DNA

DID YOU KNOW?

The natural squatting position

Over the course of our lives, we spend at least ... 3 full years in the toilet!

• 20% of the population is regularly constipated.
• Millions of laxative medications are consumed each year.
• Millions of people are affected by incontinence problems due to overstretching certain muscles.
• A weak pelvic floor leads to a less fulfilling sex life.
• 30% of the population regularly suffers from hemorrhoids. Not to mention inflammatory bowel diseases.

Everyone is affected: children, adults, the elderly, pregnant women, young mothers...

WHAT DO DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS TELL US ABOUT SOLVING AND PREVENTING THESE PROBLEMS?

Let's meet Charlotte Muffang , physiotherapist and sexologist, who knows how to transmit her knowledge, and through this video, talks to us about the natural squatting position.

Our postures shape us. With the help of Andy, our videographer, as artists, we drew inspiration from the experience and advice of researchers and built bridges with the genius of design.

Here are the meeting points that inspired us:

INSPIRED BY BIOLOGY

"The gut is a sensory organ whose neuronal, endocrine, and immune responses are in constant interaction. The rectum is covered by the intestinal mucosa, which contains three types of neuronal detectors, endocrine cells, and immune cells, which are connected to the brain (brainstem)" (1)

Thanks to the striking anatomical figure in this article, we draw a fully integrated character—head, body—and imagine a simplified approach to its inner workings. Our cat-shaped object is also animated, from the static pose of the Sphinx to the dynamic pose of Ty Shee Zen, thanks to the video by Andy Yong (Melbourne, Australia, 2018, on our website).

"This highly complex area is sensitive to the pressures necessary for the defecation reflex. The evacuation, the emptying of stools, thus occurs by sliding, without any pushing effort." (2)

Sophie Frignet is a sensitive Parisian midwife. In her book, "The Perineum of Girls," she refers to Guillaume Apollinaire's poem to Madeleine, "The Nine Gates of Your Body" (3). She writes humorously: "the perineum of girls":

" Learning to better use one's perineum for peeing, pooping, farting, for sex and for having babies, that's the whole complexity of the subject that drives us; this constant interaction between functions: sexuality, reproduction, urination, defecation. " (2)

Changes in posture (for example, a few centimeters between squatting and sitting) alter our anorectal angle. This entire anorectal area has a very complex structure.

Dov Sikirov, an Israeli physician, comparing the tension forces applied in different positions during defecation, reported his findings on human health. In 2003, he sought to verify these results by asking volunteers to test several different positions (4). "Result : In the squatting position, the sensation of bowel movement was more efficient, the intestinal canal more relaxed. Whereas in the sitting position, it took longer and required excessive expulsive effort, compared to the squatting posture. In the squatting position, the intestinal canal is as straight as a highway." (5)

"The digestive tract is the internal architect of our bowels" ( 4).

And this seems quite logical: in the wild, squatting is the easiest way to defecate without making a mess. In their book, "Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ," scientist Giulia Enders and her graphic designer sister, Jill, illustrated and described our digestive system: "The exit of the digestive system is naturally designed to open in a squatting position, not in a sitting or standing position. In both of these positions, a muscle grips our intestine like a lasso and pulls it in such a way as to create a bend." (5)

What an amazing interior!

THE NATURAL SQUATTING POSITION

Raising the legs and leaning slightly forward allows for perfect alignment of the colon ducts.

Once you've tried it, you can't live without it!

Changing our postures means changing our perspectives, changing our emotions, and sharing good habits on a daily basis.

THE WORLD OF DESIGN 

Since time immemorial, toilets have been installed in homes and public spaces; their form has evolved and will continue to evolve according to cultures, thus enhancing our indoor spaces. We have squatted for thousands of years, and even today, when there are no toilets, we naturally go out into nature.

It was really only from the 18th century onwards in Europe that people adapted to a changing world with these "thrones", "toilet seats", which then became widespread, and which we still use today! However, in some parts of the world, we still squat, and toilets are designed for this posture.

