Sitting in a comfortable upright position on your chair, feet on
the floor, rest your hands on your thighs, relax your shoulders
and bring your attention to the breath. Maybe noticing that there
is an ever so slight naturally occurring pause at the top of your
inhale and after your exhale. You may just stay with this focus,
lengthening the breath, possibly starting with lengthening the
exhale as this is easier generally. You could then add counting
the seconds in your mind as you breathe in and as you breathe
out. Letting go of the counting in your own time, relaxing
the breath and opening your eyes. Unless you are using this
technique to fall asleep of course, in which case it can be
practised lying down comfortably, and you may find that you nod
off during the counting.
softened or even be bent when practicing this. Starting off with
equal support through the feet, raising the arms on an inhale,
folding forwards on an exhale, placing hands or forearms on
the desk, remain here for a breath, then take the arms out to the
sides, coming up on an inhale, fingers pointing to the ceiling,
exhale, lower the arms to the front. Repeat 4-6 times
Seated side stretch
In a seated position place the right
hand on the edge of the chair and look
towards the floor, raising the left arm
to the side and overhead, palm facing
towards you, reach to your right, stay
here for a breath and repeat on the other
side. This movement can be repeated
4-6 times on each side, alternating
(see seated side stretch photo)
Please note: In case of health problems, injury or pregnancy,
always consult with your GP or health professional before
attempting these exercises
Single arm raises – seated or
standing
This is a simple way to start mobilising
the shoulder girdle and rotator cuff.
Sitting upright as before, placing the right
arm on your thigh or moving it behind the
body (as shown in the standing picture)
then raising the left arm as you inhale,
pause and slowly lower it with the exhale,
connecting the length of your breath with
the length of the movement. Repeat 4-6 times, then swap arms
and work with the other side
Arm raises – seated or standing
In a comfortable seated or standing
position with the back long and the
shoulders relaxed, inhale sweep the arms
out to side and overhead and exhale
lower the arms to the front, connect the
length of your breath to the movement as
before. Repeat 4-6 times
Seated forward bend
Following on from the previous arm
raises, space permitting this can then
be turned into a gentle forward bend by
raising the arms overhead as before and
sweeping them on to the lower back
while bending forwards. Take a breath
here. Inhale, take the arms out to the
sides and overhead, fingertips to the
ceiling, exhale lower the arms.
Standing forward bend
In the standing version
of this posture we are
looking to release and
maybe strengthen
the back, rather than
focussing on the
hamstrings. Therefore,
the knees should be
Seated twist
Sitting as before, on an
exhale gently rotating
to your left, placing the
left hand behind you
and the right hand on
your left knee (if this
sounds like a seated
version of Twister, use
the photo below as
a visual guide), focus
on the shoulder movement and the upper body and of course
on your breathing, take one breath, inhale return to the middle
and exhale repeat the twist to your right, again stay for a breath.
Repeat 4-6 times each side
Standing hip stretch
(warrior one variation)
Standing in front of the desk, stepping
forwards with your left foot, placing the
hands on the surface, ‘grounding yourself
through the back foot’, bending the left
knee and allowing the chest to expand
with the inhale, opening the front of the
body, relaxing the shoulders with the
exhale, notice the gentle stretch at the
front of your right hip, after you have
stayed for a breath, straighten the left leg and repeat 4-6 times,
before stepping back and working with the right foot forwards.
Palming
This is an effective practice to take the strain of the eyes after
having worked on the computer for extended periods.
Simply placing the palms of your hands on to your eyes with your
fingers resting on your forehead, relax the head and shoulders,
stay here for a few breaths, then lower the hands and repeat
if needed. The rubbing together of the palms of the hands to
create heat, can make a comfortable addition to this, but is not
necessary.
By Anika Grimm
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