Yoga at Work? 5 Ways to Create Space in your Day, Space in your Mind

by Jennifer Yuhas

Yoga at work can mean simply breathing deeply at your desk

When people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them that I am a yoga teacher, I often get guilt and shame-filled responses that break my heart: I know I should be doing yoga but I don’t have time. I really want to try yoga but I’m not flexible.

Here are 5 easy ways to incorporate yoga into your workday. You don’t have to change your clothes, drive to a studio or get sweaty.

1. At the start of your day, set an intention. Make it simple, succinct and affirmative. For example, I choose my reactions. Write your intention on a post-it and put it on your desk, computer screen or phone.
    
2. Set up an hourly reminder on your calendar. Each time your reminder dings, stop what you’re doing, close the screen on your computer, close your eyes and take 10-20 deep breaths.
    
3. Once a week, take at least 30 minutes to eat your lunch alone and away from your desk, without reading the paper, without scanning the Internet, without catching up on emails. Between each bite, put your fork down and chew completely truly tasting and savoring the flavors, noticing the textures and enjoying your meal.
    
4. Back at your desk after lunch, take your shoes off and feel your feet firmly rooted on the ground and sit tall in your chair taking 5 deep breaths. Reach your arms overhead, catch your right wrist with your left hand and take a deep side bend to the left, and switch sides. Sitting up tall, take a torso twist to the right and then a twist to the left. As you breathe in, reach your arms up again extending long through the side body, exhale and fold forward over your thighs letting your belly rest and your head and neck hang heavy.
    
5. Once a week, take a walk outdoors (even in the winter) around the block, around the parking lot or even in the parking garage (those inclines will warm you up). Too busy for a 30-minute break? Make it a meeting. Not a strategy meeting but walk with a colleague whom you’d like to get to know better, someone who might need your attention or a close confidant. Keep the conversation light, uplifting and social.

So there you go! Yoga at work. And you don’t even have to touch your toes! It’s a game-changer. Interested in learning more about yoga at the office? Ask about our Bliss Works program.

Bliss Works is an extension of Inner Bliss Yoga Studios, offering off-site yoga services beyond the walls of our studios. Bliss Works brings the incredible power of yoga practices to you, to enhance your life and work.