Modern comfort offers us this accessible room, which preserves our privacy. The standards of each era have attempted to rationalize the comfortable height of toilets. Several models have emerged: "standard," "medical," "wall-hung," incorporating functions such as washing, lighting, fragrance, and music. They have even become great works of art (6), as evidenced by the "Gold Movie Toilet Seat" created by Subogh Gupta and the "Throne of Thought" by Robert (7) .

The world of design is constantly evolving; it aims for functionality, but also teaches us to be relational and intimate. Perceived as an oracle, design objects inform us of our destiny: "Ultralight for better travel, plump to protect us, bourgeois to reassure us, intimate to pamper us, meditative to soothe the mind, figurative to delight us." (8) Asking ourselves , "When will we become nomads again?" is perfectly suited to our omnipresent and cosmopolitan cat, Ty Shee Zen!

Lidewij Edelkoort's perspective on design (8), "which is a discipline rooted in everyday life," immerses us in this empathetic world: "joining body and soul, object and person, function and experience ." A trendsetter, she teaches us design with "a long-term vision, foreshadowing the currents of life." An object nonetheless, it inspires Comfort (utility), Beauty (between art and artifice), and Goodness (nestled in people's lives). It is an object of desire and collectability, poised between industry and handcrafted artistry.

SENSITIVITY TO DIFFERENT APPROACHES

So, the comfort of our toilet is one thing, the art of doing everything from one's hara (the central part of the lower abdomen, in Japanese) is quite another. In Chinese medicine, this part of the body is very important because it is the main source of vital energy. The intestines and bladder (plus the uterus for women) are located in the hara .

A few meditative and practical readings on complementary postures, as well as other holistic approaches, have allowed us to move beyond squatting in the bathroom. Health has many entry points!

Because Nicolas Bounine works with such great energy in his therapeutic practice for the whole family: "Once the pelvis is balanced, the body is freed" (9), he dares to speak openly about the harmonious positioning of the pelvis , its rebalancing, postural maintenance consisting of sitting or standing consciously, and respecting the physiological curves of the spine. "Healing allows the pain and symptoms of illness to transform us. Let us enter into the encounter with what we flee, consciously and unconsciously, that is to say, our inner world, our true nature." 

 EMOTIONAL LIFE

Our bodies are intelligent. With our cat Ty Shee Zen, certain questions about social and emotional life arise: What is our share of animality, intuition, emotional intelligence? Do our emotions make us unique? Or do they sometimes transform us?

"A heartless seat is a vertical line of boredom." Jean-Yves Leloup, in his book "Sitting and Walking" (10), evokes our free space as well as the freedom not to scatter our energies, the meaning given to the initiation of postures. Healing oneself means paying attention to these postures and identifying what is essential in our eyes: "The center is not a particular point of the body but an opening, a space in which we welcome what is." After reading his book, "sitting, or walking in daily life" become actions "linked to the movement of life": "Sit down does not mean remaining seated, it means being centered." "To feel our solid body, without depriving ourselves of our fluid body, and then even lighter, our airy body."  

INTERIOR SPACE

With our cat Ty Shee Zen, we address the idea of ​​territoriality: Some of our brand ambassadors live with animals and chose our cat because it is symbolically linked to living beings, much more than a small bench with a "medical look".

Boris Cyrulnik, thinker and scientist, measures the impact of our representations on our actions and sheds light on our ways of being alive.

