Posts In: office yoga

Ever find yourself at the end of the work day wishing the yoga studio was just a little bit closer to your office? What about having yoga classes available in your office?

Yoga One proudly offers high-quality yoga instruction on-site for local businesses. We’ve helped establish corporate yoga programs since 2002 for companies such as SDG&E, SEMPRA, and Cox Communications.

Establishing an onsite class is easier than you might think! There are many different models of cost sharing available between employee and employer. All you need is an open space (often a conference room!) and you and your team can experience the joys and benefits of yoga:

Benefits to Employee

• Decreased stress
• Promotes a healthy lifestyle
• Improved strength and flexibility
• Sense of peace and relaxation
• Improved listening and communication skills
• Increased energy
• Better emotional balance
• Leave class feeling refreshed and renewed!

Benefits to Employer

• Increased productivity
• Increased workplace satisfaction
• Fewer employee sick days
• Promotes a positive office environment
• Excellent team-building experience
• Your office will love it!

Contact Michael Caldwell to set up yoga at your workplace today! Phone: 619-544-0587 or email: info@yogaonesandiego.com

There are so many messages that our society sends women about their bodies and how they should look and perhaps one of the most vulnerable times to hear these messages is when you’ve just had a baby. Case in point, just recently a reviewer on Yoga One’s yelp page wrote about leaving class because the teacher was out of shape and therefore couldn’t be an experienced teacher. The reviewer had never been to the studio before. That teacher happens to have over a decade of experience and a beautiful six month old.

Help us share real stories like this one and support all individuals in their journey to lead happier and healthier lives. We want to hear your experiences with body image and/or postpartum recovery in the comments or by email (info@yogaonesandiego.com). If you’ve taken class at Yoga One, please consider posting your feedback online, Facebook, Yelp, Google, etc., we’d love to hear your thoughts! 

Part three in a series of reflections on pregnancy, childbirth and yoga from Missy DiDonato. Be sure to read her prenatal article and a just-after postpartum article.

guest post by Missy DiDonato

One year later (damn, already?!) I can say this about postpartum recovery and overall wellness – it’s not for sissies! 

Before giving birth, I had expected that my body would go back to what I still considered “normal.” I wouldn’t have the aches and pains I’d experienced during pregnancy and I assumed that with some time and effort, I would eventually be the same size and weight as before. But I was naïve to how long it would actually take and I had to adjust my expectations.

I had a cesarean and they cut my stomach muscles to deliver my baby. Abrupt, I know, but I needed to say those words to myself in order to process the experience. The initial weeks of recovery and healing from the c-section were easier than I anticipated and I was able to get back on my mat practicing yoga after just six weeks. I took it slow and thought that by allowing myself enough time to heal, my body would go back to the way it was pre-baby. But a year later, I’m still struggling with both the expectation and physical experience of “getting my body back.”

My biggest setback physically is the ongoing work of mending and strengthening my abdominal muscles. Their lack of stability often causes acute low back pain. I’m constantly reminding myself to get up after sitting for too long (an epidemic really, among anyone who sits too long at their desk or in a car.) I’ve had a couple of debilitating moments where I had to seek medical treatment with acupuncture and massage. This, coupled with proper yoga asanas to strengthen my ab muscles and stretch my hips and hamstrings, has kept the pain at bay. But sometimes I feel as though this pain will be a consistent reminder of what my body miraculously performed.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel bad about my body. It’s given me a healthy baby girl and for that, I am forever grateful. I do get bummed when I realize my belly is no longer the adorable object of affection.

Just as my body had to make space for the experience of carrying a life, my postprtum body needed time to adjust to a new version of life with different activities, patterns and eating habits. It’s been a challenge to fit healthy eating into a much busier day to day life. Making time for workouts and time for me often falls by the wayside simply because I miss her. So we take more walks and do yoga in the park. 

My priority is Olive and I remind myself that I have to be physically and spiritually strong to care for her like she deserves. My physical appearance is no longer my top concern, but the health of my body matters.

