Combating Sitting
I have been having a bit of a problem lately with headaches, neck aches, and sore shoulders at work. While I’m sure that the stress of being a single mom to 3 during the holidays has added to it significantly I also think it has a lot to do with having a desk job. Sitting at a computer 40 hours a day can’t be good for me! So of course here I am at home sitting at a computer, but whatever….
I mentioned last week that I decided to join a ‘Just 1 Thing‘ challenge for this year, which asks you to chose one thing to work on for your health at a time. My one thing for the moment is getting back to daily yoga. Since tonight I came home with especially sore and stiff shoulders I decided to look for a practice that focused on this area.
I found this video on Do Yoga With Me’s YouTube channel and it is wonderful for getting a good stretch throughout the neck and shoulders. I had forgot how great it feels to do 30 minutes of yoga that just focuses on relaxation!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3lQQieptsI&w=560&h=315]
If you work on a computer all day another thing you can do to help is to give yourself hourly reminders to stand up, roll your shoulders and shake out your hands, or just to sit up straighter. I created an hourly pop up message reminding me to sit up straighter because it seems that as soon as I stop thinking about it I’m slouching in my chair again.
If you think that an hourly reminder would be helpful to you too it’s easy enough to add a reminder to your computer. Here is an explanation on how to set it up.
Do you have a desk job? If so how do you combat the effects of sitting 40 hours a week?
Yoga is so great to help your body unwind and get back to center. I don’t have a desk job, but I get knots whenever I tote my daughter around on my hip (she’s 30 pounds), so yoga helps keep me from getting too jammed up. I need to practice more frequently.
A youngster is much more knot-inducing than a desk job. My youngest is 12 but I carried one of my sister’s 3 year old twins on a walk last week and was sore the entire next day!
Hello Kinda: Yes, I sit at the computer most of the time as I am a writer. I’m fortunate in that my office is on the 2nd floor of our house, so I do get up hourly and get myself another cup of tea, hit the washroom, play with the cat, etc. to loosen up my joints.