Pooping.
For some reason, that was the topic of discussion in Writers Club, and boy did it ever get me going. 
Perhaps because I could so easily link it to the post on efforting I’d just finished? Perhaps simply because there’s something so liberating in being able to speak about those things we’re not supposed to talk about?

After I was done ranting, I realized this is something I could write a blog post on. Egged on by my fellow writers, here I am, writing it down:

Human anatomy is designed to enable whatever function we’re in need of (anatomy is form, physiology is function, Beverly told me in the podcast we recorded the other day, more on that in a few weeks time!). However Western-style toilets designed for a sitting position thwart this, when it comes to pooping.

Look at these two pictures:

        

See the difference in placement of joint 1 (knees) in relationship to joint 2 (hips)?
The difference causes efforting, or not, when I need to poop. Or at least, greatly reduces efforting.

You see, with feet on the floor, knees are level with hips, which means that my anus and rectum are angled slightly backwards, kind of closing them off, making it hard for poop to escape, as it were.

When, instead, I put my feet up (in my case, this little loo is built in such a nifty way that there’s a little shelf right in front of me that I can put my feet up on, but if you are not so lucky, fetch a little stool and place it in front of the loo for your feet to rest upon), my knees are higher than my hips. This causes my pelvic to tuck in such a way that my anus and rectum are angled downward, so that poop can more easily slink out, with much less, if any, effort. Working with rather than against gravity and the natural flow of things.

When humans evolved, we did not have any other means to do our business than squatting. This is what our human anatomy and physiology is constructed for. So when we build toilets for sitting, rather than squatting, we are messing with a system that’s been designed and well-functioning for thousands upon thousands of years.

Easily remedied though.
Get yourself a way to elevate your knees above your hips when you need to poo.