"Animals live in a more sensory world, while humans live in a world of verbal and technical artifice. ... /...the more we know them, the more we understand our place in the living world. And this place is not quite what we thought! Man is the virtuoso of virtuality. He invents a representation and then submits to it!" (11)

COOPERATIONAL RELATIONSHIP

Passionate about ethology, philosophers Vinciane Despret and Corine Pelluchon challenge our way of observing the living world and certain habits we have acquired during our evolution . Vinciane Despret situates her research within the sensory world , which requires us to "inhabit" our bodies, whether we are birds, women, men, or children, and to listen to them with "the possibility of engaging in a relationship of exchange and proximity that has nothing to do with a relationship of identification. (...) The body reconnects with Spinoza's proposition; it becomes the site of what can affect and be affected. A site of transformations." (12)

Corine Pelluchon, one of the most important voices defending animal and environmental causes, speaks to us of "the awareness of the link that unites us with other living beings /... which triggers our desire to repair the world.../... to defend life by reshaping our representations. We share the earth, the "Oikos", the home of earthlings." (13)

Frédéric Worms (14) prioritizes our modes of action, between interdependence and vulnerability: "there is no "subject of care" facing an "object of care" .../... perhaps the most fundamental dimension of care is the relational dimension that it reveals in our lives."

POETIC PRESENT

Philosopher and founder of the Paris school of meditation, Fabrice Midal invites us to " become our own best friend " (15) and to take time for ourselves by sitting in meditation.

Another poet, Charles Baudelaire, uplifts us: "My spirit, you move with agility / And, like a good swimmer who swoons in the waves / You gaily furrow the deep immensity / With an unspeakable and virile voluptuousness. / Fly far from these morbid miasmas; / Go purify yourself in the higher air" from Elevation , Spleen and Ideal, The Flowers of Evil (16)

REVELATION

The sensitive universe of the artist Lydie Arickx illuminates " the power of revelation." Carried by her playful voice, her masterful work and her presence in these times of transition are reassuring (Arborescence 2021, Château de Chambord). "When I close my eyes, what do I see?": "When I close my eyes, what do I see? Bodies being ejected, removing bodies that are buried or concealed, drawing them into a paradoxical whirlwind, .../..." With her, we are never in the nauseating illustrations of biological failure. What Arickx says without saying it is that sadness is nowhere else but where the body is silent. The body of the living dead is silent, but not the one where life and death speak to each other about what they can make of it, an inexhaustible crucible, a seminal night." (17) 

TRANSMISSION

Our Ty Shee Zen cats might one day take a grand tour of Japan. They would be very well received there because the Japanese understand cat language.

In Natsume Sōseki 's book "I Am a Cat": "No ridiculous thing escapes this night-visioned creature. There is nothing more difficult to understand than human psychology. I don't know if my master is angry now or happy (...). I can't tell. Everything becomes very simple for us cats. We eat and sleep when the need arises, we get angry without restraint, and we meow heartily when the opportunity presents itself. And first of all, we don't waste time keeping a diary (...). If we have time to keep a diary, why not use it to sleep on the veranda?" "Necessity is the mother of invention": Emerging from small, comforting truths with whimsy and humor.

Kwong Kuen Shan 's "The Cat" encounters the great philosophers and teachings of the Zen tradition. His collection includes maxims, watercolors, stamps, and seals.
"Do not let temptation blind you. Do not let the clamor of the outside world deafen you. Do not let worries weigh down your mind and heart. Watch over your senses and your energy. And they will watch over your body and your soul."

Zen as a way of life (much more than that) is not a Western tradition.

Our French cat is connected to life, seeking a harmonious experience. Western and non-Western practices (emotional, energetic, artistic, spiritual...) offer numerous opportunities to explore new rhythms. Stories of our origins and essential oral traditions are also part of this exploration.

Exploring the nature of change within human nature is quite a journey. Energy is expressed in the body through our breath. Qi Gong helps us work on our energy and postures by seeking harmony in static and dynamic movements, through breath and mind (Roles and effects of Qi Gong, practical sessions at "Les temps du corps", Paris 10).

Bibliography 2020. Just this literary point since 2021: other names are inscribed in the Ty Shee Zen DNA without being present here, we are in 2024!

