A lot of us sit behind our work desks and display screens more than recommended. Focusing on our work always feels good to our brain but it can be tiring to our bodies especially our lumbar and sacral areas where most of the action happens while sitting for longer hours.
Yes, your daily hourly yoga practice helps in some ways, but the stress you put on your body throughout the remainder of the day sitting for hours at your work desk is not appreciated by your body at all.
Attempt these easy workplace yoga poses when you cannot stand up from your desk. Do these exercises while in a meeting or for ten minutes every one hour. I follow a rule, where I have to stand for meetings, if not the whole time, I have to stand for at least 10-20 minutes and stretch myself.
1. Revolved Chair Pose/Parivrtta Utkatasana
The base of this pose comes from Chair Pose or Utkatasana.
Remember to inhale while stretching and exhale while bending.
You will be able to bend and rotate more when you exhale.
Advantages
Some twists for the hips and the upper back will help stretch the lower back spine and the middle back. These muscles will help open as they stretch increasing in flexibility and strength.
2. With overall flexibility the aches and pain can be reduced and stay in control. Work slow as you bend and twist. Make sure in no position the breathing process is held.
2. Extended Side-angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)
This pose is great for stretching out through the side muscles of the torso, opening the hips, and groin, and is particularly good if you've got tight hip-flexors.
Sit on the edge of your chair with your legs spread apart, feet naturally turned out.
Reach up and feel the stretch along your side body, ensuring your torso doesn't twist forward and the chest stays open. Rest the lower arm on the leg but don't collapse through the shoulder. Hold for three deep breaths.
3. Seated Chair Pose/Balasana
This pose benefits the hips and knees muscles in particular and therefor its very helpful for longer sitting hours.
This is one of my favorite pose for those days when I am feeling anxious before a presentation or a meeting.
BENEFITS: Opens hips, releases lower back pain, soothes headaches, stimulates digestion, alleviates menstrual cramps, soothes anxiety.
4. Extended Triangle Pose or Trikonasana using chair
Practiced in Iyengar Yoga, this variation helps students understand the body alignment that supports the deeper stretch.
The placing of the feet, shoulders, and hips play an important role in achieving the best from this variation, and the chair gives the right support.
The use of a chair helps avoid the possibility of bending forward instead of stretching laterally and keeping the hips square.
This pose helps reduce lower back pain, neck and shoulder tightness.
Some other yoga poses you can do while working at your desk are as follows. All of these poses help reduce the tightness in your shoulders, reduce the pain in lower back and neck, increases the flexibility in thighs and strengthens the hip muscles.
Try to create your own yoga sequence with these basic poses. Did you know you can even perform Suryanamaskar while seated on your chair? Remember, your health is equally important and doing these poses for at least 5-10 minutes every hour really helps. Rotate your shoulders, stretch your neck, fingers every hour too.
Also, close your eyes for 5 minutes and listen to a calming music or shut down everything for 5 minutes whenever you get free time. You will feel more refreshed and energized to work for the next couple of hours.
Let me know in the comments which are your favorite poses to perform while working.