姿懒散不会损伤脊柱，那就是人体脊柱可以承受从奥运会举重到林波舞等各种强度和形式的运动。

But there is one area where slouching may have a negative effect. Slouching has been linked to poorer information and memory recall, as well as worse mood when compared to sitting upright. These memory and mood problems are shown to be rapidly improved when moving from a slouched to erect posture.

但是坐姿懒散也许会对一个方面产生负面影响。与坐姿端正相比，坐姿懒散被认为会影响信息回忆能力和记忆力，并会让心情更糟糕。当人们从懒散坐姿切换成端正坐姿时，记忆问题和情绪问题都迅速改善。

So if you’re a sloucher, rest assured that it isn’t really bad for you and is as good as any other posture you adopt. Comfortable postures are safe and sitting is not dangerous.

因此，如果你是个坐姿懒散的人，你可以放心的是，你的坐姿不会对你产生什么实质性的有害影响，也不比其他坐姿差。舒适的坐姿是安全的，坐着也不危险。

Overall, the human spine is designed to be on the move rather than static in one posture for long periods, which is why movement and changing your posture throughout the day is important to reduce fatigue and subsequent discomfort.

总体而言，人类脊柱就是为了活动而设计的，而不是为了长时间保持一个静态姿势。这就是为什么在一天当中不时活动一下变换姿势对于减少疲劳和（久坐带来的）不适很重要。