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Unit 2. The body: its absence and presence In this unit, we will investigate the presence of the body, despite its apparent absence. Our digital world is inhabited by computer screens, which have become central due to the distance, which has brought voice to the foreground, forcing the body on the backburner. Remote work, smart working and videoconferences have entrusted our body a new task, eradicating it from its fundamental communicative function. Most of our communication is in fact not conveyed by vocal means, but it passes through the language of the body and is for this reason known as non-verbal or para-verbal communication. Despite the distance, however, the body hasn’t totally disappeared and it is necessary to take care of it. Thanks to this unit, you will try to take care of your body through useful tips for a proper posture. In fact, it is known that especially when working from home or in an informal environment, we naturally tend to take more comfortable and relaxed postures, which can actually be dangerous for our psycho-physical well-being. In this unit then, you will learn what are the best postures that will allow you to concentrate better, and to prevent annoying back pain and other ailments. Let’s get going right away. The digital era is also the era of the distance. The more technology becomes pervasive, the more our daily habits change, our way of working and relating to others. The digitalization process has inevitably brought radical changes in people's living manners. To change it is above all the way we communicate with others. Prior to the digital era, relationships were especially face to face. It is true, letters and exchanges, including postcards, were a great way to keep relationships alive despite the distance. Humans have always tried to fill this emptiness: we think precisely of the postman with letters, such a time as full of meaning, of waiting and trust. It is with the birth of the phone that changed the way to relate to distances, but even more it was certainly the change introduced by smartphones and the internet. The possibility of constantly being in contact with other people is progress and has certainly improved our lifestyles, but it can also be counterproductive, since the detachment it creates can also have negative consequences. It is precisely for this reason that you should never talk on your phone while driving, not even through the speakerphone. Or we think about how rude it is to exchange WhatsApp messages with our friends while we are at the table with someone. New technologies allow us to always be connected. Hyper connection is not necessarily negative and not always necessary. Take Facebook for example and the expectations it brought along especially at the beginning. For many people the opportunity to find long lost acquaintances appeared incredible, and it has become a routine today. In the digital age the relationships and communicative exchanges have not been lost. However, the ways to communicating and relating with others have changed. One of the most underestimated issues fundamental to understanding the changes caused by digitization concerns the body. Although many have underestimated the importance of the body and, with it, gesturing, however it is good now to highlight its exceptionality and functionality within the communicative exchange. Much of the communication exchanges are mediated primarily by gesturing and body language through non-verbal or para-verbal communication. What is non-verbal communication? «Non-verbal communication is that part of the communication that includes all aspects of a communicative exchange that do not concern the purely semantic level of the message i.e. the literal meaning of words that make up the message itself, but which concern the language of the body i.e. non- speaking communication between people. Many codes of common culture which help us understand the various messages that words, tones and body movements express only partially are also important ". Non-verbal communication is as important as communication based on words, if not even more. You will then understand how difficult remote communication can become in the digital age, where the body is almost totally absent. We must take care of our body and pay attention especially to posture. Why improving the body posture is important? Assuming a proper body posture is essential because it bears benefits not only for the body itself, but also for our spirit or our psyche. In no time you will discover the enormous physical and psychological benefits that a correct body posture can shower on you. Posture is the position of the human body in space and the relative relationship between its bodily segments. The posture can be: in the erect station (monopodalic or bipodalic), from sitting, in a decubitus (prone, supine, lateral) position. We see together what the following suggestions are for a correct posture. Sit with your back straight. Pay attention to your shoulders, try to keep them back. Also pay attention to the position of the buttocks: they must touch the back of the backrest. Respect the normal back curvatures when you sit at the desk. To do this, use a small rolled towel on itself. As an alternative to the towel you can use a rounded shape pillow. A more difficult but very useful tip is to sit at the end of the chair. This will help you maintain a correct posture and your back straight. At the same time, sitting at the end of the chair will train the back muscles that enter the relax mode when you abandon yourself on the chair or on the sofa. Distribute body weight on both sides. Sitting with both feet firmly planted to the ground or on a raised shelf will allow you to distribute body weight on both sides. This could relieve annoying pains you could try in the lumbar back area. Fold the knees at a straight angle and keep them high with the aid of a footrest or a stool. This will allow you to distribute the weight of the body on both sides and keep your back straight. Avoid crossing your legs or keeping them crossed: it's not good for your back, or even circulation! The tips are very simple and if you follow them daily, they will become a habit for you. In a short time you will not even notice the fatigue and the discomfort of the early days. Remember that lying on the sofa, rolled up on the chair, bent over the computer and keeping legs crossed are all uncomfortable and can give you problems over the long term. Avoid as the same sitting position for more than thirty minutes. Maybe, you could go to the kitchen and drink a glass of warm water: it will help you not only with your circulation and posture, but it will also help you refresh your mind. Adjust the height of the chair, if possible, or that of your workstation, so as to be able to place the elbows on the table. Place your elbows and forearms on the armrests of the chair or on the desk level, with relaxed shoulders. This useful suggestion will help you in the event of a cervical spondylosis. It allows the muscles to remain relaxed.