Yoga Before Work: 7-Minute Desk Stretch To Start Your Day

Spend your days at a computer? This Yoga At Your Desk series shows you how small, gentle movements can ease tension, refresh your focus, and help you feel more at home in your body during the workday. No mat, no special clothes, just you and your chair. We begin by arriving at your desk feeling grounded and awake. This gentle seated practice wakes up your body, softens stiffness, and sets a calm, clear intention before you open your inbox.

Transcript

If you work seated at a desk in front of a computer many hours every day, I invite you to try my new series, Yoga at Your Desk. In it, I offer you different sessions for before, During and after your work day and you can do them right from your desk, Most of them sitting down at your chair. These are ideal short practices for those folks that either work at an office or work from home and would like to introduce wellness breaks throughout to stay more balanced physically, Mentally, And energetically. Hi, I'm Laia. Welcome to this before work session right at your desk. So go ahead and find a comfortable seat, Elongate your spine. Relax your shoulders and lengthen your neck and feel free to soften your gaze down or close your eyes. Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out through the nose or the mouth. Again, Inhale, Feeling a little bit more expansive. Exhale softening One more, Breathe in. And then breathe out. Inhale, Lift your chin up. Exhale, Lower your chin down toward the chest. Inhale, Lift your chin up. Exhale, Bring your neck to neutral. Relax your shoulders, Lengthen all the way to the crown, Breathe in. Breathe out, Look over your right shoulder, Draw your left shoulder gently back. Inhale through center. Exhale, Look over your left shoulder, Draw your right shoulder gently back. Inhale through center. Exhale, Bring your right ear to the right shoulder and stay or take your right hand over the head and gently place it over the left ear and add a little bit of weight. Breathe in. Breathe out. Stay here or extend your left arm out. Notice the difference between facing the palm up or down. Maybe movement is what feels good. One more breath, Inhale. Exhale, Release both hands to your lap, Neck to neutral. Breathe in. Breathe out left ear to the left shoulder and stay. Or perhaps stay. Your left hand over the right ear. Breathe here. Or extend your right arm down and out a little bit. Release both arms, Bring your neck to neutral, Inhale. Exhale. Inhale, Roll your shoulders a little bit forward and up. Exhale, Rolling back and down. Two more, Inhale, Roll your shoulders forward and up. Exhale, Roll them back and down. One more, Breathe in. And breathe out. Now shift direction, So inhale, Shoulder blades toward one another. Exhale, Roll forward and down. Last one. Relax the shoulders down. Inhale, Extend your arms forward. Place your palms as if you were pressing them against a glass. Exhale, Face the palms down. Inhale, Stretch the palms up. Exhale, Flex the wrist down. Inhale, Flip your palms back up. And on the exhalation, Begin to externally rotate your arms any amount, As much as feels good. Inhale, Rotate inward now. Palms toward one another. One more of each. Now as your fingertips are facing one another interlace your hands and stretch them out. Keep your shoulders down and away from the ears. Breathe in. Breathe out. Keep grounding through the sitting bones and on your inhalation, Start to lift your arms up as little or as much as feels good. Stretch up. Exhale, Release your hands toward the right as you take a twist so your left hand lands on your right leg. And your right hand could be on the desk, On your chair, On your hip. Inhale to lengthen. Exhale to twist. You could also cross your right leg over the left for a deeper twist. And to start to incorporate the hips in here, Breathe in. Breathe out. Bring yourself back to the center. Uncross the legs if you crossed them. Lengthen through the spine. Breathe in. And as you breathe out, This time cross, Or twist rather, To the left. Keeping your spine long. And now if you want to, You can cross. Your left leg over the right as you find your twist. Three. One more breath here. Then slowly return to center as you uncross your knee. Take a moment to stretch your arms forward again. Roll your wrists here. And you could take this time to also roll your ankles one way. Then the other. Allow the feet to return to the ground and then bring your hands next to you and start to open and close. You can do the open and close very slowly and mindfully and intentionally. Or you can keep that intentionality and speed it up. Keep the range of motion. Four, And one, Shake your arms. Inhale deeply. And exhale completely. Let the movement slow down. Rest your hands on your lap or your knees. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. Take a deep inhalation through the nose, Letting it expand front to back, Side to side, Top to bottom. Let go. Notice how you feel as you arrive. So get ready to begin the day. I invite you to consider. No matter what happens today as you work and move through. How do you want to feel? How do you choose to move through it all? What is the intention? That you can control no matter what happens around you. Deep breath in, Let it expand again into the belly. The ribcage, The chest. Sairam. Once you feel complete, If you close your eyes, Open them again. I hope that you have a lovely, Productive and balanced day. And I will see you in the next session. Until then, Take care.