Do you spend the majority of your day seated at a desk (or driving a car) only to hunch over your mobile phone in your lunch break? If the answer is yes, these easy desk stretches can help you.
Ideally you should be moving your spine in all 6 directions on the daily. Prolonged sitting causes muscle imbalances, tension, stiff joints, and poor posture. It also decreases flexibility and affects your range of motion. It's no wonder that office workers often cope with back pain, headaches, migraines and even slipped disks. A regular Yoga practice is a wonderful way to counterbalance all the risks that come with prolonged sitting.
If convincing your boss to pay for weekly corporate yoga classes is proving difficult, these easy desk stretches will help to keep your spine healthy and supple.
desk exercise 1 - Cat cow stretch
Interlace your hands behind back, making sure your palms are touching. Slightly squeeze your shoulder blades. On an inhale, open up the chest and gently life the chin, arching your spine. Keep shoulders and jaw soft and relaxed.
Unclasp your hands, interlace them in front of your chest this time, palms facing away. Slowly exhale whilst rounding your back, chin to chest, drawing navel to spine and pressing your hands away from you.
Repeat at least 3 times, moving with your breath. Inhale to look up, exhale to round the spine.
DESK EXERCISE 2 - LATERAL STRETCH
With your sit bones firmly grounded into your chair, inhale and lift your left hand up, right hand resting on the chair. Exhale and stretch over to your right, avoid sinking in the right side of your waist. Instead, imagine you are reaching up and over an imaginary beach ball. Gaze up underneath your arm if that feels comfortable for your neck. Stay for a full round of breath, then inhale back to centre and repeat on the other side.
Repeat 3 times on each side, or if you want to make this a moving meditation you can move dynamically from left to right linking breath to movement:
1 - inhale left hand up
2 - exhale stretch to the right
3 - inhale back to centre, left hand down, right hand up
4 - exhale reach right hand to the left etc.
DESK EXERCISE 3 - SPINAL TWISTS
Again, ground your sit bones whilst feeling a lightness through the upper body.
Elongate your spine and lift your arms up to the sky on an inhale. Exhale slowly and twist your torso to the right. Your right hand falls behind you, or you can also wrap your right arm behind your back. Place your left hand on the outside of the opposite knee.
Relax your shoulders away from the ears, unclench your jaw. Every inhale allows you to find some more space between each vertebrae. Every exhale helps you to twist a little further.
Repeat on the other side as many times as you wish. These can also be done dynamically, linking breath to movement:
1 - inhale arms up
2 - exhale twist right
3 - inhale arms up
4 - exhale twist left etc.
IMPORTANT: Make sure to twist from your core. Do not use your hands to pull yourself further into the twist.
DESK EXERCISE 4 - RELAXING FORWARD FOLD
For this relaxing forward fold, take an inhale and lengthen your spine, then hinge from the hips and gently fold over your legs. Head and arms are heavy.
Open and close your mouth a few times, consciously try and release any tension in neck and shoulders with every exhale. Stay for 5 deep belly breaths in and out through the nose.
As always, if you feel any pain during these exercises, please come out of the posture.
Kindest,
