Learning to practice Yoga while sitting in a chair has a multitude of benefits for anyone of any age, shape, size or and fitness level. Chair Yoga is sometimes called Office Yoga. It is a wonderful alternative for anyone who sits at a desk long hours and needs a way to stretch those tired muscles, particularly the back, neck, shoulders and hips, without leaving the office station... and you get all the benefits of regular yoga without ever having to change your clothes or get up or down off of the floor.Taking a Chair Yoga break, even a five minute break, can increase efficiency and effectiveness while at work and clear the mind. If you can do this several time during the day, even for a few minutes, you will be happier in your body and your mind will defog.
Here are a few easy seated yoga stretches for the back:
1. Push or roll your chair away from the desk so that you are back as far as you can go with your arms straight and your hands resting on the edge of the desk. Your head is between your arms and you drop your shoulders down away from the ears.
Press your hips back and your chest forward a bit more to make space between the vertebrae.
Hold for several deep breaths and then look up and lift the torso up to sitting.
2. Come forward to the front of the chair, with your feet firmly planted. Reach you arms back to the back of the chair and hold on. Press the front of your torso forward. Look up, but keep the shoulders down neck comfortable in this back bend. Hold for a few deep breaths.
3. Again, come forward to the front of the chair, separating you feet wider than your hips. Place your elbows on your thighs. Press the elbows and the hips back toward the back wall and look straight ahead for a lengthened spine. Then tuck your chin and look down between the legs of the chair as you release the neck. Come up slowly, one hand on one thigh and then the other to draw you up.
Sit back in your chair and let those stretches settle in.
Chair Yoga DVDs may be purchased which then can be slipped into your computer to help guide you. Some of them are segmented so that you can focus on the particular body part you need to stretch, such as the shoulders, the neck or the wrists.
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