Stand Up to Live Longer?

by Nina

“Sitting too much may increase the risk of dying prematurely, while replacing sitting time with just standing or moderate physical activity could counteract the effect.” —Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times

I’m standing up as I write this. Because I’m working on both a book and the blog this year and my back has been rather unhappy about it, I decided to splurge on one of those sit-stand desks that I can raise and lower with the touch of a button. And just in time apparently. Because this little article in the New York Times Sitting Increases the Risk of Dying Early made me realize that while I’d kind of been thinking that all my walks and yoga sessions were counteracting the hours I spent sitting at my desk, according to the latest research, that’s not true:

“The association between time spent sitting and mortality has been found in other studies, and the link persists even after accounting for other physical exercise.”

And I’ve now concluded that although we and other yoga teachers have been encouraging people to do “office yoga” for some time now, maybe some of those chair stretches are not the right thing for you to be doing. So it’s time for us all to get serious about breaking up those hours of sitting with “standing” breaks! The researcher quoted in the article recommended, well, just standing up.

“Stand up, and go have a drink of water instead of keeping the water bottle at your desk. Or just stand up every so often. Standing alone increases your energy expenditure.”

But I think we can do better than that. (I mean, just standing up is kind of boring so you might as well do some stretching and/or strengthening while you’re at it.) Now I work at home so I not only can use the desk of my choice but I can also take housework breaks, which mean getting up and going downstairs to do dishes, put in a load of laundry, or sweep the kitchen. (I get lots of thinking done during those breaks, as well as a relief from sitting.) However, I used to work in an office—and even in a cubicle!—so I know that’s a bit more challenging. But there are many different kinds of standing poses can you do in your office clothes in a small space

For starters, we just happen to have this little sequence Featured Sequence: Opening Tight Shoulders that—although it was designed to open tight shoulders—would work really well in an office. How about doing one pose in the sequence for each short break? At the end of the day, you’ll have completed the whole thing. After a few weeks, your shoulders are going to start feeling pretty good! (If you don’t have a wall, try the Half Downward-Facing Dog pose with your hands on your desk. And if you don’t have a doorknob, try the Cobra holding on to the edge of your desk.) Ram’s post Yoga in Skies with poses you can do at the back of the airplane has some similar ideas as does Yoga for Traveling. And I’m sure we’ve all realized by now that Tree pose can be done any time, anywhere. Finally, I bet you can come up with some of your own!

Baxter sets a timer to remind him to take breaks from writing. I just get up every time I complete a little something like a blog post or a section of the book. 

If you give this a try, let me know how it goes!

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Featured Pose: Simple Chair Twist (Rerun)

by Baxter and Nina

The Simple Chair Twist is one of our five essential office yoga poses. It releases back muscles that are stiff or sore from sitting at a desk or from traveling, or from everyday activities that stress the back and increase the rotational mobility in your spine, such as gardening and painting. Twisting also helps nourish the spine—movement of the spine helps maintain the health of the discs—and it strengthens the bones themselves as your back muscles pull on the bony insertions of the spine. It also strengthens the oblique muscles of your core (and we could all use a little of that).

Traditional yoga teachers recommend twists for the health of your internal organs, improving circulation to and function of the abdominal organs, although no studies have been conducted to confirm this. And finally, for many of us, twists can release physical and emotional tension, providing relief from stress.

The Simple Chair Twist has the additional bonus of being accessible to almost everyone in any location, whether office chair, airplane seat, or even a car seat (except, as Baxter noted while sitting in Nina’s backyard, a 50s-style butterfly chair).

Baxter prescribes Simple Chair Twist for:

• general back tension
• stiffness
• people with balance issues (or who are unable to stand)
• certain low back conditions
• digestive difficulties (constipation or sluggishness)
• strengthening the oblique muscles
• arthritis of the spine
• people who engage in sports or other activities that involve rotation (all you golfers can restore symmetry to your body by twisting on both sides instead of one)

Instructions: Sit sideways on the chair, with your feet resting comfortably on the floor (if your chair has arms or is attached to another chair, see below for an alternative). Your thighs should be parallel to the floor, so if you’re tall you may need to sit on top of something and if you’re short you may need to place something (like a book) under your feet.

Keeping your thighs parallel to each other, lift your spine and turn toward the back of the chair, placing your hands on either side of the chair’s back. Inhale and create an inner lift from your sitting bones through the crown of your head. Then exhale and encourage the twist from your upper belly (above the navel) and chest. Continue lifting on your inhalation and twisting slightly deeper on the exhalation for about 1 minute. Then change sides and twist in the opposite direction. When you’ve finished the pose, pause for a moment to assess how the pose affected your body.

If you can’t sit on the side of your chair, you can sit facing forward as shown below.

As you twist to the right, place your right hand on the chair’s back and your bring your left hand across your right leg. To twist on the other side, simply switch your arm positions.

Cautions: With certain low back conditions (such as severe arthritis, bulging disc, spinal stenosis or sciatica) you should approach twisting cautiously and skip it entirely if it aggravates your symptoms. If you have osteoporosis, twist gently and don’t move through your full range of motion (stay within 50 to 70 percent). If you feel pain, please stop and when you get a chance, ask your yoga teacher for help.

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook 

Read More

Learning to Sit in a Chair

by Nina

If you were to see me sitting at my desk right now as I write this you might think I look a bit strange. Because while I’m writing, I have a yoga strap wrapped around my thighs and my feet are resting on a yoga block. Why am I doing this?

