The majority of jobs today require us to sit behind a desk for more than 8 hours a day. Doing so puts a lot of pressure on the lumbar spine, leading to muscular imbalances and tension. This creates pain throughout the body. It is important to counterbalance desk-induced tension to prevent further damage to your body. Take stretch breaks during your workday and do these 5 easy yoga poses to relieve accumulated tension.

1. Standing Chest Opener

Clasp your hands behind your back, or hold on to a belt between your hands, and pull away from your body. 

Sitting at a desk, the muscles in the upper back are stretched, while the chest muscles are contracted. The above pose squeezes the shoulder blades, strengthening the muscles in the upper back while stretching your chest muscles to release tension.

2. Warrior Pose

Get into a deep lunge with the arm, on the same side as the back leg, straightened out parallel to the ground. You can use the other arm to hold the chair for balance or rest it on the front leg. Repeat on the other side.

It may seem like your legs aren’t adversely affected by desk life. But that is far from the truth. Sitting down for long periods of time weakens your legs. The above pose puts weight on the glutes while stretching the hamstring. This increases blood flow to the legs, reinvigorating and straightening them

3. Wide-Legged Forward Bend

Stand tall, with your feet wide apart. Microbend your knees and hinge at your waist, bending forward with a flat back. When you’re at the peak of your stretch (but not overdoing it), reach for the floor, your ankles, or a chair as a prop. Hold the position and breathe peacefully for 10 seconds or longer. Slightly bend your knees and rise up with a flat back. 

The muscles in your lower back are constantly engaged in holding up your torso while sitting. The above pose stretches the hamstrings and the lower back helping alleviate the tension that has been built up.  

4. Seated Spinal Twist

Sit tall, and start small: twist to one side, just slightly at first, and with every exhale try and twist deeper. Be sure to maintain the length in your spine. Repeat it on both sides.

Your spine fights the gravitational pull without the support of your legs when you are sitting. It slowly loses length and strength as the day goes by. Spinal twists are a great way to detoxify and lift pressure off your spine. The above pose also stretches the abdomen and obliques, relieving tension from them. 

5. Tricep Stretch

With the bicep against the side of your head, reach the open palm to touch the center of your upper back. Once comfortable, use the other arm to pull the opposing elbow toward itself. Repeat it with the other arm.

The arms hover over the desk with little to no support throughout the workday. This tenses them up, building stress and weakening muscles. The below pose stretches the arm, increasing blood flow and strengthening the bicep and tricep.

6. Wrist Extension

Start with a wrist stretch. While standing, place your palms flat on the table with your wrists facing away from you. Straighten your arms and rock back and forth as you deeply inhale and exhale.

This helps alleviate stress in the wrists because of keyboard use. Regular practice increases mobility all the way up through your shoulders, while also decreasing the chance of tension-related injuries. 

In Conclusion

This should help relieve the built-up tension and re-energize you through the workday. Just remember the stretches must feel comfortable and not painful. Doing these poses every day will help you strengthen your body while increasing mobility and decreasing stress-related injuries. If you want to work on overall wellness at your job check out 7 Ways to bring wellness into your workplace.