How many times do you go to Whole Foods, turn sideways next to a shelf, and then reach your arm overhead, gracefully arching while lengthening through your intercostal muscles to grab that box of gluten free cookies? Yeah, I thought so.
Most of us spend our days plopped in front of a computer, or playing chauffeur to our kids, hunched forward with our shoulders all up in our ears. And MOST of us never bother to counter-stretch all the muscles that get tight from sitting that way.
I can tell you all the anatomical problems with sitting for hours with a posterior pelvic tilt, excessive flexion of your back, and the forward tilt of your head, but I assume you just want to know how to not look like The Hunchback of Notre Dame 20 years from now.
Most teachers would recommend doing backbends, and yes, those are excellent also, but I’ve got a video for you of Extended Side Angle (Parsvakonasana) which lengthens through the sides of the body from the outer edge of the foot, through the hip and armpit, all the way to the fingertips- creating more space in the chest and lungs which helps you to breathe deeper. I give you detailed alignment instruction, and then show you how to add weights to kick it up a notch.
OK, so this is one of the first yoga videos I ever made, but the instructions are still the same.
It also has these benefits:
Strengthens and stretches the legs, knees, and ankles
Stretches the groins, spine, waist
Stimulates abdominal organs
Increases stamina
Great- so once you’ve stretched out your body and increased your stamina, you have more energy to go back and sit at your desk!
Watch it here, then move your office chair out of the way and get to it- your shoulders will thank me later. ; )
XO
Danielle
Want to know the #1 yoga mistake you’re probably making and how to fix it? I tell you HERE