Well, Baxter’s recent post on sitting (see Learning to Sit on the Floor, Part 2) talked about how to use props to sit help you sit comfortably on the floor, and that reminded me that for someone like me who spends many more hours a day sitting in a chair than on the floor, using yoga props at my desk can help me sit more comfortably in my chair! And lately my right hip and leg has been bothering me (I have mild arthritis in my right hip—see Goodbye, Lotus Pose), so I’ve been looking at what I can do both in my yoga practice and in my daily life to reduce my discomfort. And one thing I’ve been noticing is that I tend to sit with my legs crossed, even though I can feel it is hurting my hip—such a strong habit. So I realized that if I wrapped a strap around my legs, I’d be unable to cross my legs—yes, that feels better.

As it happens, using a strap like this can be helpful for most of us. Baxter recommended using a strap around the thighs in his post Friday Q&A: Sleeping on an Airplane to keep your legs symmetrical while you sleep. So if you sit at your desk with crossed legs and want to break yourself of the habit (hours of sitting in an asymmetrical position could be stressful to your body), try tying your legs together. Have it be loose enough so your knees are in line with your hip joints (not touching) but tight enough so the strap supports your thighs in place.

In his post about sleeping on an airplane, Baxter also recommended using a small pillow, folded blanket, or even a piece of rolled-up clothing for lumbar support. I’m sure many of you would find this helpful for maintaining the natural curves of your spine as you sit. Here are his instructions:

First, scoot your butt as far back into the seat as you can. Tip forward from your hips a bit, then place your lumbar support in the small of your back and lean back into it. Feel free to tinker with it so it feels just right for you. 

While I was noticing how my sitting position improved with the addition of the strap, I observed once again that because I’m on the short side, my feet don’t fully rest on the ground when I’m sitting on a chair, especially if I’m sitting with my butt against the back of the chair. So I decided to add the block under my feet—yes, that feels better, too. 

I thought I’d share all this in case you’ve never thought about using props to improve your seated posture while you’re in a chair. People who are on the shorter side like me will often benefit from a footrest, either official or unofficial. People who are tall on the other hand will benefit from raising the seat of the chair so that as Shari mentioned in her post Learning to Sit on the Floor, Part 1 their knees are lower than their hips. Some people have adjustable office chairs, but if you don’t, you could add a firm folded blanket or a firm cushion to your chair seat to raise the seat up. This will make it easier for you maintain the natural curve of your lumbar spine—important for the health of your back—as you sit in your chair.

If you tend to slump and feel like going to extremes, you could even use a yoga strap to prevent your back from rounding. 

How about you? Do you ever use yoga props at your desk? And if so, what do you use? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook 

Read More

Short Yoga Sessions Stimulate Brain Function and Improve Cognition

by Ram

Monarchs Feeding by Melina Meza

Both Nina and Baxter emphasized the need to have a short session of yoga as a quick practice especially during long travel or while taking a break from work (see Mini Office Yoga Practice).  And I recently wrote a piece about the ill effects of prolonged sitting, and suggested taking short breaks and bringing in office yoga or supplementary yoga (see Yoga, Your Compantion Through the Day). All these articles advocated incorporating at least 10-15 minutes of yoga that could not only add new life to the dull and routine tasks of everyday life but also keep us fit physically and emotionally.

One may question the benefits, if any, from a short session of yoga. Not surprisingly, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Illinois, a single 20-minute session of yoga awakens and sharpens the mind significantly, comparable to walking or jogging. The study involved 30 participants who were either given a 20-minute yoga class or asked to carry out a moderate aerobic exercise regimen for the same period of time. In addition to standing, sitting and reclined yoga poses, the session also included a short meditation practice where participants were encouraged to focus on their breath. In the comparison group, participants worked out an aerobic exercise session, which was also shown to provide a cognitive boost of its own.

When participants were tested for cognitive performance, the authors found some significant difference between the two groups.  Those who’d been practicing yoga and meditation performed significantly better in the assessment tests. Following the yoga practice, the participants were not only able to focus better, they were also processing new information quickly and accurately, and were able to recall the new information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise. While there are several scientific studies that indicate that practice of asanas and meditation has beneficial effects on the emotional well-being and general mental acuity, what’s remarkable about this specific study is that even a short yoga session of 20 minutes is sufficient to stimulate brain function and improve cognition. Yoga does so through multiple cellular mechanisms, including:

• releasing brain chemicals that contribute to a feel-good response and ward off anxiety and mental stress
• normalizing blood pressure and stabilizing the heart beats
• reducing anxiety and depression

Simple and short though the yoga session may be, the outstanding benefits are surely long lasting. Got office yoga or supplementary yoga?

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

Read More

The Ill Effects of Prolonged Sitting

by Ram

Van Gough's Chair by Vincent van Gough

A quick question: are you sitting while reading my blog post? If you are, then maybe you should stand up to read it! According to a new study, sitting for long periods puts you at a risk of early death. (This sentence definitely made you stand, correct?) Most people in present day society spend the majority of their time sitting. A typical U.S. adult sits for an average of ten hours per day. Too much sitting is associated with numerous problems, including obesity, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer among others. Prolonged sitting does the following:

• decreases the activity of an enzyme which helps burn fat
• reduces bone mineral density and blocks new bone formation, raising the risk of fracture
• increases cholesterol levels and reduces the diameter of arteries putting the individual at risk for heart disease
• decreases insulin sensitivity and triggers type-2 diabetes

For many of us sitting for eight hours a day at our job is inevitable. Compounded with extra sitting outside of work is what makes it hazardous. Most importantly, the ill effects of prolonged sitting occur regardless of the individual’s physical activity. Those who exercise daily may assume that their vigorous training regimen protects them from the harmful effects of prolonged sitting. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Several independent research studies show that even an intense activity will not undo the deleterious effects that come from sitting for 8-10 hours in a day. Thus, too much sitting is harmful even if you're getting enough exercise. This means you could be meeting the recommended guidelines for a daily exercise but you will still be at higher risk of disease if you sit for long periods each day.

