Do you spend most of your working days sitting behind a desk? Whether you’re working from home or in an office a mindful chair yoga practice can be very beneficial for all office workers.
In this blog I’ll share how you can do a short chair yoga practice focused on mindfulness to combat stress, tiredness and discomfort that can build up when working for long periods of time at a computer.
Mindful chair yoga sequence
Want to jump right into the practice? Follow along with this chair yoga focused on mindfulness YouTube video.
This mindful chair yoga sequence requires you to find 15 – 20 minutes—whether that’s right before or after work, or even during a coffee or lunch break.
If you’re having a particularly busy day and it feels hard to find 15 minutes you could try these five ways of practicing mindfulness at work.
During this 15 minute chair yoga practice focused on mindfulness you’ll be guided through five different gentle yoga postures and movements that can be easily done while sitting in a chair. We’ll focus on being mindful in each yoga posture and pause between each pose to observe the affects in our body, breath and mind.
What are the benefits of yoga and mindfulness?
Stress is a common factor of life and can make us feel exhausted. Yoga and mindfulness are useful tools to help you be more resilient and can help improve your overall physical and mental well-being.
After you spend long periods of time sitting, you probably notice physical tension building up in your body. We can start to lose our good posture, slumping in our seat, with our face muscles contracted, neck leaning forward, shoulders high and back rounded.
By taking a short break in your day to do yoga, you’ll be able to relieve some of this tension and tightness that has built up from spending long periods of time sitting.
If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of chair yoga read about the ten benefits of chair yoga and how-to practice.
What do beginners to yoga and mindfulness need to know?
Gentle chair yoga sequences are suitable for all levels, including complete beginners. During gentle chair yoga classes you’ll be guided through simple and effective postures that are accessible for all.
If you’re a complete beginner I’d recommended that you try few classes out before making up your mind if you like the practice. After a few sessions you’ll get familiar with the techniques and movements and will be able to bring more awareness towards your breath and tuning into how the yoga postures feel in your body.
If you’re practicing yoga with an injury, it’s always first recommended consulting a doctor or physiotherapist that it’s ok for you to practice gentle yoga. Once you know that’s ok, you’re welcome to do mindful chair yoga and do as much as feels comfortable for your body.
The only equipment you will need is your office / kitchen chair. The yoga postures you’ll practice can all be done wearing your regular clothes and without a yoga mat. Ideally you want to find a place that is quiet, private and has a little bit of space around you. Having said that, I’ve also done chair yoga in small noisy places and still been happy afterwards I did it.
If you’ve found this interesting you can read more about yoga and mindfulness.
Good luck and happy practicing!
X Irene
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