CHAIR YOGA It is a variation of Yoga, created for postural improvement and physical health at work. Although sitting for long hours is not recommended, these exercises can help us to facilitate circulation, and relax muscles and joints.
An increasing number of companies and organizations are becoming more concerned about the emotional and physical health of their workers. Especially after the pandemic, it has become evident how our contemporary work habits are causing very significant physical and mental injuries.
I have created and adapted a series of perfect sequences to improve postural health at work. They are very easy exercises and you can do them in the form of micro-sessions (3 or 4 exercises in a row for 5 minutes) accompanied by deep, slow and leisurely breathing.
Men and women are designed to move, our skeleton and our joints are adapted to support a certain body weight and for multidimensional movement, in one or several directions. Immobility or an excessively sedentary lifestyle deteriorates our body on a physical and motor level, rapidly diminishing our capacities.
CHAIR YOGA is a practical, fresh and simple way to mobilize our body, during, before or after long sitting work sessions. It is a form of movement that adapts perfectly to the philosophy and work environment. Without leaving our workplace, and once the different proposed exercises have been integrated and learned, we can incorporate them into our working hours in the form of micro-sessions. In addition to being able to practice these exercises, it is highly recommended to move from the workplace and even go outside for a while to breathe fresh air.
With the practice of CHAIR YOGA, we will achieve the following benefits:
Tone and activate the muscles of the lower body, from the hips to the feet.
Tone and strengthen the muscles of the back, shoulders and arms.
Reposition the spine, educating ourselves to correct our vertebral posture.
Improve blood circulation, and strengthen the capillary tissue and the muscles of veins and arteries.
Relax and stretch the muscles improving the general elasticity.
We will learn to breathe and connect breathing with movement, achieving a state of great relaxation, EVEN WORKING ON THE COMPUTER. We will immediately feel an increase in the quality of our concentration, more optimism will improve communication among other coworkers.
Increase efficiency at work.
A study carried out by Paul Chamberlain for Solgar Laboratories, and published by the British newspaper, THE SUN, indicates that the general average of the population in Europe spends 18 years of their adult life sitting in chairs.
This interesting study provides us with the following data:
We spend 51 hours and 44 minutes a week sitting down, an average of 7 hours a day.
Watching television for about 13 hours a week and commuting, be it by car, train or bus from home to work, about 2 hours and 30 minutes a week.
We spend 10 hours and 45 minutes on computers and tablets or mobile phones.
We spend an average of 5 hours a week sitting down eating, and about 11 hours a week sitting down, studying, reading, watching TV or playing video games.
We only spend a fraction of our time moving, and this causes us a lot of joint and muscle problems.
45% of the people surveyed do not know what kind of exercises or how much exercise to do per week.
Apparently, we are aware of it, but the use of mobile phones, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc., makes us maintain a fixed posture with the neck slightly inclined forward, producing a change in the natural curvature of the cervical area from a lordosis to kyphosis, with the logical consequences of neck pain.
Our emotional health goes through having good physical health, obviously, there are other aspects that intervene, such as our diet, environmental pollution, and our family or work environments. But in the end, a healthy body will be the basis for making healthy decisions that accompany us on our journey, towards being more satisfied with ourselves and therefore happier.
Article was written by Roberto Brown.
Other sources: British newspaper THE SUN.
Roberto Brown is a Facilitator-Coach and Yoga Teacher.