Recall that in my earlier posts The Power of Mental Exercise, Part 1 and Part 2, I emphasized incorporating mental exercises as a daily regimen to keep physically and mentally fit.  Now it appears that simply sitting or remaining sedentary changes certain brain cells such that it affects not just the brain but the heart as well, putting the individual at risk of heart disease. Findings from a recent study showed that individuals who sat for more than 11 hours daily were 40 percent more likely to die within the next three years than those who sat for four hours or less daily—even when their physical activity at other times of the day was accounted for. Prolonged sitting has become the norm rather than an exception. In today’s society it is very easy to end up sitting 12-15 hours a day. If you have a commute of 1-2 hours round trip, work in an office that requires you to sit for an average of 8 hours and follow it up by watching TV for a couple of hours of each night, you end up spending the vast majority of hours sitting.

This is against the evolutionary norms for humans as the human body simply is not built to sit for prolonged hours. Go back to history and notice that the cave man was always active—often quite strenuously—to get food, find shelter and simply survive. They naturally spent a lot of time outdoors, walking, hunting, gathering, and performing various other physically oriented tasks. To them this was not a physical exercise or "working out." It was just normal life.  In today’s world, activity/exercise is primarily an intervention; it is something we do to guard against the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle.

The question is: how can you avoid the dreaded effects that come from prolonged sitting? The only available option is to drastically change your lifestyle. Standing for long hours by no means is the answer or a panacea. Prolonged standing comes with its own baggage of ill health, especially to the legs, knees and lower back. For optimal health we need to reduce sitting time and increase "non-exercise" physical activity. Most experts recommend a 50:50 sit-stand allowance. Experts also agree that it is beneficial to interrupt sitting time as often as possible. One way to do this is to move or stretch for at least 10 minutes for each hour of sitting time.

Here are a few strategies to lessen the sitting hours and help incorporate more physical activity throughout the day:

1. Do not sit for more than two hours continuously. Take a break to do yoga or walk. Try poses from our office yoga series (see Mini Office Yoga Sequence and Office Yoga Sequence. And remember to bring supplemental yoga with you. Stand up for at least two minutes for each hour of sitting. Short breaks can make a big difference. If you have trouble remembering to take a break from sitting, use an alarm to draw your attention.

2. If your occupation involves sitting for long periods, you can work at a standing desk. The potential benefits from a standing desk are manifold, including, higher productivity, reduced absenteeism and lower health care costs among many. And if you are attending meetings that require long hours of sitting, try standing midway through the meeting. If you're worried about any impending stares from your colleagues or manager, just hand over this article to them.

3. Take every opportunity you can to walk. Use the stairs instead of the elevators to get to your location. Use the bathroom on the ground floor or the basement and take the stairs to go down. In the parking lot, try parking farthest away from the building’s entrance door. If you are in the shopping mall or grocery store, try parking farthest away, not only from the store entrance but also from the parking cart corrals. A yoga trick you can try while you are walking—as long as you’re not carrying anything—is to cross your arms behind your back and hold your elbows or forearms. This will open your chest and stretch the fronts of your shoulders, which become tight from typing, driving, and so on.

4. Walk or bicycle to work. If you live too far away to walk or ride, consider driving part of the way and walking or using the bicycle for the remainder. For people who cycle regularly, you can use your yoga practice to balance your body (see Yoga and Cycling).

5. Instead of sitting on a couch while you are watching TV, reading, listening to music and/or socializing, try sitting on the floor in different seated positions, including Seated Crossed Legs, Cobbler’s pose, Hero pose, Thunderbolt pose, Wide Angle pose (Nina likes to fold laundry in that pose), and so on. Try to change positions every 10 minutes or so. And add activity to your TV time by doing supplemental yoga during commercial breaks.

Notice that all the household furniture from lunch tables to computer desks is designed with sitting in mind. So an upright, activity-centered lifestyle will require modifications to the furniture setting.

There is no doubt that excessive time spent in sedentary behavior is not only having an impact on public health but also has effects on the life span of the individual. Those who maintain a reasonable amount of activity, particularly across the middle and later years, are twice as likely to avoid early death and serious illness. However, it appears that it is never too late to make some changes and experience these positive outcomes. The antidote for these obstacles and their consequences are awareness, focus and determination. So take my advice, get off the couch/chair and seek some enjoyable activity that involves some movement.

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

Read More

Yoga, Your Companion Through the Day

by Ram

Upward Bound Hands

One of the main tenets of yoga philosophy is “Yogas chitta vritii nirodhah,”which means achieving a union of the body, mind and spirit when all mental fluctuations/turbulences cease. Now, imagine waiting at the airport for nearly two hours to board an international flight. Or, you get held up in a traffic accident and the traffic has come to a standstill. Or, while negotiating over the phone with a credit card company, the customer service representative keeps you on hold. These are all situations where your emotions can flare up and yet, going by the above doctrine, you need to maintain your composure. So these situations call for supplementary yoga as a means to lighten up the situations and bring more cheer. It’s like giving a new life to the dull and routine tasks of everyday life.

