One of the benefits of being self employed and working from home is that I don’t have work colleagues watching how I work. I can either sit at a desk or table like a “normal” working person. I can sit on the sofa with my feet up, or even sit in bed in my PJs with my laptop balanced on my knee. I can get up at any point and wander around and sometimes I even find myself walking up and down the garden whilst on the phone. Basically, I can be as comfortable as I want and as mobile as I want, but I realise that not everyone’s as lucky.
If you’re sat in a traditional office and hunched over a computer all day it’s not always the healthiest of things. Common ailments like back ache, stiff hips, aching shoulders etc are almost expected when you’re desk-bound for 8+ hours a day. And I’m pretty sure that the number of us who stay sat in the same position over lunch as well is rather high. I know it’s what I used to do. Each day I’d have plans to leave my desk at lunchtime and go for a walk or something, but then the reality would be that I’d end up having to deal with emails and phone calls and I’d be lucky if I even made it to the loo over lunch, let alone a nice walk in a local park.
There aren’t just physical benefits to trying to stay active during the working day, it can help you mentally too. Sometimes doing something physical can just give you the headspace to solve a problem that you’ve been working on for ages. Stress levels are also greatly reduced if you partake in some kind of physical activity whilst at work.
With all this in mind furniture@work have been inspired to launch a campaign that encourages people that are usually stuck at their desk all day to stay active with a spot of office yoga. They’ve come up with this fab infographic setting out five yoga positions that you can do whilst sitting at your desk. Admittedly you might get some funny looks from your coworkers, but what does that matter?
Office yoga can help you minimise the physical discomfort of being sat at a desk all day and also clear your mind, making it easier to focus on work. A win-win really.
Office Yoga image from Shutterstock.
These exercises plus more are what we do at our chair yoga class. Great fun for the less mobile and they certainly help with posture and flexibility as well as relieving stress and muscle fatigue.