Yoga for desk jockeys

You strained your back trying to replace the water cooler bottle, and the hours you spent hunched over your computer have left you with sore wrists and a stiff neck. You can't wait to race home and recoup, but you're dreading the bumper-to-bumper traffic that will keep you pinned to your car seat for another hour or more.

Desk jobs (and the commute) can place serious demands on your physical and mental well-being. Your body is built for movement and when you're glued to a chair for long hours, you inevitably feel the effects. This cramped position freezes the legs and restricts blood flow, causing stiffness and cramping in the lower body, especially the lower back. Plus, an office environment produces a special brand of emotiona stress. "If something upsets you, you cannot have a tantrum;, burst into tears, or do whatever you might do if you were at home to release the tension," says Miriam Freedman, coauthor of Yoga at Work (Element Books, 1996). "You must suppress your feelings and try to keep working."

Medical research on the mind/body connection has shown that pent-up frustrations take their toll on the immune system, creating a breeding ground for illness--just as grappling with physical aches and pains can wear you down emotionally. "Tight shoulders are a case in point," explains Elise Miller, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based yoga teacher who regularly conducts classes at Silicon Valley corporations. "When we work, we do it with our hands and arms, and this is obviously connected to shoulder pain. But there's also that whole connection of taking the weight of the world on your shoulders. It seems like this is the area of the body that's metaphorically tied in with responsibility."

But rather than reaching for a stiff drink or telling off your boss, consider yoga to help assuage your work-related tension. Now we're not suggesting you sit in full lotus position at the next staff meeting on practice headstands in your cubicle. But a few quick stretches, tailored specifically for the office, may be just what you need. They take only minutes to do and don't require a lot of space; and most don't even require that you stand up. Dawn Groves, author of Yoga for Busy People (New World Library, 1995), calls these modified postures "yoga bits," or one-minute refreshers. "You return to the task at hand without missing a beat."

Because sitting at a desk creases tension in the neck and shoulders, we've focused the following poses on the upper body. Feel free to adjust and experiment with each one. Using your breath as a guide, gradually move deeper into the stretch each time you exhale, and stop to make any minor physical adjustments as you inhale. Never strain or force your body into any stretch or you may injure yourself.

And don't worry about stretching every hour or even every day. Start small and work yourself up to a level that makes you comfortable. No matter what stretches you manage to squeeze into your schedule, a little yoga goes a long way.

RELATED ARTICLE: Standing Chair Hang

This pose is a great antidote for less-than-perfect posture--something that's certainly not helped by sitting crouched over a desk for hours. If you only have time for one pose at work, says yoga teacher Elise Miller, this is it.

What to do: Stand about four feet behind your chair with your feet a hip-width apart. Keeping knees straight, place your hands on the back of your chair. Bend slowly from the waist, lowering your upper body until it forms a right angle with your legs. Straighter' your arms, aligning them with your back. Look down, keeping your head and neck parallel to your arms, and your back as straight as possible. Take a few deep breaths in this position, and then slowly roll out of it, one vertebra at a time.

Hint: Try not to round your back in this pose. Bend your knees slightly until you are able to lengthen your back if tight hamstrings prevent you from straightening it.

Forward bends, such as this one, also aid the digestive system and help reduce menstrual cramps.

RELATED ARTICLE: Seated Twist

If you find yourself sitting blankly at your desk, uninspired by the task at hand, a spinal twist may help. Twisting allows you to momentarily turn away from your work, granting you a fresh perspective. Twists also help squeeze the muscles around the vertebrae, increasing blood flow to bring oxygen and nutrients to the area. These poses exert a cleansing, sponge-like action on the internal organs--especially the digestive system.

What to do: Sit up straight in your chair with your feet flat on the floor about a foot apart. Breathe in. Exhaling slowly, turn your head and then your shoulders to the right. For support, grasp the top of your chair with your right hand and place the left hand on the outside of your right thigh. Each time you inhale, lengthen the spine; each time you exhale, twist a bit further to the right. Stay in the position for a few breaths and then come back to center slowly. Repeat on the other side.