Office Chair Yoga - Gentle Seated Stretches

I will guide you through a short and sweet yoga practice that you can do right in your office chair. No mat or special clothing are required for this gentle seated stretching practice, designed to bring you relief from common aches and pains associated with sitting at your desk as well as a few minutes of mindfulness to your workday.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Caroline and today I'm bringing for you a short and sweet stretch that you can do right in your office chair.

So while working at a desk or maybe even standing at your desk all day,

It's easy to get stiff and forget to move a little bit during the day.

So hopefully these few short stretches can help you find some nice gentle movement and mindfulness during the work day today.

Come to sit or stand in a comfortable position.

Bring your feet flat on the floor.

Bring your shoulders back over your hips.

Look straight forward and tuck your chin slightly.

Take a deep breath in.

Imagine the top of your head can touch the ceiling.

And then as you exhale,

Relax your shoulders and settle into your seat.

Allow your eyes to close if you feel comfortable doing so.

And start to breathe mindfully in and out through your nose,

Giving equal lengths to your inhales and your exhales.

Take a breath in and on your exhale,

Allow your chin to drop down toward your chest.

Inhale to slowly and gently roll your left ear over to the left shoulder.

And then on your exhale,

Gently roll your chin back down through center.

Moving with your breath,

Inhale right ear over to the right shoulder.

And exhale again back down through center.

Take each side two more times.

Gentle inhale,

Roll the left ear to the left shoulder.

Stay for your complete breath in.

And when your exhale comes,

Mindfully roll your chin back down through center.

When the inhale comes naturally,

Bring the right ear over to the right side.

And as your exhale begins,

Roll back down through center.

Last time on each side,

Inhale left ear,

Left shoulder.

Exhale through the middle.

And inhale right ear,

Right shoulder.

Exhale to the middle.

Allow your chin to stay here.

Take a full deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Mindfully bring your chin back up,

Level with the ground.

And sit up in your comfortable seat.

Next,

Bring your palms together in front of your chest.

Interlace your fingers.

And as you inhale,

Send the backs of your hands forward.

And then reach your arms up overhead for an upward salute.

Take a full breath in and out here,

Reaching the backs of your hands up to the sky,

Stretching through your fingers and the backs of your wrists.

And on an exhale,

Start to lean over to the left side,

Stretching into the right side of your body.

Stay here for a full breath,

In and out.

Inhale,

Come back up through center.

Reach the backs of your hands even higher.

Relax your shoulders.

And exhale,

Lean over to the right,

Stretching out the left side.

Stay for a full deep breath.

Inhale,

Come back up through center.

Take a breath in.

And then on your exhale,

Bring your palms back together and lower them back down to the center of your chest.

Take a breath in here,

Shrug your shoulders up to your ears.

And then exhale,

Drop them down.

Next we'll take some twists.

So inhale,

Sit up tall or stand up tall.

And then on your exhale,

Turn over to the left side.

Bring your right hand to your left leg.

Bring the left hand to your armrest or the back of your chair and look over your left shoulder for a gentle twist.

Keep pressing your feet down into the ground.

Sit up tall,

Reach tall with the crown of your head.

Use your exhale to deepen your twist for two more breaths.

Inhale to sit up tall.

Exhale to deepen your twist.

And last full breath in and out.

On your next inhale,

Turn your head forward and gently untwist.

From this center position,

Inhale,

Shrug your shoulders up to your ears again.

And then exhale,

Drop them down.

We'll twist to the other side.

Take a breath in.

And on your exhale,

Bring your left hand to your right leg.

Bring your right hand to your armrest or your chair back.

Turn and look over your right shoulder.

Holding your twist here,

Relax your shoulders,

Soften your face.

Keep pressing your feet down into the ground.

Take two more full deep breaths as you inhale,

Sitting up tall.

As you exhale,

Gently deepening your twist.

One more full breath in and out.

On your next inhale,

Look forward and then exhale,

Gently untwist.

Once more,

Shrug your shoulders up by your ears and then exhale,

Drop them down quickly.

If you're standing,

Come down to a seat in your chair and come to the very edge of your seat.

Extend your legs out straight in front of you with your heels planted on the ground and your toes pointing up and back toward your face.

Exchange through the calves and hamstrings of your legs,

Maybe holding the side of your chair as you sit up tall,

Stretching the backs of your legs here.

You can stay lifted or exhale,

Gently fold forward.

Try to keep a long spine here,

A proud chest.

As you breathe in and out,

Imagine a string pulling the top of your head,

Keeping your spine long and extended.

Imagine as you exhale,

Hinging forward from your hips to stretch your legs.

Take a couple more deep breaths here.

Keep reaching your toes up and back.

Keep engaging through your feet.

Keep lengthening through your spine.

Relax your shoulders and soften your face.

Take one more full deep breath in and out.

And on your next inhale,

Slowly come back up.

Bend your knees,

Plant your feet back down on the ground and come back to sit in your chair comfortably.

And before we finish,

We'll take a seated pigeon pose here.

Keep your left foot planted on the ground.

Wake up your right foot and cross your right ankle on your left knee like a figure four.

Bring your right hand to your right knee,

Your left hand on your right ankle or foot.

Sitting up tall here,

Feeling a stretch in the outer right hip,

You can stay right here or exhale,

Gently fold forward,

Looking past your right shin down towards your left foot on the ground.

Breathe steadily in and out through your nose.

Staying mindful of your breath,

Taking big long inhales matched with long deep exhales.

Take three more deep breaths here.

Imagine with each inhale creating space in that right hip and with each exhale,

Softening your fold into it.

One more full breath in and out.

On your next inhale,

Gently lift out of your fold,

Uncross your right leg and plant your right foot back down on the ground.

We'll pick up the left foot,

Crossing left ankle over that right leg.

Bring your left hand to your left knee and your right hand to that right ankle or right foot.

Sit up tall on an inhale,

Relax your shoulders.

You can stay right here if this stretch in the outer left hip feels deep enough or for a little more stretch,

Go ahead and hinge forward from your hips,

Gently folding over,

Look past your left shin down towards your right foot.

Bring your attention to your breath,

Matching your inhale to the length of your exhale.

Noticing a small pause between your in and out breath,

Feeling this moment of stillness.

When your inhales expand and create space and your exhales give you an opportunity to fold deeper.

Two more deep breaths.

And the last deep breath in and out.

On your next inhale,

Slowly lift out of your fold,

Bring your left foot back down onto the ground.

Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap or wherever feels good and if it's okay with you,

Go ahead and close your eyes and take a few closing breaths here in a gentle seated meditation.

Breathing in and out through your nose,

Take a quick scan through your body,

Notice how you feel from the top of your head through your shoulders,

Arms and wrists,

Your entire back,

Your chest and belly and hips,

Your legs,

Ankles and feet.

Take a full breath in and as you exhale really feel your feet pressing down into the ground.

Take one last deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

When you feel ready,

Gently open your eyes and have a great rest of your day.

Thank you so much for practicing with me.

Have a great day.

Reviews

Hello beautiful 🌞⭐️🌞⭐️🌞Thank you so much for the wonderfully practice 🌞🌞🌞it gives me the feeling the sun is shining in me 🌎have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

Thanks so much from this sedentary person who is finally moving. Love you chair session. May it grow into bigger things! Thanks!

What a great practice for those that spend a lot of the day seated.

Very helpful for someone who needs to be seated. Thank you

That was wonderful. Especially the stretch into the hips. It was easy doing it in the chair…. Encouraging and the time went fast. Thankyou ✨🤗✨