7 Revitalizing Yoga Poses to Try at Your Standing Desk
7 Revitalizing Yoga Poses to Try at Your Standing Desk
(Updated 6/27/23)
Movement is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Calories are burned, muscles are flexed, heart rate goes up, and when you’re done moving, you instantly feel better.
If you had free time, surely you would dedicate more time to working out.
But there lies the real challenge, often we can’t find any more time in our day-to-day to fit in an extra workout.
As often is the case, life gets in the way and the first thing to get cut is our workout.
Sneak in more movement at your desk
Since making more time in your schedule to fit in an extra workout may not be an option for you, we’ve got good news.
You don’t need to add an extra workout in your day.
Adding short bouts of movement throughout your day will get you most of the benefits that a full workout can.
There’s some super interesting research that supports that multiple bouts of movement as short as 30 seconds long throughout the day can give you tangible benefits.
Remember to start slow
Whether you’re a hardcore yogi, or you’ve never done a downward dog in your life it is important to remember that when attempting desk yoga, you must start slow.
These are impromptu bouts of movement, so it means that you won’t have your usual warm up.
Start slow and remember to not force yourself to reach a pose.
As a matter of fact, even if you’ve done these poses before, you may notice that you don’t have the same flexibility when at your desk.
That’s ok.
The goal with all these yoga poses is to simply try and do them as best you can in that moment.
Listen to your body and go easy.
With this in mind, here are 7 desk friendly yoga poses that you can try today. .
7 Yoga Poses to try at your desk
Mountain Pose-Tadasana: The most basic standing pose, this is great for posture and core strength. For this pose, simply gaze forward, relax your shoulders, engage your core, keep your knees soft, and slightly tuck your pelvis forward—that’s it! (If you do this for over 3 minutes, you should be sweating.)
Eagle: This is a great stretch for the neck, shoulders, and upper back, and it will strengthen your legs and improve your balance. Bend your knees, lift your heart, bring your right arm underneath your left, and wrap at the elbows and the wrists. Have fun with this one and embody the eagle: swift, graceful, and strong.
Tree Pose: A basic, beginner-friendly balance pose. All balance poses are good for core strength and mental focus. Set your right foot onto the ground, grab your left knee and bring it up, rotating your left leg to the side, and place your foot above or below your knee (just not on the knee). Stretch your arms above your head or out to the sides to embody your favorite tree and root through the center of your feet. Switch legs and repeat.
Standing or Seated Side Stretch: We often focus on stretching either the back or the front of the body, while neglecting our sides. Keep a neutral spine, lift your rib cage, bring your palms together above your head, inhale, tilt to one side with an exhale, then inhale to come up; repeat on the opposite side. This side stretch is easy to perform and can be modified to be as intense or gentle as you would like.
Easy Pose: This pose is perfect for realigning the body after you spend time sitting in a chair. Sit on a firm cushion (or improvise with a folded-up sweater) to elevate yourself about six inches off the ground, stretching out your legs. Fold your legs in until your thighs and crossed shins form a triangle in front of you. Lengthen your spine and enjoy the position for as long as you need to.
Forward Fold: Interlace hands behind your back for this basic forward bend that can be done sitting or standing. Just make sure you bend from the hip joints instead of the waist: you have hinges at your hips for a reason.
High Lunge: Starting with a forward fold, step your left leg back far enough that your right leg forms a right angle. Lengthen your torso over your bent right leg and stretch the heel of your left leg toward the floor. Take a deep breath before switching legs to repeat the pose on the opposite side. This pose is ideal for lengthening your hip flexors if you've spent a long time sitting during your commute, at lunchtime, or during a meeting
Focus on moving more to compound your benefits
Often we tend to feel that we didn’t get a good workout unless we’re dripping in sweat, out of breath, or have sore muscles.
Although fun, we don’t have to always go all out on our workout.
Remember that every workout is a good workout.
Start sprinkling these yoga poses throughout your day and enjoy their revitalizing effects on your mind and body.
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