Take a break during the day and practice yoga. You’ll notice that you will feel more at ease and focused just by taking a few minutes to practice some simple yoga poses.
Here are a few yoga poses that you can do at your desk:
Chair cat/cow: Sit in a chair and alternately arch and round your back. Repeat this movement up to 10 times.
Upward salute to forward bend: Stand several feet behind your chair back. Raise the arms overhead and reach back as you look toward your thumbs. Then, hinge forward from the hips with a flat back and arms extended. Hold on to the back of a chair with both hands. Repeat 5 times.
Chair twist: Sit with the right side of the body facing the chair back. Twisting from the waist, turn to the right and place both hands on the back of the chair. Use the hands to deepen the twist. Repeat on the opposite side.
Seated lower back stretch: Sit in a chair. Separate legs a little wider than the width of the hips. Bend from the hips and let the torso relax forward and the head drop down. Hold on to the elbows with each hand and let the arms hang. If this pose causes strain or discomfort, try placing a rolled up blanket or towel on your lap for support.
Seated hamstring stretch: Sit on the front edge of a chair and extend both legs out. Position feet on the wall with a tie wrapped under the soles of the feet. Keep the back straight and hinge forward from the hip crease. Hold for up to 5 breaths.
Crescent pose: Raise arms overhead. Bring the hands together and interlace the fingers with pointer fingers extended. Lifting from underneath the left side of the rib cage, tilt to the right side. Keep arms straight and allow the right hand to pull on the left hand. This pose can be done either standing or seated. Repeat on both sides.
These poses are a great option for re-energizing and decreasing tension held in the body from long periods of sitting, and don’t take long to do.
If you want to be an office hero, organize a weekly yoga class for interested employees at your office. Many yoga instructors will come to your place of business either in the early morning, during lunchtime, or just after work to provide on-site instruction, which makes it quite convenient. Just clear out a conference room for an hour and get co-workers to meet at a designated time to practice yoga asanas, relaxation, and meditation with a certified yoga instructor.
Talk to your Human Resources department about organizing on-site yoga classes. A lot of large corporations are now making available weekly or even daily yoga classes to their employees as a benefit because employers have seen the positive results of practicing yoga in the workplace. Your employer may be willing to either cover the entire cost of the class as a perquisite or subsidize a portion of the cost. Businesses that offer yoga to their employees have reported better attendance, less use of sick days, and higher worker satisfaction.
If your office is located in central New Jersey, contact us at Yoga Destiny to set up a regular yoga class at your workplace.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For yoga in Dunellen, NJ or yoga in Piscataway, NJ and yoga in other Central New Jersey areas, get in touch with me at Yoga Destiny.
Here are a few yoga poses that you can do at your desk:
Chair cat/cow: Sit in a chair and alternately arch and round your back. Repeat this movement up to 10 times.
Upward salute to forward bend: Stand several feet behind your chair back. Raise the arms overhead and reach back as you look toward your thumbs. Then, hinge forward from the hips with a flat back and arms extended. Hold on to the back of a chair with both hands. Repeat 5 times.
Chair twist: Sit with the right side of the body facing the chair back. Twisting from the waist, turn to the right and place both hands on the back of the chair. Use the hands to deepen the twist. Repeat on the opposite side.
Seated lower back stretch: Sit in a chair. Separate legs a little wider than the width of the hips. Bend from the hips and let the torso relax forward and the head drop down. Hold on to the elbows with each hand and let the arms hang. If this pose causes strain or discomfort, try placing a rolled up blanket or towel on your lap for support.
Seated hamstring stretch: Sit on the front edge of a chair and extend both legs out. Position feet on the wall with a tie wrapped under the soles of the feet. Keep the back straight and hinge forward from the hip crease. Hold for up to 5 breaths.
Crescent pose: Raise arms overhead. Bring the hands together and interlace the fingers with pointer fingers extended. Lifting from underneath the left side of the rib cage, tilt to the right side. Keep arms straight and allow the right hand to pull on the left hand. This pose can be done either standing or seated. Repeat on both sides.
These poses are a great option for re-energizing and decreasing tension held in the body from long periods of sitting, and don’t take long to do.
If you want to be an office hero, organize a weekly yoga class for interested employees at your office. Many yoga instructors will come to your place of business either in the early morning, during lunchtime, or just after work to provide on-site instruction, which makes it quite convenient. Just clear out a conference room for an hour and get co-workers to meet at a designated time to practice yoga asanas, relaxation, and meditation with a certified yoga instructor.
Talk to your Human Resources department about organizing on-site yoga classes. A lot of large corporations are now making available weekly or even daily yoga classes to their employees as a benefit because employers have seen the positive results of practicing yoga in the workplace. Your employer may be willing to either cover the entire cost of the class as a perquisite or subsidize a portion of the cost. Businesses that offer yoga to their employees have reported better attendance, less use of sick days, and higher worker satisfaction.
If your office is located in central New Jersey, contact us at Yoga Destiny to set up a regular yoga class at your workplace.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For yoga in Dunellen, NJ or yoga in Piscataway, NJ and yoga in other Central New Jersey areas, get in touch with me at Yoga Destiny.
