I love podcasting and audio work, but my body doesn’t always feel the same way. Grinding out long editing hours at my desk makes me feel like I’m possibly not making body-friendly choices, especially when I get up at the end of a slog and I seem to have a different crisis occurring in every limb. Sore back, numb feet, crampy hands… sounding familiar? It’s a struggle for a lot of us desk-bound workers.

Outside of producing, I recently completed training as an alignment-based yoga teacher. While I was working away on my certification, I really wanted to learn as much about accessible forms of yoga practice - for those of us with different mobility needs and pain levels, and also for folks who want to work a little movement into their workday. Sometimes it’s just not possible for us to roll out the full yoga mat experience during a deadline crunch. But there are still lots of simpler, quicker ways to give yourself a little relief without leaving your workstation. Here’s a quick sequence you can try while seated at your desk - you’ll get a little movement in some key parts of your body, and a few moments to breathe and hopefully release some of that pent-up producer stress.

Before You Start: Take a Breath

I always recommend taking some intentional deep breaths before starting any practice, be it yoga, exercise, or jumping into your next Zoom meeting.

Take some deep, slow breaths to start. If you’re feeling stressed, focusing on drawing out your exhale longer than your inhale can help calm you down. If you are really stressed, try up to four cycles of 4-7-8 breathing. This is a simple pattern of inhaling to a count of four, holding your breath for a count of seven, and then slowly exhaling for a count of eight. 4-7-8 breathing can be a great way to regulate your nervous system, but I’d recommend sticking with four repetitions or less at first, just so you don’t get lightheaded!

Head/Neck

Gaze forward, with your head and neck aligned and spine straight. Take a deep breath. On your next inhale, slowly reach your right ear towards your right shoulder, keeping the shoulder relaxed. Focus on the stretch on the left side of your neck. On your exhale, slowly return to your starting position. Repeat this on your left side. If you like, you can follow this by drawing your chin in a slow half-circle, once in each direction.

Shoulders

Take a breath and let your shoulders rise naturally on your inhale. On the exhale, let the shoulders relax and fall. Keeping your spine straight, inhale and feel your chest expand. Exhale, and gently draw your shoulder blades together. You can repeat this as many times as you like.

On your next inhale, slowly raise your arms up until they are parallel to the floor (making a seated “T” shape). Exhale to relax your shoulders. Inhale, and slowly draw a circle with your arms. Do this slowly enough that you can stay aware of your muscles and keep your shoulders relaxed. Your inhale should take you halfway through the circle; exhale to complete the movement. Do this exercise at least once in either direction.

Upper Back

Sit upright in your chair with your spine straight and your feet grounded on the floor. Inhale, and let your chest expand as you stretch into a slight backbend. Look up towards the ceiling. On your exhale, bow your head and let your spine curl into a “C” shape. Keep your tailbone steady, focusing the stretch on your upper back.

Torso & Back

Sit upright in your chair with your spine straight and your feet grounded on the floor. Inhale, and stretch your arms up straight overhead. As you exhale, keep your spine and arms straight and bend to reach your arms towards your desk (or the ground). Keep your spine long, your shoulder blades drawing in towards each other, and your tailbone steady.

Wrists & Hands

Stretch your arms out in front of you, towards your desk. Bend your wrists so that your hands are pointed downwards, perpendicular to your arms. Gently brace the backs of your hands against your desk so you feel a stretch. Bring your hands back in line with your arms, and then press your palms against your desk to achieve a stretch in the opposite direction.

For a quick way to re-engage and hopefully de-cramp tired keyboard hands, place your palms flat on your desk. Focus your attention on your hands. Press down first through the corner of your hands, where your index fingers connect to your palms. Feel the muscles there activating. Move your focus to the opposite corner, where your pinkies connect. Press through that point. Repeat this with the inner bottom corner of your hands (where your thumbs connect), and finally with the outer bottom corner. When all four corners are pressing gently into your desk, take a deep breath and ground through your fingertips as well. When you release this, feel free to shake out your hands and loosen them up!

Bonus: Ankles & Feet

Don’t forget your lower half! To wake up tired feet (I don’t know about you, but my feet are perpetually falling asleep at my desk), you can circle your ankles in both directions. You can also ground through the four corners of your feet, the same way we did it with our hands. Even just scrunching and releasing your toes a few times can help!

When you’re ready to go back to work, close off your little stretch session with a few more breaths. You did it! Fire up that Audition session with (hopefully) a bit less stress and a bit more mobility!

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