Supplementary yoga can be done at the spur of the moment. It does not require a mat or other props, it does not require you to be in proper yoga attire and it does not call for a full-fledged asana sequence. In addition, if you have practiced yoga for at least six months and know the basics, supplementary yoga can really come in handy. With supplementary yoga, you have taken the power in your own hands to rein in your emotions and keep physically fit. Here are some situations based on my experience where supplementary yoga can turn life situations more interesting. You may modify the sequence or bring in your own set of poses.

Waiting in the Queue

Whether you’re at the cinema hall, airport or coffee bar, waiting in a long queue can be awful. Instead of venting it out, how about performing some standing balancing poses, forward bends or hip stretches, or a combination of all three? Yes, you may attract some curious onlookers but, hey, it’s your body and mind. So ignore the stares and move into the pose. In such situations I like to do Tree pose (Vksasana) as it is a great balancing pose and calms the mind as well. You do not need to do the full pose, just place the sole of your foot against your inner thigh (or calf) and rest your hands on your waist. Make sure your pelvis is in a neutral position and lengthen your tailbone toward the floor. Draw your gaze to the front and send a positive message for the line to move. Stay for 15 seconds, return to the standing position (Tadasana) and repeat on the opposite side for the same length of time.

If the queue is still moving slowly, you can resort to a standing forward bend position. I normally do Hand to Big Toe pose (Padangusthasana) in such situations. Just make sure that as you gently lower into the forward bend, you are not hitting the individual ahead of you. My suggestion to avoid any mishap is to allow the individual ahead of you to move, maintain the gap and finish your pose. Hold this position for 10-15 seconds. Send a positive note for the line to move, inhale, lift your torso and head back to upright position. Notice that you are now first in the line. I did this recently at the DMV office while standing in a long queue for renewing my license and it was fun!

Stuck in Slow Traffic

How many of us deal with slow traffic or stuck-in-traffic situations on a regular basis? Can we seek solace and a calm mind amidst this chaos? I like to do shoulder stretches and neck stretches (my hands are still on the wheel and feet are in their respective position on gas & brakes), and then follow it up with few rounds of Ujjayi pranayama or Victory Breath. Notice that as you direct the exhalation slowly across the back of your throat with a drawn-out “HA” sound, the vehicles in front of you have started moving faster! Repeat several times and not only will you witness prompt soothing effect in your mind, but the traffic would also have cleared. If Olympians have introduced Ujjayi into their routines, you can also do it and reach your destination safe and sound.

Cranking on the Keyboard

Whatever our occupation is, notice how our work has led us to be in front of the computer and to click away on the keyboard with constant use of the mouse. These repetitive movements of joints, fingers and wrist can lead to numerous musculoskeletal problems. Research studies show that one in eight professionals suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) due to these repetitive movements and, among the fingers, the right thumb was revealed to be more susceptible to CTS. In the laboratory, despite bring a bench researcher, my work requires me to do a lot of computing work. So, for every 60 minutes of computing work, I do 5-10 minutes of supplemental yoga. In addition to several stretches, I love doing Upward Bound Hands (Urdhva Baddha Hastasana) as it reestablishes the full range of motion on my collar blades and shoulder blades. Check out Baxter and Nina's post Upward Bound Hands for more on this asana. The other poses I bring in are Eagle pose (Garudasana), Thumb-Big Toe pose (Padangushtasana) and Hand-to-Feet pose (Padahastasana). All these simple but powerful poses deepen the stretch and strengthen the shoulders, arms, hands and wrists, providing the perfect antidote to repetitive actions of the joints, fingers and wrist.

Sitting for Too Long

Our bodies were not designed to be immobile—look back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors and you will understand the need to be more active. (For more I this, check my sequel to follow soon.) Sitting for long hours at work, at a desk, in the car, on the bus or in front of the TV not only adversely affects the neck, shoulders, back, hamstrings but in the process we are also inviting health risks to our lifestyle, including heart attacks, joint problems, spinal issues and cancers. Furthermore, sitting for long periods reduces longevity and increases the risk of an early death. (For more on the risks associated with sitting for long periods, check my article The Dangers of Being Sedentary.)

These days my work requires for me to sit at the office desk for several hours so I bring in my supplemental yoga at work, too. Half Dog Pose at the Wall is an excellent pose that only requires a wall. It provides a good forward bend of the pelvis over the thighbones without curving the lower back. I even do the pose with the hands resting on a desktop or on the seat of my office chair. I also do some standing leg stretches that Baxter and Nina explained in the post Standing Leg Stretches, which provide the same hip opening and leg stretching benefits that one receives from many of the standing poses. I end up doing some shoulder stretches as well, which you can find described in the post Standing Shoulder Stretches.

All the above mentioned poses are good antidotes for hip and leg tightness and for tightness in the lower back. The poses provide an allover stretch, opening your shoulders and stretching your arms, back, hips and legs. Notice how supplemental yoga poses take up less space and you can do them in any location, anywhere there is a wall, chair, desk, ledge or window sill? People around may give you the stare but we yogis don't care, correct?

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email

Read More

Yoga for Traveling

by Nina

Ram’s Monday post on airplane yoga made me remember some of the other great information we have on our blog that might interest anyone who is taking a long trip. Since we’re coming up on the holiday travel season, I thought it would be fun to write a single post that gives you an overview of those posts.

