10 Easy exercises to do at your desk to relieve tension and stress
I don't need to tell you that it's essential to incorporate movement into your day. You know this. You're reminded constantly on the internet, in articles, on television. What I want to know is, do you?
Even though I am in the "movement business," I also spend most of my time working at my desk. I'm as likely as anyone to get lost in my to-do list and forget to take a break for hours. Despite my yoga expertise and practice, if I don't move from my desk for several hours, I am stiff and sore when I do.
So if you answered "no" to my question, it's okay. You are not alone, and you can start today to add a little bit of movement to your day.
One of the worst things about sitting all day with little variation is how stiff and tense our bodies become. When that happens, it's not long before our minds start feeling that tension too. However, it only takes a few minutes to help ease that tension and continue with a productive day.
Below, I will share some easy stretches that you can do at your desk to incorporate some alternative movements and stretches to keep your body loose and fluid and alleviate some of that tension.
We'll work on getting your spine moving in six different directions, articulating the hips, and getting proper rotation and mobility, and we'll end with some excellent movements for the wrists and forearms to release tension from typing all day.
Please note that these exercises are grouped (spine, hips, wrists) so that you can practice them separately or do all of them at one time. It's up to you based on what your body needs and the time you have available.
Below the written instructions, I've shared a video of all of these exercises. So if you prefer to watch and follow along, you can jump ahead to the video and get started!
To begin, push away from your desk. If you're using a rolling chair, that's fine, but make sure you're on a stable surface. If you have arms on your chair, you can either place your arm over the arm of the chair or rest your arm on the chair, whatever works for you as we go through some of these movements.
Neck Rolls
To start, let's work on getting some of the tension out of your neck with basic neck rolls.
Come towards the front edge of your seat. Feet are planted flat on the floor.
You can rest your hands lightly on your knees, relax your shoulders, and sit up tall.
Allow your head to drop to one side on you to the shoulder. Maintain a regular breathing pattern.
Then slowly roll your head forward. Bring your chin to your chest nice and slow, so you can feel the stretch going through the back of the neck as you come over to the other side.
Repeat this a couple more times, noticing the different spots where you feel some tension and see if they release as you continue to do these neck rolls.
Side Bends
Many of us tend to get pretty tight through the side body from sitting all day. These stretches are an excellent way to move your spine from side to side and release tension gathering along the sides of your torso.
Come back to your starting position.
Drop one arm to your side, either over the arm of your chair, or you can even rest it lightly on the arm of the chair.
Drop one arm to the side. Inhale, and raise the other arm up and over to the side as you exhale.
Keep the top shoulder back with energy coming out through the fingers.
Your gaze can be forward, or if you'd like, you can look up if that feels good.
Inhale coming back up through center, and with your next exhale, bend to the other side.
Spinal Twists
Come back to your starting position.
Place one hand on the opposite knee. Next, inhale, and as you exhale, twist in the direction of that knee while you bring the other hand behind you to rest on your seat or the back of the chair.
The important thing here is to not pull with either hand. You're not trying to force anything, just a natural movement through the mid-back.
Inhale, come back through center, and exhale as you twist to the other side.
Cat/Cow
Come back to your starting position with your hand on the knees.
To begin, inhale while arching the back. Your gaze can go upward if you like, and it does not bother your neck.
Exhale as you bring your chin to your chest, rolling down through the spine and bringing your navel towards the spine.
Inhale the come up to a nice neutral spine.
So now your back should be feeling a little bit looser. If you do nothing else during the day, just working through those stretches a couple of times a day can be so helpful.
Next, we're going to move into working our hips. Again, this is another area that can get pretty stiff because we're seated all day and not getting enough varied movement into our hips. So, we're going to make sure that we're getting a varied range of motion.
Hip Rotations
Come to your starting position and place one foot slightly underneath you.
Raise one leg slightly while maintaining thigh contact with your chair.
Rotate the hip so your knee shifts outward (away from you) and your foot shifts inward. This is external rotation.
Now take that movement in the opposite direction. The knee comes inward and the foot outward. This is internal rotation.
Repeat this 4-5 times with each leg.
Hip Abduction and Adduction
Come back to your starting position and place your hands at the top of your hips. This will help you know that all the movement is coming from the hip joint, nowhere else.
Lift one leg slightly and move it out to the side. Keep the thigh parallel to the floor. This is abduction. Move the leg back to the center. This is adduction.
Repeat 4-5 times with each leg.
Hip Circles
Next, we'll incorporate some circular hip rotation in both directions. Remember, it is not important how high the leg raises or how big your circles are. That's not the point. We're looking to maintain and encourage the mobility and rotation of the hip joint.
Come to your starting position and raise one leg. Begin making a circle in a clockwise direction, making sure the motion is coming from the hip joint.
Do this 3-4 times and the reverse direction.
Repeat with the other leg.
Figure Four Stretch
Time to give the hips a stretch!
From your starting position, bring one leg up and cross the ankle over the opposite knee. Sit up nice and tall.
You may already feel a bit of stretch in the back of the hip and the backside. This may be enough for you. If so, hold here for a few rounds of breath.
If you want a deeper stretch, lean forward, coming only as far forward as feels good for you.
Repeat on the other side.
Wrist Stretches
Let's finish up with some fantastic exercises for your wrists, forearms, and fingers.
Start by clasping your hands together. Relax the shoulders. Move your wrists in a figure eight position. (You might notice or hear some popping and cracking when you first start. That's okay. Things are just getting nice and loose.
Unclasp your hands and begin circling your wrists. First in one direction and then the other. Do this for as long as you like.
Now let's do some hand stretches. Bring one arm out in front of you, lift the fingers, and gently pull back on your fingers with the other hand. This is not an aggressive stretch. You just want to feel that stretch right through the hands and forearms.
Next, bend that hand down. Press the fingers towards you with the opposite hand.
Repeat on the other arm.
To close: JAZZ HANDS!!
Put your hands up in front of you and make tight fists. Release by stretching the fingers out as wide and as strong as you can! Repeat this 5-10 times.
Finish by giving those hands and wrists a nice shake-out.
That's it! I hope you found this helpful. You can do these multiple times a day if you like, but I encourage you to push back from your desk at least once a day and make sure you're getting some movement in your body other than just sitting.
Here's the link to the video on my YouTube channel so you can watch and follow along:
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