Photo: Chris Fanning
Don’t let sitting all day leave you stiff and sore. Steal five minutes to stretch away tightness with these simple yoga poses.
Health Magazine reached out to AJGpr client, celebrity Yoga and Pilates instructor, Kristin McGee to share some best chair yoga moves to combat back pain from her new book Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch, and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You (HarperCollins 2017).
“Oh, my aching back!” I can’t tell you how many of my students have back issues. And it’s no wonder, considering most of us spend our days tied to our desk chairs and parked in the same position in front of our screens hour after hour. The problem: Sitting for prolonged periods can cause or exacerbate back issues. When we’re stuck in this position, our hip flexors shorten in front and pull on our lower back. Not to mention, constant slouching can lead, over time, to compressed disks. That’s why it’s crucial to stretch your back every day. Here, four moves you can do right in your office..
1. Backbend Arch
Start seated at edge of chair, placing hands behind you with fingers facing away from hips. Prop yourself up on fingertips, drawing sacrum in and up to lift lower back. Follow backbend all the way up chest to shoulder blades and open up entire front body. Hold and breathe for 8 to 10 breaths, then release.
2. Cat/Cow
Sit at edge of chair with feet flat on the floor. Place hands on knees and inhale, lifting chest and sticking hips out behind you. Lift gaze, open chest, and gently squeeze shoulder blades together (A). On an exhale, round chest, scoop in belly, and curl tailbone under as you drop head toward sternum (B). Repeat for a series of 10 cycles.
3. Lower-Back Circles
Sit with feet hip-width apart and hands resting on knees (A). Inhale, then begin circling torso clockwise, making sure to initiate movement from base of spine (B). Complete 8 to 10 rotations. Stop and then repeat the motion, this time circling in a counterclockwise direction. Continue alternating for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Roll-Downs
Sit with feet hip-width apart and hands hanging at sides (A). From head, start rounding down through spine (B). Exhale, letting forehead release forward and the weight of your head bring you over until top of head is by thighs (C). Inhale; slowly start stacking vertebrae as you round up to sit. Draw belly button to spine to protect back, and feel the articulation as you round up. Continue rolling down and up for 5 to 8 cycles.
Adapted from Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch, and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You by Kristin McGee ($19; amazon.com). Copyright 2017 by Kristin McGee. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
The effect of sitting for prolonged periods can cause strain on the neck and shoulders, back, hips, and legs. In addition, prolonged sitting is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and premature death. Scary? Yes.
Not so scary anymore since nationally recognized celebrity yoga and Pilates teacher, AJGpr client, Kristin McGee came up with a solution in her new book, Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You (HarperCollins, January 17, 2017). Chair Yoga is for anyone who is sedentary…at their desk, watching television, waiting in a doctor’s office, on a plane, or stuck in traffic during a commute.
A longtime yogi and Pilate’s instructor, Kristin knows that adding the practice of yoga to one’s fitness routine has physical, mental, and spiritual health benefits. She has harnessed her knowledge and beliefs into a comprehensive, accessible, and easy-to-follow yoga instruction guide of 100 chair yoga poses and exercises that can be done daily anywhere, anytime. In just minutes a day, these simple exercises will help activate the breath, the body, and focus the mind to improve one’s happiness and wellbeing.
Chair Yoga has so many benefits — even for that reader who works out daily — adding a gently chair yoga pose here and there throughout the day centers and re-energizes oneself by igniting the breath.
Chair Yoga: Sit, Stretch and Strengthen Your Way to a Happier, Healthier You (HarperCollins) is a fun, accessible guide to 100 yoga poses and exercises can be done daily anywhere, anytime, in a chair and garner remarkable physical and mental health rewards.
You don’t need a mat, you don’t have to stand, and you don’t need to wear yoga pants (though you can if you want to). Just grab a chair and get started.
Kristin created Chair Yoga for the majority of Americans living a sedentary lifestyle and those who find it difficult to fit movement or exercise into their day and the poses are easy enough for all ages and stages. Chair Yoga can be done in a myriad of places: at your desk; on an airplane, bus, or subway; a doctor’s office waiting room, or on your couch at home.
Divided into chapters organized by body part, each exercise includes step-by- step instructions and easy to follow photos. Plus, there are bonus chapters with 5 and 10-minute routines.
For Kristin, “the art of yoga is being able to be present anywhere and tap into your vital life force to keep your body flexible, strong, and healthy.”
