Sitting in a chair all day can be hard on the body and frequently leads to stiffness in the neck, legs, and lower back. Remember gym class in school when we had to do those pesky stretching exercises. Well, guess what, they are actually crucial to keeping your body relaxed and ache- free. For every hour that we sit in a chair, at least a few minutes should be spent taking some time to relax the body, and clear the mind. Here are a few simple ways to do this without looking like a fool in front of your co-workers. In fact, doing these exercises in public, in your office just might inspire others do them too!
Sitting in a chair all day can be hard on the body and frequently leads to stiffness in the neck, legs, and lower back. Remember gym class in school when we had to do those pesky stretching exercises. Well, guess what, they are actually crucial to keeping your body relaxed and ache- free. For every hour that we sit in a chair, at least a few minutes should be spent taking some time to relax the body, and clear the mind. Here are a few simple ways to do this without looking like a fool in front of your co-workers. In fact, doing these exercises in public, in your office just might inspire others do them too!
Start by looking away from the compute. Ahhh, isn’t that nice. Take one deep breath and let it out as slow as possible. Rotate your neck, moving it up, down, left right, side to side, and add in some circular motion. Make sure that you are breathing long, deep breaths as you do this, keep the motions in sync with the breathing to prevent injury. Now, with another long inhalation, stand up and let your whole body straighten up. Make sure that you don’t do this too fast, letting the spine, shoulders, and neck fall into their natural and comfortable alignment.
With another long inhalation, begin to fold forward from the hips letting your whole upper body relax completely until you are hanging. If your hands touch the ground, great, if not, no big deal. Now, as you hang there, take a moment to notice the backs of your legs, are they tight? If so, you can bring your attention, your thoughts, and your breath to the spots that are tight and begin to breath into the tightness. After a few moments you should feel the hamstrings relaxing a bit and loosening up. The legs are the key to the back, if they are tight, the rest of your upper body will be also.
Try to notice when you have sat for too long, and take a few moments to work with your mind, breath, and body to relax and release some stress. Because all three are linked, when you change one, you will effect them all. There are of course thousands of ways to stretch, just remember to synchronize and let the breath do the moving. Get creative, have fun, start a conversation at work about this topic. I bet you will have much to talk about with your co-workers regarding this subject.Sitting in a chair all day can be hard on the body and frequently leads to stiffness in the neck, legs, and lower back. Remember gym class in school when we had to do those pesky stretching exercises. Well, guess what, they are actually crucial to keeping your body relaxed and ache- free. For every hour that we sit in a chair, at least a few minutes should be spent taking some time to relax the body, and clear the mind. Here are a few simple ways to do this without looking like a fool in front of your co-workers. In fact, doing these exercises in public, in your office just might inspire others do them too!
Start by looking away from the compute. Ahhh, isn’t that nice. Take one deep breath and let it out as slow as possible. Rotate your neck, moving it up, down, left right, side to side, and add in some circular motion. Make sure that you are breathing long, deep breaths as you do this, keep the motions in sync with the breathing to prevent injury. Now, with another long inhalation, stand up and let your whole body straighten up. Make sure that you don’t do this too fast, letting the spine, shoulders, and neck fall into their natural and comfortable alignment.
With another long inhalation, begin to fold forward from the hips letting your whole upper body relax completely until you are hanging. If your hands touch the ground, great, if not, no big deal. Now, as you hang there, take a moment to notice the backs of your legs, are they tight? If so, you can bring your attention, your thoughts, and your breath to the spots that are tight and begin to breath into the tightness. After a few moments you should feel the hamstrings relaxing a bit and loosening up. The legs are the key to the back, if they are tight, the rest of your upper body will be also.
Try to notice when you have sat for too long, and take a few moments to work with your mind, breath, and body to relax and release some stress. Because all three are linked, when you change one, you will effect them all. There are of course thousands of ways to stretch, just remember to synchronize and let the breath do the moving. Get creative, have fun, start a conversation at work about this topic. I bet you will have much to talk about with your co-workers regarding this subject.
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Tags: breath exercises, inner peace, stress management, techniques
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Sitting in a chair all day can be hard on the body and frequently leads to stiffness in the neck, legs, and lower back. Remember gym class in school when we had to do those pesky stretching exercises. Well, guess what, they are actually crucial to keeping your body relaxed and ache- free. For every hour that we sit in a chair, at least a few minutes should be spent taking some time to relax the body, and clear the mind. Here are a few simple ways to do this without looking like a fool in front of your co-workers. In fact, doing these exercises in public, in your office just might inspire others do them too!
