Take Your Yoga to Work

By Paige Greenfield

Prevent the pains caused by working at a desk

Even if you love your job, spending 40-plus hours at your desk every week can sometimes lead to more than just a headache; it can also be a pain in the neck, shoulders, back, feet, and eyes. Being chained to your desk starves your extremities of blood, oxygen, and other fluids, resulting in tight muscles and stiff joints. But before reaching for the industrial-size bottle of ibuprofen, try these poses from Karin Wiedemann, yoga instructor and director of Urban Yoga. She suggests spending 3 minutes every two hours doing the following moves and relieving some tension.



The Pain: Wrists and hands

The Cause:  “Typing is a very repetitive motion and we do it for hours,” Wiedemann says. On top of that, we hold our hands in a very tense position, so the muscles get stiff and blood doesn’t circulate as well (as evidenced by how chilly your hands get even in summer.)

The Fix: Sitting at your desk with your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, lengthen up through the crown of your head and let your shoulders gently drop away from your ears. Bring your hands together on your lap in a prayer position, interlacing your fingers. As you take a deep breath in, lift your arms out in front of you and press your palms away. As you exhale, reach your arms overhead and try to straighten your arms as much as you can without scrunching your shoulders. If your shoulders rise up, keep your elbows slightly bent. Hold this pose for 10 complete breaths and lower your arms on the last exhalation. Do this 3 times in a row.

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