If I could say one thing to new moms, it’s that adjusting to your new schedule will be difficult, but remember that you gave birth, and that’s not for sissies! You got this!

 

Missy DiDonato
Guest Writer

Missy began practicing yoga at home when she was fourteen, following along to a DVD in her living room. She has since completed two separate 200 hour Yoga Teacher Trainings with UCSD and Yoga One. Missy loves helping others find their own yogic path and students of all levels appreciate her warm and friendly teaching style.

by Monique Minahan

Did you know that for every 49 minutes of static posture (e.g. sitting at a desk) it takes 20 to 30 minutes of activity to undo the patterning in your fascia? The surprising (and slightly alarming) thing is that a static position held for 50 minutes or more takes 3 to 4 hours of activity in order to undo fascial patterning! [1]

I don’t know about you, but I’m regularly sitting at work for stretches longer than 50 minutes. On a good day I can catch a lunchtime yoga class, but I’m not always so lucky. Depending on my schedule, an hour and a half yoga class can be a luxury.

After learning the scientific findings mentioned above in a workshop with Gina Schatz, I started looking for ways to incorporate a few minutes of yoga throughout my day instead of waiting for an opportunity to get to class. I’m always amazed at the difference a mere 5 to 10 minutes of daily yoga makes!

Here are 5 of my favorite Workplace Yoga Poses:

1. Seated Cat/Cow

 

 

 

 

 

A variation on traditional cat and cow pose, this version can be done in a chair.

• Ground both feet evenly to start and make sure you are sitting on your sitz bones.
• On an inhale sit up tall and lengthen your spine.
• Clasp your hands behind your head and on the inhale ease your sacrum forward into a gentle arch, letting the rest of your spine follow in turn like a row of dominos.
• On the exhale round your spine evenly, feeling the shoulder blades gently separate.
• Repeat for 4 or 5 full breaths.

2. Seated Twist 

A variation on parivrtta sukhasana, this is another one you can do from your desk. I use this one regularly as I’m often confined to my chair for over an hour, without an option to stand up.

• Sit up tall.
• Keeping your hips level, twist gently to one side on the exhale, twisting from the inside out.
• Keep your core engaged as you twist by lifting your lower belly up and in towards your spine.
• Inhale back to center and on the exhale twist to the other side.

3. Wall Dog 

Often used as a prep for down dog and a great way to warm up tight hamstrings, wall dog is a nice alternative to full down dog (which might look a little funny to your coworkers).

• Stand facing the wall and place your hands on the wall in front of your hips.
• Bend at the knees and walk back until your spine is extended.
• Keep your hands and arms engaged, just like real down-dog.
• Press back through your hips and down through your legs.
• All your down-dog alignment holds true, you’re just at a wall.

4. Shoulder Clock

This is a great one to counter the rounding in the upper back we experience from sitting at a computer all day.

• Stand next to a wall with your feet hip width apart.
• Extend one arm up the wall towards 12 o’clock.
• Take a few breaths here and then stretch your arm back to 1 o’clock.
• Take a few breath cycles at each stage until you get to 3 o’clock. Lean your chest forward slightly and breath deeply here.
• Repeat on the other side.

5. Flank Pose

I like to use my office chair for a gentle parsvottanasana.

• Keeping the feet in two separate lanes with the front foot facing forward and the back foot out at a slight angle.
• Keeping the hips even, lengthen your spine and come forward, placing your hands on your chair.
• Keep the spine long and both legs rooted and active as you breathe deeply.
• Repeat on the other side.
• Remember to draw your low belly in and up towards your spine to support your inner organs and back.

(A variation of this is parivrtta trikonasana. This is one of my favorites because I get a hamstring stretch, a calming forward fold, a focused balancing pose, and a detoxing twist all in one! If this pose is not a part of your regular practice ask your yoga teacher for assistance in class before trying it on your own.)

Do you have a favorite office-friendly pose?  Share it in the comments below!

References:

[1] International Fascia Conference, Harvard University, 2007   
[2] Anatomical images from iYoga Premium application for iPad and iPhone

 

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. 

Read more from Monique on her blog, mindfulmo.com