Are you a desk worker? Try this yoga routine designed to ease aches and pains

With this customized yoga sequence made specifically for desk professionals, you can break up the day and wave goodbye to aches and pains.
Backache, shoulder discomfort, neck ache, wrist ache – working at a desk may be a bit of a headache at times.

According to a Censuswide poll, 81% of UK office employees spend between four and nine hours each day sitting at their desks, amounting to an average of 67 inactive days per person per year – a lifestyle that can lead to a variety of health problems. While workplace health and safety requirements will urge employees to get up and exercise on a regular basis, deadlines, workload, and office culture can make this challenging in practice.

“Despite being a yoga instructor, I’m also a desk dweller when I’m not teaching, so I understand the sensation all too well,” Iain Ross explains. “I have persistently tight shoulders and upper back difficulties, lower back and hip niggles, knee discomfort… the list goes on.”

The Labour Force Survey reports that 477,000 workers suffer from work-related musculoskeletal ailments, so you’re not alone. While workplace support in the form of ergonomic equipment can help, yoga is a great technique to manage aches, pains, discomfort, and your mood.

“When it comes to the upper back and shoulders, much of the problem stems from overstretched back muscles and over-contracted chest muscles, which are frequently caused by lengthy periods of hunching over,” Iain adds. “Going downhill through the body, a hunched spine (too much spinal flexion) is a recipe for all kinds of back troubles, while underactive and overstretched glutes, plus continual flexion in the hip flexors (the front of the hip and thigh) can undoubtedly bring discomfort and injury over time.

“The trick is to expand the chest and heart area while strengthening the back, and to stimulate the glutes while stretching the hip flexors,” Iain explains. “Of course, this is oversimplification, but use it as a guideline and you won’t go far wrong.”

Now it’s your turn. Try this five-minute sequence designed by Iain Ross whilst working at a desk:

1. Sitting breathing (pranayama)

 

Deep breathing is a tremendously efficient but extremely easy approach to free up space around the chest and ribs. But there’s more to it than just taking a few deep breaths! For at least one minute, breathe consciously and with mindfulness.

Begin by sitting up straight in your chair, without hunching or slumping back. Consider attempting to align your head at the very top of your spine as someone pulls a long thread through the crown of your skull. Tuck your chin slightly towards your chest to extend the back of your neck. Concentrate completely on your breathing from here on out, allowing each inhalation to get deeper. Consider attempting to fill your lungs from bottom to top, front to rear, and side to side.

It might help to lay one hand on the heart region and one on the belly, so you can literally feel your hands travel away from you as your breath deepens.

2. Kriya for the heart chakra

 

Kriya generally translates as ‘cleaning,’ and it is a beautiful, ancient yoga practice intended to cleanse chakras throughout the body. This one is for the anahata chakra, also known as the heart chakra. Whether you believe in chakras or not, this is an excellent workout for strengthening the back muscles and opening the heart region.

I’d recommend three to five rounds (or more if you have the time!) of this:

1. Begin with sitting with your hands in your lap, stacked on top of one another, palms facing up.

2. BREATHE. Pull the hands upwards until they are in line with the heart.

3. BREATHE. When you round the back and tuck the chin, interlace your fingers and press your palms forward.

4. BREATHE. When you gaze up, make tight fists and bring the hands back towards the body, pulling the elbows in and squeezing the shoulder blades together.

5. BREATHE. Back at the heart space, place one hand on top of the other and ‘push’ down downwards towards where you started. Reverse the palms and repeat.

3. Utkatasana (chair pose or fierce position)

 

There’s a reason this translates as “fierce pose” – it’s an excellent asana for activating the glutes and strengthening the back. It’s also very simple to do from your workstation!

Just position your feet firmly on the ground, either hip distance apart or with the big toes touching, from your seat. Drive down into your heels to lift your buttocks away from your chair, keeping your weight back enough in your heels to see your toes in front of your knees if you glance down.

You may also raise your arms up and overhead as an added bonus. If you choose this option, keep the lumbar spine in mind and try not to let it bend too far. Maintain gluteal awareness so you can slightly tuck the tailbone.

4. Tadasana (upward salutation into uttanasana)

 

Come up to stand from utkatasana and locate tadasana, or mountain posture. But there’s more to it than just standing up! Consider bringing everything up through the feet, dragging the kneecaps up into the thighs to activate the front of the legs, squeezing the bum, hugging the belly button towards the spine, and standing as tall as you can while keeping the shoulders soft so they don’t hunch up by the ears.

You can either keep your arms beside your body, palms facing front, or move into an upward salutation. This asana incorporates a back bend into the practice, which opens the front of the body while strengthening the back, making it an ideal complement to long days slumped at a desk.

Focus on pulling the hips forward as you lift the heart space up and out, either with hands overhead or at the lower back. Maintain a sense of participation throughout by not flinging your head back. Consider pushing forward with the glutes while elevating the heart by bringing the shoulder blades together, rather than bending the spine.

Take an optional uttanasana (forward fold) from here, lightly bending the knees while hingeing at the hips to fold forward. Stay as long as you need and feel free to come back if necessary.