By the way, from my experience of doing yoga on airplanes as well as in airports, I can tell you that some people will look at you as if you’re weird but other people will be totally envious. Once when I was doing yoga with Rodney Yee in airport waiting area, a complete stranger asked if she could join us. It ended up being a very memorable practice for me—I can still remember the woman and most of the sequence we did—and it was probably a memorable practice for her as well. 

Seated Poses. We have a few other poses on the blog that Ram didn’t mention that you might like to try while you are stuck in your seat. See Ankle Circles and Chair Cat Pose. And although we show it standing, Eagle pose arms could be done just as well seated. See also Standing Shoulder Stretches for other ideas for shoulder stretches you could do sitting down.

Of course, you could also do the same poses in a train, bus or car (as a passenger, of course). 

Standing Poses. In addition to those mentioned by Ram, we have featured quite a few poses you can do standing in the back of the plane. Standing Shoulder Stretches and Opening Tight Shoulders show stretches you can do standing in tight spaces.

I’d like to mention two standing poses that we haven’t featured yet. A Standing Marichyasana (Standing Twist) would feel great on your back and neck. Start by standing about a foot from a wall, with your right side to the wall. Then twist to the right toward the wall, placing both hands on the wall at shoulder height, elbows bent and palms on the wall. Inhale as you lengthen your spine up. Exhale as you move deeper into the twist. Stay 30 seconds to a minute. Then repeat on the left side.

A modified Natarajasana (Dancer’s pose) would be an excellent way to stretch your tight quadriceps. This would be a good counter pose to the all forward bending of your hips from sitting (and a good counter pose to Ram’s Standing Knee to Chest pose). Stand about a foot from a wall, with your right side to the wall, and place your right hand on the wall, at about shoulder height, elbow bent. Then shift your weight onto your right leg and bend your left knee. Reach your left hand back and take hold of the your left foot, then move your left thigh so it is perpendicular with the floor (Tadasana position). If you are ready for more stretch, you can lift your hand to gently pull your left thigh into a backbend. Stay for 30 seconds or more. Repeat on the other side.

Sleeping. Of course, sleeping is also a good thing to do when you’re on a long flight. Baxter’s post on sleeping on an airplane recommends a supported sleeping position that will help you survive the trip without acquiring a crick in your neck or a pain in your back.

Airport Yoga. In addition to the flight itself, when you’re traveling, you do a lot of sitting around in waiting areas, either before your flight or waiting for a connection. With more space and free use of a chair, you have even more possibilities for doing yoga. Almost all our office yoga poses and sequences can be done in waiting areas while you are dressed in street clothes. See Mini Office Yoga Practice  and Chair Yoga Mini Practice.

Stretching Your Legs at this point should feel great. You can't lie on the ground to do Reclined Leg Stretch but you can do the exact same poses in a standing position. See Standing Leg Stretches.

Our blog has quite a number of “office yoga” entries, so use the Search function at the upper right corner of the home page to explore and be inspired. And if you have ideas you’d like to contribute, please share them in the comments section.

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook 

Read More

Relax Frequently. Very Frequently.

by Nina

“When we’re renewing, we’re truly renewing, so when we’re working, we can really work.”—Tony Schwartz

On this blog, we’ve talked till we’re blue in the face about how important it is to reduce stress to support healthy aging. After all, chronic stress can cause everything from heart disease and stroke to depression. But when people are busy with their everyday lives, it’s often difficult for them to make lifestyle changes to support a long-term goal. But according to a recent editorial in the New York Times Relax! You’ll be More Productive, there is also a short-term payoff to relaxing on a regular basis:

“A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal—including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”

Yes, author Tony Schwartz says that relaxing on a regular basis “it’s possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably.” He goes on to say that human beings didn’t evolve to expend energy continuously but rather to pulse between spending and recovering energy. This is a reference to the fight or flight response vs. the relaxation response, which we’ve discussed in previous posts (see Chronic Stress: An Introduction and The Relaxation Response and Yoga). This is not big news to us, of course. What got me intrigued, however, was Schwartz’s statement that “strategic renewal” ideally should come every 90 minutes.

“during the day we move from a state of alertness progressively into physiological fatigue approximately every 90 minutes. Our bodies regularly tell us to take a break, but we often override these signals and instead stoke ourselves up with caffeine, sugar and our own emergency reserves — the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol.”

Among other studies, Schwartz cites the work of Professor K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues at Florida State University. Dr. Ericsson studied elite performers, including musicians, athletes, actors and chess players, and found that in each of these fields, the best performers typically practice in uninterrupted sessions that last no more than 90 minutes. They begin in the morning, take a break between sessions, and rarely work for more than four and a half hours in any given day.

Legs Up the Wall Pose (Better Than Sleep)

 Of course most of us can’t take a nap every 90 minutes—something Schwartz recommends—at work. Besides, unless you’re sleep deprived, sleeping probably isn’t the best way to relax and restore yourself (see Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep). So—wait for it—how about doing a little bit of yoga every 90 minutes? Maybe shut your office door and do a restorative pose or two (see Mini Restorative Sequence). Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) would be my pose of choice. And if you don’t have a door (yeah, I worked in one of those cubicle thingies back in the day) or feel like being active instead of resting, try some of our office yoga poses. We’ve got a sequence you can do in your office clothes (see Mini Office Yoga Sequence) and a series of seated poses you can do right at your desk (see Chair Yoga Mini Sequence). And, of course, you could always meditate, even in a noisy environment (see Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations)!

