The Hidden Cost of Modern Furniture: Reclaiming Your Body’s Natural Vitality

How Did We Lose Our Connection to Natural Movement?

For most people, modern furniture is simply part of life—an unquestioned inheritance passed down through generations. But is it truly serving us? For 99.95% of human history, humans lived in direct connection with the ground. The chairs, couches, and beds we now consider essential are recent innovations, yet their impact on our bodies is profound.

My first realization of this came in two phases. From ages 25 to 35, I lived a traditional American lifestyle—filled with modern furniture and completely devoid of fitness, not because it wasn’t an option, but because, like many people, I didn’t find it enjoyable. By 30, I already felt my body stiffening, the ease of natural movement slipping away. It wasn’t until I embarked on a full-time music tour at age 35, living in a van and camping along the eastern seaboard, that I truly understood how furniture had been limiting me.

During this time, I didn’t have couches or dining chairs to lean on. My days were filled with what I called “van yoga,” movements required to navigate life without traditional furniture—squatting, bending, and sitting on the ground. In just a few weeks, I felt my body transform. The stiffness melted away, and the creaky discomforts of modern life vanished. I felt like a kid again, moving freely and naturally, just as I had during carefree childhood days at the park or the beach.

The changes were surprising and profound. Without furniture to hold my body in static, 90-degree positions, my joints began moving through their full range of motion again. Sitting, squatting, and standing felt effortless, and my body felt lighter, freer, and more responsive. Meals by the campfire replaced sitting at picnic tables, and the simple act of living on the ground brought a vitality I hadn’t felt in years.

Yet, when I share this experience, the response is often the same: “Oh, I could never get rid of my furniture!” This resistance isn’t surprising. Cultural attachment to furniture runs deep. For generations, we’ve been surrounded by it, taught that it represents comfort, success, and even proper living. To question its role in our lives is to confront decades—if not centuries—of unspoken tradition. The ego resists such questioning because to admit that furniture may not serve us is to admit we’ve been wrong about something fundamental to our way of life.In conversations, I’ve seen this resistance manifest as ridicule or even anger when I suggest that our prized furniture might be holding us back. But this isn’t about blame—it’s about curiosity. What if we simply asked: “Is this truly serving me?”

The Hidden Costs of Comfort

At first, it’s hard to notice. Life with furniture seems so normal, so convenient. But over time, the subtle effects of relying on modern furniture accumulate, quietly robbing the body of its natural vitality.

I’ve experienced this firsthand. Each time my life transitioned back to conventional, furniture-based living after periods of staying closer to the ground, the changes were undeniable. Within weeks, I’d begin to feel lethargic, spending more time sitting simply because the furniture was there. The first signs were small—stiffness when rolling out of bed or clumsiness during that first walk of the day. Then came the twinges of back pain while bending over to pick something up or do a chore. Soon enough, I found myself relying on my hands to push out of a chair—movements that used to happen effortlessly.

These changes don’t happen overnight, and that’s part of the problem. Like the proverbial boiling frog, we sit comfortably as the water heats around us, unaware that what feels normal is quietly eroding our strength and mobility. Cultural narratives reinforce this slow decline. How often have you heard someone say, “Oh, I’m just getting old,” when they struggle to move with ease? It’s a script we’ve inherited, passed down from elders, repeated on television and in movies, and rarely questioned.

And then there’s the comfort. In conversations with others, the most common defense of furniture is that it’s simply comfortable. Everyone agrees—it’s the standard. But comfort, as defined by culture, is often external. It’s about what the couch, the chair, or the bed can provide, rather than what the body can naturally experience. The marketplace fuels this dependence, always ready to sell the next upgrade. Didn’t sleep well? It’s not your body—it’s your bed. You need a new one, softer and more luxurious, like sleeping on a cloud.

What the marketplace doesn’t want us to recognize is this: soft furniture disconnects us from the feedback our bodies provide when interacting with gravity against a firm surface. This feedback is essential—it helps maintain our mobility and awareness of it. But instead of understanding this, we’re sold more comfort, more softness, until the very end.

The decline isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice we can make, but only if we’re willing to question what culture has taught us about comfort and its true cost.

Reconnecting with Natural Mobility

The answer to reclaiming natural movement is simpler than you might think: live closer to the ground. And by ground I don’t mean in the dirt! In this context, the ground means whatever firm surface is beneath your feet. By transitioning to a lifestyle that integrates ground-level living, you can naturally restore the strength, mobility, and ease your body was designed for—all without the need for strenuous exercise or structured routines.

For me, the transition happened gradually. By the time my partner Katrina and I decided to experiment with removing our furniture, I had already been practicing Feelness for several months. This meant I’d restored many of the physical capabilities I had lost over the years—walking without discomfort, bending with ease, and getting up and down from the floor effortlessly.

The real breakthrough came one evening after watching Secrets of the Blue Zones, a documentary that highlighted the ancient ground-living lifestyle of 5 groups of people on earth including the Okinawans. Inspired by their way of life, we decided to experiment by removing just one piece of furniture: the couch. For a week, we sat on the floor in the same spot where the couch had been. By day eight, Katrina suggested we try sleeping on the floor as well. That night, we left the queen-size bed behind—and never looked back. Within a month, the bed was gone entirely, followed by the dining room table and chairs.

Now, our entire home is a floor-level environment that is as functional as it is delightful. Removing the big, bulky, single-use furniture freed up space for engaging and inspiring ways to live—things that make movement feel like play instead of effort.

A Life of Freedom and Connection

Nearly a year into living a ground-based lifestyle, the results have been nothing short of transformative. Physically, our bodies feel freer and more at ease, a sensation that grows stronger every day despite the natural passage of time. For Katrina, a Pilates instructor who spends her days serving others, the shift was especially profound. After six months of ground living, she joined a group of teachers for a challenging hour-long circuit workout, fully expecting to struggle. Instead, she breezed through it without a hitch—living proof that natural movement, integrated into daily life, builds strength and resilience without the need for structured exercise.

Beyond the physical, the emotional and psychological shifts have been equally remarkable. The spaciousness of our furniture-free home has created an environment that invites movement and play. This newfound freedom isn’t just external; it’s internal, too—a deep sense of joy and connection to ourselves and to each other that has transformed our already purposeful, happy lives into something even more fulfilling.

To those who are hesitant, I’d say this: “I understand your skepticism. But let’s talk about what you’re experiencing. Are you finding it harder to get out of bed? To walk, bend, sit, or reach with ease? These little challenges—the ones we attribute to aging—don’t have to be inevitable. I’ve reversed them, and so can you. A comfortable and reliable body isn’t out of reach. If I can achieve that, anyone can.”

Living without furniture doesn’t mean giving up comfort—it means redefining it. By reconnecting with natural mobility, you can find joy in the simplicity of movement and discover a way of life that feels more vibrant, engaging, and free.

Feelness is the perfect way to gently reestablish your body’s relationship to the ground.