By Resha Altai
We’ve all been there. You’ve been productive all morning only to hit a screeching halt post-lunch with a pestering cramp in your back and thoughts flying everywhere.
Good news! You can do yoga pretty much anywhere at any time; most especially at your work desk and the benefits are not just physical. These 5 grounding asanas will surely help you get over the 2pm slump and back to your laser-focused self:
1. Seated Cat/Cow
This pose can be a wonderful headache remedy in addition to stretching the spine and opening up the back. Our desk jobs tend to misalign the spine, hunching the shoulders down and protruding the head and neck forward. Do a couple cycles of cat/cow to relieve tension and ground your thoughts.
Sit with knees over heels and place hands on knees. Inhale, bring chest forward and drop head back. Exhale, turn chest in and roll shoulders forward.
2) Seated Twist
Seated spinal twist has a gold mine of benefits attached to its practice. Not only does this posture open up the chest, relieve mid-back tension, stretch your hip flexors and strengthen your abdominal muscles but it has also long been attributed to massaging the abdominal organs, detoxifying your liver and kidneys as well as stimulating digestive fire. Salud!
Inhale and twist spine from side to side during exhale. Look in the direction that you are twisting.
3) Mountain Pose Side Stretch
As a general rule of thumb, all side stretching postures increase flexibility in the spine, open the side body, and stimulate the liver and breathing muscles. Mountain pose side stretch in particular will bring a grounded sense of balance back into your day.
Bring hands up in a prayer position above your head.and keep feet planted on the ground. Bend from side to side, bringing down the corresponding arm. Keep the stomach muscles engaged.
4) L-shape at Desk or Wall
Let it all go with this deeply heart-opening posture.
Place hands on a surface such as your desk or the wall and fold body into a 90-degree angle. Bend and straighten the knees with the breath.
5) Standing Forward Fold
Sometimes we just need to change the way we are looking at things… literally! Refresh your outlook by sending blood and oxygen to the brain in this gentle inversion.
Bend over and interlace hands behind the back. Keep stomach on thighs and slightly bend knees. Relax neck, hang arms and gradually straighten legs. Slowly roll body up to standing on an inhale.
How do you beat the 2pm burnout? Share your go-tos in the comments below.