Sketches for this week's Office Yoga
Sketches for this week’s Office Yoga

This week we focus on little 1 minute stretches, breathing and meditation exercises you can do as a break from work.

To start we do a few deep breathes.

Stretches

  • Stand up and stretch your arms out
    • Hold your breath as you’re doing it
    • Squeeze your but and back muscles a bit
    • Try to get a yawn triggered if you can
    • Repeat a three times
    • Shake it out
  • Stretch forward
    • Interlace fingers
    • Place hands behind head
    • Let gravity pull your head forward
    • Take a few deep breaths
    • Come up slow!
  • Stretch backwards
    • Interlock fingers
    • Lean back
    • Open your back
    • Breath deep
    • Don’t go too far and hurt yourself!
  • Forward Bend
    • If not flexible, do against a wall
    • Bend forward, hold on to back of chair
    • Activate legs
    • Take deep breaths for 1 minute
    • Lengthen the spine
    • At the end, hang forward (hands on knees, shin or floor)
    • Hang out for 1 minute
    • Come up slowly!
  • Squats
    • Bend down into a squat
    • Do a little light twist
    • Shift weight between legs
    • Activate the muscle legs
    • Hang out for a minute (legs should burn)
    • Stand up slow
    • Squeeze all the muscles
  • Shake!
    • Shake out arms and legs
    • Shake for 1 minute minimum (up to 20 minutes max)

Breathing

Today we practice Breath of Fire.

  • Pump your navel as you exhale through your nose
  • Let yourself naturally breath the breath through the noise
  • Find a good pace
  • Eventually pick up the pace a bit then a bit more
  • Do for 1 minute minimum, ideally for 3 minutes
  • End with big inhale and hold
  • Squeeze all the muscles in the body
  • Inhale more and squeeze
  • Inhale more and squeeze
  • Then do big exhale out through the mouth.  Get it all out.
  • Holding breath out, squeeze muscles

Meditation

Today we do a simple meditation.  Just sit, close your eyes and relax.  Don’t force anything.  Don’t try to “clear your mind.”  Just relax.