Read More

Sitting is Bad for You

by Nina

Sitting by Nina Zolotow

Yesterday’s New York Times article “Get Up. Get Out. Don’t Sit.” reported that two different scientific studies have added to a growing consensus that “the more time someone spends sitting, especially in front of the television, the shorter and less robust his or her life may be.”

The studies, including one published in the October issue of The British Journal of Sports Medicine the other published on Monday in the journal Diabetologia, looked at TV watching habits as a way of learning more about the effects of sedentary behavior on health. The conclusions? Sitting actually reduces your life expectancy. An adult who spends an average of six hours a day watching TV over the course of a lifetime can expect to live 4.8 years fewer than a person who does not watch TV.

“Every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes.”

Unfortunately, for us yoga practitioners, the results are true even for people who exercise regularly. The article quotes one of the authors of the study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr. Verrman, saying, “a person who does a lot of exercise but watches six hours of TV every night might have a similar mortality risk as someone who does not exercise and watches no TV.”

Furthermore, it’s not just TV watching itself that causes the problems. In modern society, many of us—including me!— have jobs that require sitting in front of the computer all day. Dr. Emma Wilmot, a research fellow at the University of Leicester in England, says that while we might try to convince ourselves that 30 minutes of exercise a day will protect us, we “are still at risk if we sit all day.”

The author of the article goes on to speculate way this may be true, quoting David W. Dunstan, a professor at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia, senior author of the Australian study, and a pioneer in the study of sedentary behavior, “The most striking feature of prolonged sitting is the absence of skeletal muscle contractions, particularly in the very large muscles of the lower limbs.” The thinking is that when your leg muscles don’t contract, they require less fuel, and the surplus, in the form of blood sugar, accumulates in the bloodstream, contributing to diabetes risk and other health problems.

The article recommends reducing the hours you spend sitting, starting eliminating one hour of sitting a day. And you just know that I’m going to recommend some yoga! Obviously, if you have not already done so, incorporating standing poses (those really cause your leg muscles to contract!) into your daily practice is vital. But what about outside the yoga room? How about taking a short break and doing some office yoga? Our office yoga series includes some seated poses, but we also have a number of poses you can do in your office attire that require getting up and out of your chair!

Try one or more of our Standing Shoulder Stretches. Or how about our Standing Leg Stretches? Even Half Dog pose at the Wall, which you can do almost anywhere (try putting your hands flat on the desk, if you don’t have a free wall space) and in any attire, requires getting out of your chair and moving those legs!

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Featured Sequence: Chair Yoga Mini Sequence

.by Baxter and Nina

How much yoga can you do without getting out of your chair? Well, it turns out quite a lot! In fact, today’s mini sequence is a well-rounded practice that includes backbends, forward bends, a twist, a hip opener, and a relaxation pose, all of which can be done at your desk or at the airport. The entire sequence is accessible to almost everyone, including people who find it difficult to get up and down from the floor or who cannot stand.

1. Chair Cat Pose for six rounds (with six breaths). This seated version of Cat pose is a great way to counteract the tendency to round forward when you sit in front of your computer, laptop, or tablet, or commute in your car. For those who tend to assume a head forward position, this pose returns your head to a healthier alignment over your shoulders. And moving back and forth between arching and rounding your spine strengthens the muscles that support your head in a more even way. For all of us, moving your spine back and forth between flexion (rounded) and extension (arched) helps keep your spine healthy by providing nourishment to the bones and disks.

Because you move rhythmically with your breath in this pose, you take in more oxygen, which has a positive effect on your respiratory system and can help if you get winded easily. In addition, moving with your breath is a stimulating, which may perk you up when you are feeling sluggish and can help you focus your concentration. It’s a good way to kick start your practice when you are feeling fatigued or depressed. After you start gently moving in this pose, you may feel ready for some larger movements.

For instructions and cautions, see: Seated Cat-Cow Pose

2. Chair Twist for one minute. This pose releases back muscles that are stiff or sore from sitting at a desk or from traveling, or from everyday activities that stress the back, such as gardening and painting, and increases the rotational mobility in your spine. Twisting also helps nourish the spine—movement of the spine helps maintain the health of the discs—and also strengthens the bones themselves as your back muscles pull on the bony insertions of the spine. This pose also strengthens the oblique muscles of your core (and we could all use a little of that). Traditional yoga teachers recommend twists for the health of your internal organs, improving circulation to and function of the abdominal organs, although no studies have been conducted to confirm this. And finally, for many of us, twists can release physical and emotional tension, providing relief from stress.

For instructions and cautions, see: Chair Twist.

3. Chair Seated Forward Bend/Hip Opener for one to two minutes. This simple pose is another good antidote to sitting upright in your chair. An excellent hip opener, this forward bend counteracts the tightness of your hips that you develop from sitting with your legs straight in front of you, helping you to maintain mobility in your hip joints. The release in your hips can feel wonderful, and you may also feel a good stretch in your lower back and inner thighs. The pose also helps stretch and wake up your arms as you press them toward the floor. By changing your relationship to gravity, this pose helps release tension you’re holding in your back, neck, and head. This can be particularly helpful if you’ve spent hours in front of your computer screen or driving, and your neck is stiff or even painful. The partial inversion also stimulates your circulatory system and can re-enliven you if you’re feeling sluggish, stimulates your circulatory system.

For instructions and cautions, see: Chair Seated Forward Bend.

