Yoga for desk jockeys

Vegetarian Times, Jan, 1998 by Jennifer Barrett

RELATED ARTICLE: Cobra

This classic back bending posture is a good remedy for a bad day. Ancient texts suggest that it helps awaken your "serpent power" (how you use it is up to you).`This stretch strengthens the back muscles and expands the chest to allow deeper breathing.

What to do: Sit in your chair with feet firmly on the floor about a foot apart. Place your hands on the desk, arms slightly bent and elbows in toward your body. As you inhale, slowly begin arching your back. Take your time, tilting the head up and back each time you exhale; rest in the position each time you inhale. When you arrive at your maximum arch, let your jaw drop and look up. Stay in the pose for a few breaths, then slowly come back to the upright position.

Hint: Back bending positions can occasionally cause lower back discomfort because we're so used to hunching forward. As a counterpose to release your lower back, bend at the hips from your seated position and lower your head toward your knees.

RELATED ARTICLE: Wrist Relief

Taking frequent stretch breaks from typing or other repetitive tasks helps keep the muscles in your forearms, wrists and fingers from cramping. Wrist stretches also decrease your chances of succumbing to tendonitis or Repetitive Stress Disorder.

What to do: Start by rotating your hands in a circular motion to increase blood flow to the wrists. Experiment with clockwise and counterclockwise motions, fingers together and fingers splayed.

Now place the right thumb in the crease between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Press the right thumb gently down toward the forearm with the left hand, until you feel a good stretch in the top wrist. Hold the stretch for five seconds and then release.

Hint: Of all the office poses, wrist stretches can be practiced anywhere. Make use of your commute home, an elevator ride or the walk to your coworker's office to get in some stretch time. Practice gently, your wrists are delicate.

RELATED ARTICLE: Neck Stretch

When the phone never stops ringing, your in box is piled high and your office anguish is collecting in your neck and shoulders, the following posture can lengthen and stretch those muscles to increase blood flow to the area and release tension.

What to do: Sit up straight with arms hanging at your sides. Begin by rotating your head three times slowly in a clockwise direction and then counterclockwise. As you breathe in, raise your right arm overhead, reaching with an outstretched palm. Lean your head to the right. Bend your right arm and place the palm of your right hand over the left side of your head near the ear. Gently pull the head to the right with a flat hand, increasing the stretch on the left side of your neck and shoulder area. Breath into the pose, reaching downward with your left arm. Then come back to center and repeat the pose, reversing sides.

Hint: Julie Friedeberger, author of Office Yoga (Thorsons, 1991), offers this advice: "Remember not to tug at your head; the arm is there only to add weight and gently increase the stretch."'