5 Stretches You Can Do at Your Desk to Relieve Back Pain

Before I became a yoga teacher, I sat at a desk for eight hours a day, five days a week, and commuted an hour each way. I thought I was taking care of myself by practicing yoga after work, but all that sitting still created tremendous pain in my lower back. I tried taking breaks and standing up every hour or so, but it was only when I added desk yoga poses to my everyday routine that I began to experience relief.

The effects of sitting for hours at a time can incur devastating and different impacts on each of us. The following desk yoga stretches provide relief to the various muscle groups that may otherwise become tight and irritated, including the neck, shoulders, hips, and lower back.

5 Yoga Poses You Can Do at Your Desk

You can practice these desk yoga poses all at once or sneak one or two in between meetings and deadlines.

1. Palms Interlaced Overhead

Why it helps: stretches your chest and shoulders

How to do it:

• Sit tall in your desk chair.
• Interlace your fingers in front of your chest and press your palms away from you.
• Keep them interlaced as you reach your arms overhead. (You’ll probably feel some resistance in your shoulders and neck. Try bending your elbows, moving your arms back a little more, and then straightening your arms again.)
• Gaze straight ahead or look toward the ceiling. Stay here for 5-10 breaths.
• Switch the interlacing of your fingers and repeat.

2. Seated Twist

Why it helps: stretches the muscles along the spine

How to do it:

• Sit tall in your desk chair.
• Lift your arms and hold out straight in front of you, keeping them in line with your shoulders.
• Twist to your right.
• Place your left hand on your outer right knee or thigh and rest your right arm either on the chair arm or chair back.
• Press through your heels, breathe in, and sit tall.
• Breathe out and twist your abdomen, chest, and, lastly, your head more toward the right. Stay here for 5-10 breaths.
• Switch sides.

3. Side Bend

Why it helps: stretches the side body from your hips to your armpits

How to do it:

• Sit tall in your desk chair.
• Take your feet slightly wider than your hips and angle your feet outward.
• Place your right forearm on your right thigh, lean to your right, and extend your left arm over your head alongside your left ear.
• Breathe in and lengthen from your left hip to your fingertips as you open the side body.
• Breathe out and begin to turn your chest toward the ceiling. Stay here for 5-10 breaths.
• Switch sides.

4. Ankle Over Knee

Why it helps: stretches your lower back and glutes

How to do it:

• Sit tall in your desk chair.
• Place your right ankle over your left knee in a figure-4 shape.
• Flex your right foot and press through your left heel as you lean your body toward the floor. (Your chest will be over your legs.) Let your neck relax.
• Stay here for 5-10 breaths.
• Switch sides.

5. Forward Fold

Why it helps: stretches the entire back side of the body

How to do it:

• Sit tall in your desk chair. Ensure your legs are wide enough to allow your body to fit comfortably between them.
• Breathe in and lift your chest, breathe out, and lean your chest forward between your legs.
• Bring your hands to the floor, if they reach, and let your neck relax.
• Stay here for 10-20 breaths.

Patrick Franco is a yoga instructor and director at YogaRenew Teacher Training Online. He leads in-person and online teacher trainings worldwide, with a primary focus on yoga sequencing and the business of yoga.

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