Desk Yoga for Back Health: 4 Simple Yoga Poses to Ease Back Pain

[54% of Americans who experience low back pain spend the majority of their day sitting at a desk (1).]

Low back pain hits most of us at some point. If your occupation involves long hours at your desk, your risk for chronic back pain is higher (2). While long hours at the computer are inevitable for many of us, pain is not. Take control of your back health with these four simple and effective Yoga poses you can do standing at your desk.

Pose 1: Desktop Cat/Cow 

• Press your hands into the desk and tuck your tailbone and your chin. Take 5 deep breaths.
• On your next inhale, lift your chin and tailbone to the ceiling. Take 5 deep breaths.
• Alternate cat and cow, inhaling as your lift chin and tailbone, exhaling as you tuck chin and tailbone.

Pose 2: Standing Pigeon

• Place your hands on your desk and cross your right leg on top of your left thigh, flexing your right foot.
• Press your hips and gluteal to the back wall, bending left leg as if sitting in a chair.
• Take 5-10 deep breaths and switch sides.

Pose 3: Warrior 1 with Winged Arms

• Step right leg behind you, keeping hips and shoulders squared to the front wall.
• Bend left leg and raise arms overhead.
• Interlace fingers and place behind head, winging elbows to the sides.
• Lift chin towards ceiling.
• Take 5-10 deep breaths and switch sides

Pose 4: Chair Supported Low Lunge with Twist

• Drape right leg over chair and extend left leg behind you.
• Inhale, lifting crown of the head towards the ceiling. On the exhale twist right to the back of the chair.
• Take 5-10 deep breaths and switch sides.

Sources:

1. Back pain statistics. Mindbodygreen Website. Accessed Ocrober 7, 2019. https://www.thegoodbody.com/back-pain-statistics/ 
2. Low back pain fact sheet. National Institutue of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.NIH. Accessed October 7, 2019 https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Low-Back-Pain-Fact-Sheet