4. Chair Backbend for 12 to 16 breaths. This simple chair backbend is the perfect antidote to the typical postural habits of slumping forward that we develop from sitting all day at our desks, in cars, and airplanes, and from the many everyday activities where we are bending forward, such as gardening or washing dishes. The basic back-bending shape re-establishes the natural curve of your lower back, correctly aligning your spine in its natural curves, which helps to keep your back healthy. The backbend also lengthens the front of your body, allowing many of us to breath in with greater ease. It helps release stress from your upper body, especially the upper chest. And while stretching the front of your body, the pose strengthens your back body muscles, which tend to be overstretched and weak if they are ignored. Because backbends in general tend to be uplifting, you may even find this pose helps encourage a more positive mood as you take deep inhalations and exhalations.

For instructions and cautions, see: Chair Backbend.

5. Supported Forward Bend for one to ten minutes. The simple supported forward bend is a safe forward bend for almost everyone. Because you’re bending your legs at the knees, you’re reducing the tension on your hamstrings and therefore allowing your pelvis to have more flexibility at your hip joints. In addition, because you’re resting your arms and head on a chair or desk and you’re not hanging in space, your lower back muscles can release more completely and relax more deeply. (Some of the seated forward bends with straight legs can aggravate lower back pain or disc problems because they pull so strongly on your back muscles and encourage the discs to move toward a posterior position, and you can sometimes over-strain your ligaments when you overdo.)

This forward bend can provide you a quiet moment in your busy day, and allows you to access the deep rest of conscious relaxation without lying on the floor, especially if you focus on your breath while you are in the pose. In addition, folding forward creates a feeling of safety and comfort for many people. And supporting your head enhances the soothing quality of the forward bend, so the Chair Forward Bend may even have a quieting effect on your mind and your emotions, cooling negative emotions such as anger and anxiety.

For instructions and cautions, see: Chair Supported Forward Bend.

Read More

Featured Pose: Reverse Prayer Pose

by Baxter and Nina

This pose from our office yoga series moves your shoulders into a position that you don’t take very often in your everyday life. Although this movement is not commonly needed, it’s still an important one because for the long-term health of your shoulders, you need to move them through their full range of motion. Unlike Prayer pose (Namaste) in front of your chest, Reverse Prayer pose (Paschima Namaskarana) takes your upper arms into internal rotation, creating an excellent stretch for your forearms that’s helpful for your elbows, wrists, and hands.

Although the classic version of the pose is difficult, if not impossible, for some people, a second variation, where you hold your elbows or forearms, makes the pose accessible to almost everyone.


This is an excellent counter pose for any work that involves the use of your hands whether it is manual labor or office computer work. And, as with all our office yoga poses, you can do it almost anywhere, in any attire. The pose also releases tension from your shoulders and collarbone area (an area where most people don’t even realize they hold a lot of tightness), providing physical relief as well as relaxation.


Those of you who have shoulder or arm injuries (such as, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome or rotator cuff injuries) should start by trying version 2. If you can do variation number comfortably, you can cautiously attempt version 1.


Baxter prescribes this pose for:

• stiff and tight shoulders
• tight forearms and elbows
• tight wrists and hands
• counter-pose for activities that require griping your hands
• stress relief of the shoulders and neck area (self massage!)

Instructions: For version 1, start by standing in Mountain pose, with your feet hips-distance apart. Bring your palms together into Prayer position (Namaste) in front of your chest, and press your palms together firmly. Take a moment to assess how flexible your wrists are in this position.

Now bring your arms behind your back, with your fingertips pointing toward the floor and elbows slightly bent. Then move your hands a few inches away from your lower back and spin your fingertips up toward the ceiling. Allow the pinky side of your hands to lightly touch your lower back. At this point your elbows are bent and your upper arm bones are turning in quite a bit. Carefully wiggle and wriggle your hands up along the line of your spine as high as you can comfortably go or until your palms come completely together. If your palms can come together, try to bring the thumb sides of your hands closer to each other (as they tend to get pulled apart).

Stay in the pose for approximately 30 seconds, working up to 2 minutes. To come out of the pose, carefully wiggle your hands down your back at least six inches or so before you release your hands down by your sides (this takes the tension out of your shoulders).


If you attempt version 1 and are unable to turn your fingertips up and keep them together, there may be too much tightness or tension anywhere from your shoulders to your wrists that prevents you from doing this safely. Choose version 2 instead.


For version 2, start by standing in Mountain pose, with your feet hips-distance apart. Take your arms out to your sides with your elbows bent to a 90-degree angle and your palms facing forward. Then spin your forearms forward and down (this is internal rotation) so your fingertips point down toward the floor. Bring your right forearm behind your back so the forearm rests on your lower back, then bring your left arm in as well, grabbing your left forearm or elbow with your right hand. Then spin your left hand around to grab your right forearm or elbow, as shown below.

Stay in the pose for 30 seconds, working up to 2 minutes. Then release your arms and repeat on the second side, bring your left arm behind your back first.

Cautions: If you have a history of shoulder joint dislocation, you should avoid the extreme internal rotation required by this pose. Or, if you want to try the pose, start with version 2. If you feel any dramatic movement in your upper arm bone, back off immediately. Likewise, if you have pain in your shoulder joint, elbow, or wrist. Those of you who have active rotator cuff injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow should check with your teacher before practicing this pose.

