Guess what? Gravity owns you. Sure, you can escape it for a few quick (and messy) seconds in a famed “vomit comet,” but eventually you’re going to come back down to earth.

Well, the very same force that’s perfect for keeping paddleboats and livestock from floating around, isn’t so great for our bodies. In fact, gravity + poor posture is really harsh on joints, muscles and vertebrae. 

Over time, hunching forward (lordosis) or arching backward (kyphosis) can tire and even injure the back and neck. And even sitting perfectly upright at a 90-degree angle isn’t great for the body (contrary to your math teacher’s scolding), and neither is lying flat at 180 degrees. Turns out the ideal body posture angle - or “neutral posture” - is actually somewhere around 130 degrees.

How do we know this? Some very smart people told us. In the ‘70s during its SkyLab program, NASA coined the term “Neutral Body Position” on discovering that when the human body is completely relaxed and not influenced by gravity - either in space or to a large degree when floating in water (dead man’s float position) - joints naturally assume a “muscle neutral” position. (Interesting to note NASA’s studies occurred at the outset of the computer revolution, which would quickly introduce terms like repetitive stress injuries, cumulative trauma disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and carpal tunnel syndrome to mainstream America.)

In this neutral posture - such as achieved in Human Touch Perfect Chairs - the vertebrae achieve optimal, equidistant spacing, easing the effects of gravity’s constant strain and pulling. Gravity might be boss, but it’s good to know you can take a vacation from it.

The last three months have been incredibly hectic for me.

I accepted a new job with a startup company near San Francisco at the beginning of April.  Two weeks later, I headed west, leaving Colorado behind with only the following possessions in the back of my Toyota Matrix: 3 bicycles, 3 pairs of running shoes, one suitcase full of clothes – and my Human Touch massage chair!

I wish I had a photo of it – it was impressive that I could fit it all in.  However, the chair packed down quite nicely and could be carried easily by two people (in this instance, by my friend Lauren and me).

I still do not have permanent residence, so my massage chair has been temporarily residing in Oakland with my friend donWolf, who suffers from a painful back disease called Spondylitis.  The Human Touch chair has been offering him quite a bit of relief from debilitating spasms related to this condition.  The spasms can often be most painful at night, so he is able to use the chair not only to dial in specific massage to address these spasms, but to also offer him the ability to use the recline mode to find the optimum sleep position when he is having a lot of symptoms.

On my side of things, I’ve been using the massage chair a lot to help recover from some of the races I’ve competed in during the last several weeks, as well as to help relax from the combined stress of moving to a new city and starting a fairly hectic job.

My adventure racing team competed in three events during the last three months.  The most notable of these was a grueling 500 mile adventure race in Montana called Primal Quest, which involved 9 days of trekking, biking, paddling and climbing over mountainous terrain.  The majority of the race was on foot, involving very little sleep.  The last time I competed in such a race, I developed a very painful IT band inflammation which really slowed down progress.  I am happy to report that I did not suffer any tendonitis during the race, which I can partially attribute to a steady regimen of massage leading up to the race. 

Now, I am just recovering from Primal Quest, trying to be easy on my body and let it completely heal from the rigors of that race.  I will be switching gears in my training, to allow me to start gearing up for some of my solo races – a hundred mile foot race in August, as well as Ironman Hawaii in October.  I will still be doing adventure racing with my team, though, but nothing as intense as Primal Quest.

I’m throwing a lot at my system on all levels: athletically, emotionally, and mentally.  I do not think I would be able to face up to all of these challenges without a good action plan for recovery.  My Human Touch massage chair certainly factors into this. 

A manufacturing engineer by trade, turned triathlete and adventure race competitor, Iona Mackenzie has built a reputation as one of the toughest competitors on the circuit. She has been dubbed the “Queen of the Machine,” for her machine like ability to overcome physical pain during races.

“Our bodies are the vessels which house our souls, hearts and minds. They are here for us to live through, not just to hang clothes on.  Play hard, work solid, eat well – and REST.  For me, that’s the quickest recipe to happiness.”

- Iona MacKenzie

The Power Ladies Of The Furniture Industry Meet Up At Human Touch Headquarters

Human Touch Incorporates The Latest In Robotic Massage, Which Soothes Away Tension, Aches and Pains

Human Touch, the world’s leading designer, producer and marketer of innovative, high-quality, robotic massage and healthy lifestyle products, hosted some of the power ladies of the furniture industry at an event in their corporate headquarters.  The purpose of the event was for the attendees to share their “Best Practices” in the display, marketing, sales training and advertising of Human Touch products. In addition, time was spent in a session in the Human Touch Research, Development and Innovation lab on how Human Touch designs and develops product, quality and life tests product and then ultimately brings a quality branded product to the consumer.

“Human Touch takes a fresh approach by focusing on the technological and health oriented aspects of the product, working towards innovation. There are not enough manufacturers in this industry that devote the amount of energy and perfection to the design and marketing of the product as Human Touch does. The visit to Long Beach confirmed that although the competition of shiatsu massage is growing, Human Touch will remain the leader of the category.

Thanks to open discussion amongst the group and an enthusiastic Human Touch team, we have new training and marketing materials coming to help us grow our business. Hearing about the successes of other retailers gives me ideas that I can implement at home”.  -Tara Davis East, Upholstery Buyer, Haynes Furniture

The Power Ladies - From left to right : Vickie Davis - Human Touch, Director National Furniture Accounts; Nancy Christiansen - Art Van Furniture, Amy Cooper - Furniture Fair, Teri Whittaker - R. C. Willey, Elizabeth Mennell – Slumberland, Ann Parmenter - Nebraska Furniture Mart, Rhonda Wolf – Havertys, Heidi Jewell - Star Furniture, Tara Davis East - Haynes Furniture, Deb Linkhorn - Morris Furniture 

The video taken at the InStyle Summer Soiree is now up on InStyle.com. It features our HT 2720 chairs, mentioning that they are Human Touch massage chairs, and has a clip of Kelsey Grammer reclining in one of them!  Check out the clip at the below link! 

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/video/parties/0,,20052939,00.html