(1) The intestine is a sensory organ: neuronal, Endocrine, and immune responses, 1 Nov 1999 John B Furness, Wolgang AA Kunze and Nadine Clerc Vol 277 N)5 American Journal of physiology, gastrointestinal and liver physiology Figure
(2) Sophie Frignet, The Perineum of Girls: An Essay on Perineal Education, Ed. Éveil Santé, Chapter 1, Paris
(3) Guillaume Apollinaire, the nine doors of your body
(4) Dov Sikirov, Comparison of Straining During Defecation in Three Positions: Results and Implications for Human Health – Digestive Diseases and Sciences, July 2003, Volume 48, Issue 7, pp 1201–1205. 11
(5) Giulia Enders gut, 2016, Scribe Gut: the inside story of our body's most under-rated organ Giulia Enders, Pages 21-34
(6) Subogh Gupta, everyday objects "gold movie Toilet seat created by this Indian Artist, exhibition at the Galleria Continua, Paris 3, 2021 02 10,
(7) Robert, The Throne of Thought, 2021 Paris MOM 2021
(8) Lidewij Edelkoort, Oracles of Design, La Gaîté Lyrique, Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Pyramyd NTCV, 2015 during the exhibition "faire corps" at La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris
(9) Nicolas Bounine, Living Upright or Regaining Balance, JC Lattès, 2002
( 10) Jean-Yves Leloup, Seating and Walking, Open Spaces, Albin Michel, 2011
(11) Boris Cyrulnik, Psychologies, April 3, 2020, Animals help us redefine ourselves
(12) Vinciane Despret, What would animals say if we asked them the right questions? Paris, La Découverte/Les Empêcheurs de penser en rond, 2012 , Location 424
(13) Corine Pelluchon, Elements for an Ethics of Vulnerability: Humans, Animals, Nature, Cerf, 2011
(14) Frédéric Worms, The Moment of Care: What Do We Care About?, Paris, PUF, 2010
(15) Fabrice Midal "Leave yourself alone!", Flammarion 2017, Paris
(16) Baudelaire, Elevation, The Flowers of Evil
(17) Lydie Arickx, The Roots of Chaos, 1998, Poligraphie Bolis Spa, Bergamo, Page 95. Exhibition at the Château de Chambord, 2020.
(18) Sarah Marquis Instincts, Pocket, 2017, 3 months alone on foot, in survival, in the Australian Wild West, To all the indigenous peoples of this planet, more especially to the Aboriginal people of Australia who shared their knowledge and ancestral wisdom with us.
(19) Easing out of lockdown with ease, In our best light, Philomist newsletter reader 13/05/2021
(20) Roger-Pol Droit, What Unites Us?, Plon, 2015
(21) Natsume Sôseki, I Am a Cat, Gallimard, 1986, pp. 52-58
(22) Kwong Kuen Shan, The Philosopher, Zen Cat Who Loved Me, 38. My Rose Garden. Pocket

TY SHEE ZEN INSPIRING LIFESTYLE

The cat, like a miniature sphinx, has almost always been part of the human universe.
As a symbol of the connection between our senses and our emotions, the Ty Shee Zen cat holds a symbolically significant place, adding a touch of joy to our everyday lives! Agile and playful, the Ty Shee Zen footstool is an inspiring and emotionally resonant design object that fits perfectly in any room of your house, on your patio, or in your garden!

Ty Shee Zen is more than a cat, it's a " state of mind".

Our motto " Ty Shee Zen, a better you " carries two main values: "emotional design" and "No taboos", linked to Nature, our nature.

Conscious Emotional Design

To offer a realistic vision of our current civilization , which will be nourished by emotions and not just robots! In the context of the technological evolution of our world, it is fundamental to take care of ourselves and others.

Developing the philosophy of "sharing is caring" : our dream team works all over the world. Ty Shee Zen offers jobs to its collaborators through digital platforms, supports creativity, and organizes programs for young people in schools, in cooperation with teachers.

3% of our sales are dedicated to funding cancer research.

We also support contemporary artists who bring emotions to life by creating unique designs.

No taboos

As a footrest, Ty Shee Zen offers much better comfort on the toilet, without any effort!

Beauty and goodness matter in our lives.