Image courtesy of marcolm, www.freedigitalphotos.net

If you work in an office the chances are you experience a lot of tension, both physical and mental, in the course of your day. Add to this the fact that the human body was meant to move not sit in the same position for a long period of time, as we do in most jobs these days and you’ve got aches and pains between the shoulder blades, in the neck and in the lower back. An inevitable part of the job right?

But they don’t have to be, there are some things you can do to alleviate the problem. There has been a lot of talk lately about standing desks, treadmills in offices, ergonomic seating, ergonomic keyboards, etc. I agree that all this is good, but what if your employer isn’t prepared to put all this in place?  You can take matters into your own hands and learn some simple stretches and techniques that require no special equipment and can be done right at your desk.  After years of working in offices and in a home office I have found a few stretches you can do to help alleviate some of the tension in your shoulders and neck. Here are three of them:

Shoulder Circles

• Sit in a chair, back straight, both feet on the floor, arms hanging loosely at your sides.
• One at a time, circle your shoulders slowly, gently forward.
• Now circle them forward at the same time, slowly and gently.
• One at a time, circle you shoulders slowly, gently backwards.
• Now backwards together slowly and gently.

Shoulder Lifts

• Inhale and slowly lift your shoulders up towards the ears.
• Exhale and draw them down you back while squeezing the shoulder blades together as if trying to touch the blade together.
• Continuing to exhale draw your shoulders away from your ears, keeping them slightly back.
• To help the stretch, imagine carrying something heavy in both hands.
• Repeat as many times as you feel you need to (it make take four of five for you to feel the benefit).

Anxiety Stretch (Got a meeting or speech that has you in a panic? Try this)

• Stand with your feet hip width apart, your pelvis centred and balanced evenly on your feet, buttocks and abdomen firm, arms at your side and palms facing outwards.
• Gently exhale, emptying your lungs.
• Inhale and raise your arms to the sides, at the same time come to the balls of your feet. Bring your palms together arms straight above your head.
• Turn your hands so that the backs now touch.
• Exhale slowly as you lower your arms to your sides, coming slowly down onto your whole foot at the same time.
• Practice doing this three or four times, being careful to keep the buttocks firm so as not to over arch your back.

The above are all adapted from yoga movements which I practice everyday to get energy, balance and relaxation back into my life. The days I don’t practice I find that my creativity and productivity drop dramatically and I feel sorry for everyone around me because I’m a lot like Grumpy Cat!

I’m not suggesting that you rush out and join a yoga class, or feel guilty for not liking yoga, there are other ways to unwind, but I find these simple stretches work for me and some of my clients have found them to work for them too in an office setting.  They are simple to learn, unobtrusive, and they use what you always have available to you (your body, mind soul and a chair). If you don’t like yoga, just think of them as everyday stretches and bring some relaxation and balance back into your life.