3 Poses to Do Before or After Sitting All Day

A lot of our time is spent sitting, especially if our job requires it. Office jobs, drivers, students, and many other occupations are set up for us to sit most of the day. Some of us have long commutes to get to and from work, or maybe you work from home. Even after work we are exhausted and after doing some chores, sit down to eat dinner and then sit on the couch to relax. If you really think about it, most of your day is probably spent sitting, and it may include slouching over a computer or steering wheel. No shame there, it's normal!

Sitting and slouching can put strain on certain muscles and underuse others. When we get into a routine of using the same muscles over and over again, our bodies can feel tired or painful in those positions. You may feel neck strain from looking at a downward angle at your computer or desk, you may notice tightness in your shoulder blades and upper back muscles, you may experience lower back pain or sciatica. Maybe you have started to have poor posture, and you want to work on fixing that. When we finally try to counteract those positions that our bodies are used to, the new muscles we try to use are "rusty" and don't want to move as easily as they once did. Standing up straight may actually feel like work or even cause pain because your body is so used to hunching over the desk.

If this feels like you, then working on counter-positions can help! Here are 3 yoga poses you can do before or after work to help counteract all the sitting you did/will do in the day.

1. Gate Pose

When we sit all day, the sides of our bodies are often compressed.

Think about the space in between your ribs, along the sides of your spine, your "Lats", and outer leg muscles. Gate Pose helps to open up the muscles in our side body by stretching them out. A lot of these muscles help us to breathe (among other functions such as stabilize us as we move), so stretching and elongating these muscles every day can do a lot for our health.

To do this pose, start in Tabletop position and extend your right foot to the back of your mat. Pivot your left foot so that it is directly behind your left knee and so your shin is parallel with the back of the mat. Stretch your right arm overhead and breathe deeply into your right side. Stay here for 5-10 breaths and then come back to Tabletop to switch sides. Want to watch me do these 3 poses? Follow me on Instagram to see the Reel about it! Sara Spangler, Yoga Teacher (@palmtreeyogawithsara) • Instagram photos and videos

2. Low Lunge with Locust Arms

When we sit all day, our hips are constantly in flexion. This can cause hip and lower back pain. In order to work on extension of the hips, we can come into a low lunge. Locust Arms helps us to open up our chest and upper back, which is a great countermovement for sitting at a desk or steering

wheel for hours.

To do this pose, start in Downward Dog. Step your right foot forward between your hands. Stack your right foot under your right knee. Lower your left knee down and untuck your toes. As you inhale, raise your arms up above your head. As you exhale, lower your arms down and then behind you. Grasp your hands together and interlace your fingers if you can reach them. Inhale and lift your chest while gently sliding your hands down away from your shoulders. Stay here for a few breaths, then on your exhale place your hands down on the matt on either side of your right foot. Step back to Downward Dog and repeat on the other side.

3. High Lunge with Cactus Arms

Similar to the previous pose, this pose further deepens the stretching and strengthening of the hip flexors, shoulders, and upper back.

To do this pose, start in Downward Dog and step your right foot forward between your hands. Make sure your right foot is directly below your right knee. As you inhale, sweep your arms above your head. As you exhale, lower your elbows so that they are at 90 degrees. Your arms will look like the shape of a football field goal post. Check to make sure that both of your hips are facing forward, and not turned out. Stay here for 5-10 breaths, and then switch sides by placing your hands down on the mat on either side of your right foot and step back into Downward Dog. Step forward with your left foot and repeat on this side.

If you take just a few minutes every day to do these 3 poses, you will notice your body feels less painful and tight. Even while you are working, you can sit up in your chair, drop your hands behind your back, and stretch through Locust Arms for a few seconds. Getting into this habit will make such a huge difference for you! If you would like to further stretch out your body, there is a new 12-minute yoga class with these 3 poses in it, in addition to many more designed for counteract long periods of sitting, on the affordable online membership! This class will be uploaded 2 days after this blog post gets published, and this link will give you a free 7-day trial:

Migrations to Mindfulness (momence.com)