02 February 2007

Yoga Ball Chair


When I first started working at my current workplace I inherited a broken chair. I told my boss the chair was broken and she told me I could go over to Relax the Back and pick out any chair. She gave me a rough guideline of $1,000, but said it was okay to go over if the most comfortable chair was more expensive. The generosity of this offer pretty much blew my mind. I like expensive things, but I'm pretty careful when other people are paying, so I chose this $100 yoga ball chair from Gaiam. It's basically just a yoga ball sitting in a plastic frame. Although it has a back, you're not meant to lean against the back. The whole point is you use your own body (your muscles) to hold yourself nice and straight on the ball. The fact that it's round and bouncy makes your body adjust itself slightly constantly, which keeps you feeling fresh and alive, instead of stiff, sore and fatigued.
I liked sitting on the ball chair, but I didn't like the cheapie wheels, or casters, or the cheapie frame. The chair doesn't roll very well, and also, if you're wearing certain fabrics, the texture of the ball will kind of grab the seat of your pants and pull them up your ass. I would love to see someone design a better yoga ball chair frame.
The ball chair is a great conversation piece. Everyone who visits our office wants to talk about it, ask about it, and sit on it.
Everyone either loves it or hates it. To me, it's better than a regular office chair, even the fancy Herman Miller ones. But the things I dislike about it, I REALLY dislike about it.

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