Short Desk Reset Stretch

This simple stretching sequence is completed in a chair- so you don't even have to leave the desk to bring some more flow into your body and focus to your mind. This guided practice is a series of gentle stretches to enliven you and bring you back into the moment and your body; whilst stretching those areas that can get stuck working at the desk.

Under 10 minutes so perfect for a little, all-important break.

Transcript

This is a quick stretch that you can do at the desk when you're having a little bit of a break between tasks to come back into your body and to yourself. So take some time just with your eyes closed for a moment to breathe in through the nose and let the air fall out of the mouth, Feel the weight of your body settling back into the chair, Breathing in through the nose, Letting the air release, Purge out of the mouth, Maybe allowing a bit of a sigh as you next breathe in and as you exhale letting the air out, Maybe allowing some sound. And I just want you to feel now where your head is situated above your pelvis, Is it out in front of it or behind it and could you try to find that sweet spot where the head rests directly on top of the pelvic floor. As you breathe in now feel your breath travel from your tailbone all the way up to the crown of your head effortlessly and as you exhale let the breath drop back down the spine into the tailbone, Continue to breathe like this feeling as though the breath is ironing out your posture, Aligning you and centering you. As you next breathe up the spine bring a hand to the crown of the head and feel the crown of the head press into the hand and your spine lengthen. As you exhale allow the breath to travel back down the spine and anchor you once again into your chair, Feel your head press into your hand and your sit bones press and anchor down into the chair. And then bring that hand behind the back of your head and allow the chin to tuck in a little as you gently press the head back into the hand, Feel the lower belly engage there too. As you notice the back of your neck engage into your hand, Feel your head above your pelvic floor, Your abdomen engaged. Breathe into this for one more round of breath and then release that hand down beside you, It doesn't matter which one it is and just grab a hold of the side of your chair or the surface beside you, Reach the other arm up and then just side bend to that side, Feeling the length the space creation down the side of the arm that's reaching overhead, See whether you can keep your body just bending to the side not forward or back, Feeling the compression of the side where the arms down, Maybe you let the ear of the arm that the sides down drop down towards that thumb, Feeling a side stretch of the neck here and then reaching the arm that's up, The fingers that are up away to the opposite side. So one arm's out like an airplane now and the other hand is down to the arm of the chair or beside you and maybe you find a little bit of a nod of the head here and then gently release that arm that's aeroplaning out to the side down beside you, Gently bring your head back through center just so you can reach the other arm up now and swap sides with a side bend so as you exhale lean to the opposite side, Feel that entire side waist lengthen with the reached arm above the head, The other side compress the sitting bones anchored evenly into the chair and maybe you let that ear drop down towards the thumb breathing into the sensations and then reaching that arm that was reaching overhead out to the side like an aeroplane and maybe having a play around with the position of the chin, The neck, Then bringing that hand back down beside you, Gently bringing the torso and the head back through center and bringing both hands down beside you either on the arms of the chair or just beside you there, Feeling your head once again on top of your pelvis and just pressing into your feet to engage your legs, Pressing into your feet feeling the hamstrings engage, The glutes, It's like you're trying to lift up and away from the chair, Seeing whether you can allow softness in the arm bones, The jaw, Just feeling your glutes engage and then softening the effort, The press of that and interlacing both hands and bringing them to the top of the right thigh, Feel the right thigh press up into the hands, The foot will come away from the ground and the hands gently press back down into the thigh, Feel your psoas engage into the effort of this experience for three, Two, One, Release that foot back down and just bring the hands to the left thigh and lift the thigh up, Feel the hip flexor engage and activate for three, Two, One and then keep the right hand on the left thigh and just bring it more to the outside now as you bring the left fingertips behind you or to grab a hold of the back of the chair and you twist around to the left hand side, Seeing whether you could still keep your head threading back, The head on top of the experience of the pelvic floor, Feet press evenly into the ground and sit bones are weighted evenly too, Breathing into the twist in the torso, Maybe allowing a breath out of the mouth and as you inhale come through center and bring your left hand to the outside of the right thigh, Grab a hold of the outside of the legs or the hands could just be pressing into the tops of the thighs, As you rock into the back of your sit bones let your lower back touch to the back of your chair, Tuck your chin in so you're hollowing out the lower belly and feeling all of your awareness and all of your effort in the back, Breathe into the back, Feel it stretch, Lengthen as the front body compresses, Breathe into the space between the shoulder blades, As you inhale rock towards the front of the sit bones and broaden your collarbones, Feel your sternum peer in between your upper arm bones and lift your face a little, Feel the front body express now and the back compress and then find a happy medium between those two places, Crown of the head above the pelvic floor and we're just simply bringing the right hand behind the lower back, Rotating to the right hand side, Really peel and open that right shoulder towards the back of your chair, Chin tucks in a little, Lower ribs tuck in, Breathing here and then bringing the torso back through centre, Just bringing the hands down on your thighs wherever it's comfortable and taking three more rounds of breath here, Breathing in through the nose, Allowing the air to drop out of the mouth, Feeling the experience of your body on this chair as you breathe in, Maybe acknowledging an intention for the rest of your day as you breathe out, Feeling yourself land fully in your body as you breathe in and release the air out of the mouth, Acknowledging how you feel, Thanking yourself for taking a short while to take care of your mental, Physical health, Take a break and enter into the rest of your day with this new intention, Thank you.