Featured Pose: Chair Forward Bend

by Baxter and Nina

The simple Chair Forward Bend, one of our five essential office yoga poses, is a safe forward bend for almost everyone. Because you’re bending your legs at the knees, you’re reducing the tension on your hamstrings and therefore allowing your pelvis to have more flexibility at your hip joints. In addition, because you’re resting your arms and head on a chair or desk and you’re not hanging in space, your lower back muscles can release more completely and relax more deeply. (Some of the seated forward bends with straight legs can aggravate lower back pain or disc problems because they pull so strongly on your back muscles and encourage the discs to move toward a posterior position, and you can sometimes over-strain your ligaments when you overdo.)

This forward bend can provide you a quiet moment in your busy day, and allows you to access the deep rest of conscious relaxation without lying on the floor, especially if you focus on your breath while you are in the pose. In addition, folding forward creates a feeling of safety and comfort for many people. And supporting your head enhances the soothing quality of the forward bend, so the Chair Forward Bend may even have a quieting effect on your mind and your emotions, cooling negative emotions such as anger and anxiety.

Of course the pose can be done anywhere you can find a table and chair, such as an office or a dining room, or you can do it with two chairs when there is no table available. (Nina used to practice this pose quite frequently when she worked full time for a software startup company for a few minutes of respite during a hectic day.)

Baxter prescribes it for:

• fatigue
• eye strain
• stress
• anger and/or anxiety
• sensory overload
• lower back tightness (if it feels good to you)
• hip tightness and increased mobility in hip joints

Instructions: Depending on your height and flexibility, move your chair one to two feet away from the desk or second chair where you will be resting your arms and head. Next, sit either in the center of the chair or near the edge, with your feet flat on the floor and about hip-width apart. If you are very short or tall, use a prop if necessary under your feet or your buttocks. Position your knees directly above your feet, with your legs parallel to each other.

Now, tip forward from your hip joints, keeping your back as straight as possible, and then rest your arms on the desk as shown below, and your forehead on your top arm. At this point, you can allow your back to soften and round a bit (if that is comfortable for you). Once your forehead is resting on your forearms, try gently pressing your head forward so your forehead skin stretches downward toward your eyebrows. You may find this enhances the quieting effect of the pose.

Stay in the pose from one to 10 minutes. (Nina’s experiments with Iyengar’s recommendations confirmed that three minutes is the minimum time to get the full “forward bend” feeling from the pose, though even a quick forward bend can be quite effective.) To come out, slip your hands onto your knees and use your arms to support yourself as you gently roll up to sitting, keeping your back muscles remain relaxed, long, and open.

Cautions: If you have a history of chronic low back pain or other back problems, be careful going into this pose, checking as you move into it to ensure your back feels okay. If moving into this forward bend causes a flare of discomfort, you should eliminate it from your practice. See "Featured Series: Low Back Care" for poses to help with back pain. You may also want to avoid this pose if you have severe arthritis in the hips or abdominal discomfort, but in general it is a very safe pose. If you have depression, forward bends may cause you to brood or to become more depressed. In this case, keep your eyes softly open, rather than closing them. If that doesn't help, avoid forward bends until you feel ready for them.

AFTER THE RETREAT: OFFICE YOGA

by Baxter

During my just-completed Italy yoga retreat, we had the unique opportunity to practice hatha yoga twice a day for nine days. As you can imagine, one can cover a lot of ground in that amount of time. So one afternoon session, I shared a chair practice that Nina and I have taught over the years as part of our Yoga For Stress series. It is a sequence that I often encourage students to consider practicing at work, as all you need is a sturdy chair and a small section of a wall.  Well, the group really loved the session, and several students asked if there was a video of the practice they could refer to once that returned home to work and their regular schedule.

As Nina and I were talking about her post for this week on the effects of chronic stress on health and aging, it occurred to me that one of the biggest contributors to increased stress these days is mounting pressures placed on us in the work place. So my prescription this week to all of you readers out there is to consider adding a wee bit of chair/office yoga to your work day to help lower the stress levels. Read on for some suggestions to try and stay tuned for some video content from us on this topic soon!

Until we make our own office yoga video, we’re including a link to a video by Esther Ekhart. This video includes several of our favorite office yoga poses and is generally pretty good. However, please skip the neck rolls at the end, as these can overstrain your neck!

When you do the poses, try to keep your mind focused on your alignment and the physical sensations of being in the pose (rather than thinking about your work).

Suggested office yoga poses:

1. Right Angle at the wall, desk or chair (see Esther Ekhart video below)

2. Chair Backbend (see Esther Ekhart video below--try it with hands clasped behind your head)

3. Chair Twist (see Esther Ekhart video below) 

4. Chair Forward Bend or Wall Hang (see earlier post)