- Seated Backbend
While seated with a straight spine take a deep breath and reach all the way up to the ceiling with your arms open wide. As you exhale, let your gaze slowly draw behind you and bend slightly from your upper back and chest. Hold this for a few seconds, release arms to your sides, then repeat a few times.
- Seated Twist
On an inhale, bring your arms out to your sides and overhead. On an exhale, maintain length in your spine as you twist your torso to the right, placing your left hand on the outside of the right knee, and your right arm to the chair. On an inhale, bring your arms back up overhead as you untwist back to center. Switch sides; repeat for three reps. On a fourth rep, hold the twist for three breaths on each side; slowly unwind and feel the effects.
A seated twist will squeeze out tension in the abdominal area; stretching overhead lifts the rib cage, allowing for a deeper, calming breath.
- Wrist Release
Weeks and years of typing can take a toll on your wrists and forearms.
Take a moment with each hand to bend your wrists in each direction. First, With one hand press your fingertips toward the top of your arm, then switch. Then bend each wrist in the opposite direction by pressing your fingertips toward the inside of your wrist. And then to fully release any other tension, put both arms out like a cactus and give your wrists a good rapid shake side to side, then up and down.
- Desk Shoulder Opener
Scoot your chair out and stand a few feet from your desk so just your hands can touch. Drop your head between your arms to achieve a good shoulder stretch. This will counteract the hunching that inevitably happens when sitting at a desk and typing, while also getting your shoulders back into proper alignment.
- Forward Fold
If you can get away with legs up a wall or kicking into a handstand, by all means. But to keep from distracting the office a forward fold will do the trick.
Stand next to your desk, fold over in half with soft knees and let gravity take over. Hold for at least 20 seconds and sway side to side if that feels good. By letting your arms and head hang, your neck and shoulders will decompress from all that computer typing. Plus, reversing the blood flow will give you a boost of energy for the rest of your work day.