Can I Do Yoga At Work

One of the best features of yoga is that there are no boundaries for it. Yoga comprises of asanas or poses and pranayamas or breathing exercises. There are many of these exercises that you can do at work or at any other place you might want to. Stress related problems and health conditions stemming from inactivity are on the rise because of the sedentary lifestyles we live. Most of us spend our days slouched over a computer at work. The bad posture and inactivity contribute to a number of problems, the most common being back aches and related ailments. The levels of stress and pressure at the workplace have also grown considerably and almost all of us suffer from some form of stress or anxiety. Yoga is therefore extremely handy as it can help us to overcome and combat these problems.

Here are some Yoga practices that you can do at work as they have no particular space or equipment requirements. They do not require you to get into any awkward poses or lie down, but can be done at your desk or cubicle itself.

The Seated Forward Bend, which is actually an adaptation of the Standing Forward Bend or Uttanasana.

• Move your chair away from your desk and allow your feet to rest flat on the floor.

• Position your hands behind your back and clasp your hands together, interlocking the fingers.

• Straighten your arms, allowing the interlocked fingers to move lower down.

• Bend at the waist, allowing your hands to hover over your back.

• Leaning forward, allow your chest to rest on the thighs.

The Eagle Arm, which is basically an adaptation of the Eagle Pose or Garudasana, is another pose that you can try while seated in your chair at work.

• Stretch your arms out on either side so that they are perpendicular to your body, while parallel to the floor.

• After having brought the arms forward cross them over each other, bringing the left hand over the right and the right hand to the left, allowing the palms to make contact.

• Lift your forearms, raising the joint palms, while the rest of your hand from the elbow to the shoulder remains stationery.

• Repeat the sequence, but alternate between the hand movements with the left hand overlapping and the right hand.

These are just two poses that have been mentioned. There are a variety of poses and breathing exercises that you can practice at work. This is purely because of the dynamic nature of yoga activities, which means that they can be easily modified and adapted to suit not just your physical state, but your environment as well.