Is this thing quackery?!

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Some of those explanations sound like rubbish. However, the way most people sit is considered bad posture. And while seated that way, we are more inclined to shallow breathe. And deeper breathing, using the entire lungs is better for us, in so many ways. You can test this for yourself, even without the chair. Compare how you would normally sit, and your normal breathing. Also try deep breathing while in that position. Then kneel on the floor, resting your bottom on your heels. This gives you a position where your hips are "open". You will find that it is easier to hold your torso in the right posture and that your breathing comes easier.

You don't need a special chair to do this. It is possible to hold a good posture while seated. It's just that most people don't.

Having said that, a physio did recommend the kneeling chairs to me, and I found them to be much more comfortable once I became accustomed to it. It does make it much easier to hold a good posture. The price on this chair, though, looks astronomical. You can buy them for a lot less - I did a quick search (from Australia) on "kneeling chair for sale" and found a few for around $200.

Actually how you sit does affect how you breath.
Sitting in a slouched, forward leaning posture does affect your diaphragm and how it functions.
During exhalation your thoracic spine is in a flexed position, during inhalation it is in an extended position. Sitting in a forward flexed posture does restrict the inhalation somewhat. Sit down and see for yourself how much harder it is to take a breath in when you lean forwards and how much easier it is when you lean back and open your chest out.
As for this chair....
....Waste of money.

In principle it sounds great. However, no one can sit like that for 8 hours a day with nothing to support your back. What happens is you get tired and don't sit on it correctly. The postures which people end up sitting on it are far worse for you than sitting in a chair.
The best kinds of seats are saddle seats with a back support. Even the stools are OK as they allow you to sit in a comfortable position keeping your back neutral. The ones with a back support allow you to rest without slouching.

If you are going to spend this sort of money on a chair get a saddle chair.
Will it improve blood oxygen? I doubt it but getting your blood suitably oxygenated will be easier for the breathing mechanisms to achieve.

NZ registered Osteopath

some positions improve breathing.
Just like standing meditation does.

Well you need someone to correct your postures if you do the standing meditation.
And you need persistence, and so on to have an effect finally.

BUT BUT BUT

But the thing is :
why is it that the posture is not ok in the first place?

Our attitudes (mental/emotional) have a big influence on our posture in the end.

With simple vipassana meditation,
without any movement at all,
I noticed a HUGE change in natural body posture, flexibility, breathing and so on.

What are the ingredients?
the moral rules
the sitting
the developing of equanimity !!!!
the concentration,
and so on.

Just leave out some factors and see what it does to the effect.

Why is Vipassana not good for everybody at a given moment?
Therefore you need to know the theory of elements very well.

Some taoists really understood this.
Understanding is not about mental understanding.
It's about the experience.

If you want to understand deeply,
you will need to meditate a lot,
and to be alert (in a relaxed way) on what certain circumstances/ thoughts / emotions do to your body, with patience.

After a while you won't have that much questions anymore,
and you will know that you certainly don't need an answer from fake scientists,
because a lot of them are stil asleep (while highly overpaid like their peer politiciancs).

I hope it's clear,
if it's not just open your eyes,
because it's SIMPLY reality.

the ignorami obviously don't know that all of structures of the axial skeleton move in harmony with the respiration cycle. however, the chair may require a position that simply reduces the intra-abdominal pressure somewhat, making the diaphragm work against less resistance. the bit about increasing the oxygenation is a bit of a stretch though, and the purpose of a chair is to rest muscles, not make them work.

Try one. If it feels comfortable to you, then go for it.

This bit: "open hip angle eases breathing giving the seated person higher oxygen content in the blood." is pretty much nonsense.

Does sitting down impair YOUR breathing? Nah, didn't think so.

Well they use some quack terminology, but the chairs are probably good for your posture. I couldn't imagine sitting in one all day. I do notice the words 'chiropractor' and 'naturopath' up the top of the page...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17135…

It is quackery. Your body has its own fine tuned regulatory mechanisms that regulate the level of oxygen in your body. You really don't need a special chair for that.

If you can return it after a week of using it a couple hours a day I would try it - otherwise don't bother.

You guys have amazon down there, right? Check out some reviews - most of them are listed under 'ergonomic kneeling chair'