Fitness

Three Amazing Yoga Stretches For Corporate Workers

27 March 2017
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Calling all corporate workers! Yoga at your desk? It’s all possible thanks to the lovely ladies from Yoga 213 – one of my fave yoga studios in Melbourne. Today, our resident Yoga Experts are sharing a bunch of amazing yoga stretches that you can do from your desk!

 

Sometimes, when you’re sitting at your desk all day, you wish lunchtime included an hour of yoga. But, unless you’re at one of those health and wellness focused offices where they bring yoga to you, this probably isn’t the case. And certainly not every day. When we start to get a stiff back, tight hamstrings, and hunched shoulders, we want a few quick tricks to keep us going throughout the day, so we can make it to the mat. Here are a few shapes you can replicate at your office chair.

 

For the Shoulders and Chest

Sometimes we can feel like we’re rounding through the shoulders when we sit at a desk for long periods of time. And when we get stressed, we can start to get really tight through the front of our chest. There are two really easy stretches that we can do while sitting at our desk chair.

The first is to open the back body and stretch the shoulders. It’s called Eagle Arms. Start by bringing your arms out in front and wrap the right arm underneath the left. From here either take old of opposite shoulders, bring the backs of the palms to touch, or bring the palms to touch (wrapping the arms twice here). Then you want to lift the elbows up to shoulder height and start to draw your palms away from your face. You will start to feel a nice stretch across the back line of the shoulders.

The second is to open the front of the chest and shoulders. Here, we take our hands behind our back and interlace the fingers. Try to bring the palms to touch. Then, while keeping the core engaged, lift your palms away from you body. You will start to feel a deep stretch across the front.

 

For the Spine

Spine mobility is easy in a chair. When seated, a forward fold is quite simple. Think about hinging from the hips and resting your belly on your thighs. Allow your chin to move towards your chest in order the lengthen the back of the neck. Your head can fall in between your knees or in front, depending how your mobility is on that day.

 

You can also easily twist the spine from a seated position. Sit with your right leg crossed over your left (thighs touching). Bring your left hand to your right knee and your right hand to the chair on the right side of your hips. While keeping the belly engaged and your spine nice and long, use your hands to twist around to the right. Then repeat to the left, making sure you switch the cross of the legs.  

 

For the Hips

 

Another easy one for the office. Seated with your left foot on the ground, place your right ankle on your left knee. Your right knee should come out nice and wide to the right. You should start to feel your outer right hip and glutes get a good stretch. You can fold forward for a deeper variation. Then switch sides.

 

Try a bunch of these stretches together when your body is in need of a little extra love.

 

 

Written by Amy Collins, originally for Yoga 213.

Yoga 213 is Australia’s first Hip Hop Yoga studio. They combine music and yoga to create a fresh experience like no other. Their studio is a welcoming home for any Yogi wanting to experience the happiness of Yoga. Their website shares stories on yoga, health, travel, happiness, music, and interesting things they’ve found across the world.

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