Are you a ‘floor person’? Why lying on the floor feels so good

As a child, Josh Patner became accustomed to stepping over his mother, who would lie down in the kitchen when her mother-in-law called.

“My grandmother talked her ear off,” recalls 61-year-old Mr. Patner. To cope, his mother “lay on the floor and held the phone away from her head.” Mr. Patner’s father, also a floor enthusiast, took a 20-minute nap under the family piano every night after work.

So it’s perhaps not surprising that Mr. Patner enjoys floor time at his home in Brooklyn or even at his friend’s house — partly to stretch and soothe his back (he has scoliosis), but also, he says, because it feels soothing. .

“If I know you well enough to sit on the couch, I know you well enough to lie on the floor,” he said.

While this is nothing new to Mr. Patner, others are only now discovering the practice: Posts with the hashtag #floortime have been viewed millions of times on TikTok.

Lily Bishop, a graduate student in Chicago, made one video she showed herself lying on her beige carpet, staring silently at the ceiling, with her arms spread wide. “I am a floor person through and through,” read the words above the clip. ‘Meeting just ended? Floor. Home from the gym? Floor. Do you want to take a nap? Floor.”

“I find it makes me more relaxed and present, and slows down the anxious thoughts,” said Ms. Bishop, 27, when reached by phone.

For her, the feeling is similar to watching ocean waves wash up, but without the journey to the beach.

“You don’t have to have a serene, natural environment,” Ms. Bishop said. “All you need is the word.”

What’s so great about lying on the floor?

Although there is no research touting the benefits of lying on the floor, psychologists say that spending time on the floor is unlikely to hurt and can even help us feel grounded.

When you lie flat on your back, your posture is open and relaxed, which can have a calming effect, says Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical psychologist in Boston.

“Your body and mood want to be in alignment,” she said. This is why it’s hard to feel hopeful and optimistic when you’re slumped in your chair and your head is hanging down, she added. Or why our shoulders shoot up or our jaws clench when we’re anxious.

Lying on the floor can also help us avoid worry, explains Alan Fogel, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Utah and author of “Restorative Embodiment and Resilience.”

“In our Western culture we don’t have much room for restoration,” said Dr. Fogel. “There are no timeouts. There is no break.”

You can assume that a comfortable mattress is more conducive to relaxation. “But what usually happens, especially in familiar places like our bed, is that our minds keep working,” said Dr. Fogel. “We think about what happened that day. We think about what we could have done or should have done.”

However, when you lie on a harder surface like the floor, you may become more attuned to what your body is feeling and less focused on your thoughts.

To feel comfortable, it is necessary to sink into the floor and soften your muscles, added Dr. Fogel added. The focus on letting go makes it easier to help the body and mind decompress — to “just be,” he said.

Kara Lennon, 34, an account manager and indoor cycling instructor in Boston, has been a fan of floor time for about a decade.

“It’s like going outside and sitting in the sun for a few minutes,” she said. You feel better, “and then you can continue doing what you’re doing.”

People have been moving to the ground for centuries. Examples include the yoga pose savasana, which helps people slowly relax each part of the body while lying on their back; Zen meditation or tea ceremonies that often take place on the ground; and the underfloor heating system in Korean homes, which makes the ground even more attractive for sleeping, studying or eating.

Is lying on the floor something for you?

Not everyone will find relief on the floor. For example, some have physical problems that make it uncomfortable or painful to lower themselves to the ground.

If you can and want to give floor time a try, “focus on your breathing, really turning inward,” says Rachel Goldman, psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Do you feel more relaxed, more grounded or more in control? If so, she said, “it’s an additional strategy you can use if you think it’s necessary.”

Ms. Lennon acknowledged that “it may seem strange,” but in her case, taking a break for just a few minutes each day allows her to be more productive while working from home.

“He presses the reset button for a second,” she said.