Read More

Featured Pose: Eagle Pose Arms (Garudasana)

by Baxter and Nina

This pose from our office yoga series is a wonderful stretch for your middle and upper back and for your neck, which are areas where you may hold a lot of tension. Even thought some of us who are slumped over our computers appear to have wideness in the upper back, you may have noticed there is still quite a bit of tension there. The pose also increases mobility in your shoulders and releases tension from certain parts of your shoulder joint. It moves your shoulder blades on your rib cage into upward rotation, encouraging an important, functional movement for healthy shoulders and arms. It may also build strength in your pectoralis as well as some of the other chest muscles.

Because your hands are typically at elbow height or lower, raising your hands toward eye level helps reverse the effects of gravity (such as, swelling or stiffness of hands and wrists). And if you’ve been hiking all day in the heat with your hands at your sides, the effects of raising your hands to eye level are even more dramatic.

Although it’s a relatively simple pose, that can be done anywhere in almost any attire, it’s a strong, distinct stretch that engages your mind, bringing your attention to the present moment. It’s an excellent pose to do while traveling, and you can do it sitting as well as standing, even in an airplane seat. We’re showing the basic pose today, but you can do variations of this pose by moving your clasped hands either to the left or right of center.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    weak but tight upper backs
•    limited mobility or range of motion in the shoulders
•    rotator cuff injuries (for some people)
•    tight neck muscles
•    upper body strength (in particular, weakness in the chest)
•    numbness in the hands, such as in carpal tunnel syndrome

Instructions: Start by standing in Mountain Pose with your feet hips-width apart. Inhale and bring your arms out in front of you until they are parallel to the floor, with your palms facing one another. Cross your arms over one another, with the right arm on top and your elbow joints stacked on top of each other. Now bend your arms at the elbows to 90 degrees. Bring your left (bottom) hand across your face and bring your fingers onto the palm side of the right (top) hand. Have your thumbs pointing toward your face if possible.

If you can’t clasp your hands, keep your wrists straight up and your palms facing away from each other. If you can’t even cross your arms over your elbows, bend your right elbow and use your left hand to grab onto your right upper arm. Then use your left hand to encourage your right elbow toward the left side of your chest.

Now lift your elbows up until your upper arms are parallel with the floor. Keep your shoulders relaxed away from your ears. If you wish, push your elbows forward an inch or so away from your chest. You will probably feel an increase in sensation between your shoulder blades. Breathe into that space to enhance the feeling of opening your back body. Look straight forward and keep your head and neck even and in line with your spine.

You can also push up with your bottom elbow as you push down with your top elbow and you’ll feel additional muscle groups around the shoulders strengthening and stretching.

For the most benefits, stay in the pose for 90 seconds, if you can. When you’re done, carefully release your arms. Bring your arms to sides and let go of the tension in your arms before moving on to the second side.

Cautions: This is a relatively safe pose. However, if the pose causes pain in any of your joints, try one of the modifications. If that doesn’t work, talk to your teacher for advice. People with a history of shoulder dislocation should be careful with this pose (as with all poses the involve the shoulders).

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

Read More

Featured Pose: Ankle Circles

by Baxter and Nina

This office yoga pose is a very versatile ankle exercise that enables you to address a typically neglected joint. Many of us have stiff, swollen, or weak ankles, or tend toward ankle sprains. Depending on how you practice this simple pose, you can focus either on loosening and releasing tension from your ankles or increasing the strength of the muscles around your ankles. You could also use this pose to improve circulation in your feet; if your feet tend to fall asleep, this pose may quickly wake them up. And because the seated position for this pose has you cross your ankle over your knee, the pose can help increase mobility in your knees and hips (it's a mild hip opener).

Ankle circles are simple and easy to do, and you can do them almost anywhere you can sit down, at the office, while traveling, while using a computer, or at home on the couch.

Baxter prescribes this for:

•    stiff ankles
•    weak ankles, including ankle sprains
•    swelling in your ankles, legs, or feet
•    intermittent numbness in your feet or toes
•    tight hips
•    antidote for sitting too long, either at a desk or while traveling.

Instructions: Start by removing your shoes (don't worry—if removing your shoes is not possible, you can still do it with your shoes on). Then sit on the front edge of your chair with your knees bent and your legs parallel to each other, and your feet directly underneath your knees and hips-distance apart. As always, follow Baxter’s Prime Directive! Lift from your sitting bones through the crown of your head, to protect your back as you do the pose.

Now bring your right shin bone onto the top of your left leg, just above the knee, so your outer ankle bone is just to the left of your thigh allowing your foot to move freely.

For those with stiffness or swelling in the ankles, try variation 1. Simply make easy circles with your foot, circling six times in one direction and then six times in the opposite direction.

For those with weak ankles, try variation 2. Imagine that your big toe is drawing a circle in space off to your left side. Move slowly and deliberately, as if you’re meeting some resistance, like moving through like warm sand. This will activate the musculature around your ankle joint and can help to build strength for those with ankle weakness or a history of ankle sprain. Do six circles, and then repeat in the opposite direction.

Another option for improving muscle strength (borrowed from the world of physical therapy) is to trace in the air the letters of the alphabet with your big toe. This has a similar effect as variation 2, but because are executing different patterns, you are potentially activating different muscle groups.

When you’re done with your ankle circles, return your right foot to the floor and repeat with your left foot. Take a moment to notice whether your feet and/or ankles feet any different.

Cautions: If you have knee or hip issues and can’t comfortably bring your ankle onto your opposite knee, try a different variation. Place a second another chair in front of you so you can rest your calf on it while your ankle and foot hang off. Then do your ankle circles with your leg supported and straight in front of you. Otherwise, this pose is pretty safe!

More on ankles is coming soon!

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More