�Sitting too much may increase the risk of dying prematurely, while replacing sitting time with just standing or moderate physical activity could counteract the effect.� �Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times
I�m standing up as I write this. Because I�m working on both a book and the blog this year and my back has been rather unhappy about it, I decided to splurge on one of those sit-stand desks that I can raise and lower with the touch of a button. And just in time apparently. Because this little article in the New York Times Sitting Increases the Risk of Dying Early made me realize that while I�d kind of been thinking that all my walks and yoga sessions were counteracting the hours I spent sitting at my desk, according to the latest research, that�s not true:
�The association between time spent sitting and mortality has been found in other studies, and the link persists even after accounting for other physical exercise.�
And I�ve now concluded that although we and other yoga teachers have been encouraging people to do �office yoga� for some time now, maybe some of those chair stretches are not the right thing for you to be doing. So it�s time for us all to get serious about breaking up those hours of sitting with �standing� breaks! The researcher quoted in the article recommended, well, just standing up.
�Stand up, and go have a drink of water instead of keeping the water bottle at your desk. Or just stand up every so often. Standing alone increases your energy expenditure.�
�The association between time spent sitting and mortality has been found in other studies, and the link persists even after accounting for other physical exercise.�
And I�ve now concluded that although we and other yoga teachers have been encouraging people to do �office yoga� for some time now, maybe some of those chair stretches are not the right thing for you to be doing. So it�s time for us all to get serious about breaking up those hours of sitting with �standing� breaks! The researcher quoted in the article recommended, well, just standing up.
�Stand up, and go have a drink of water instead of keeping the water bottle at your desk. Or just stand up every so often. Standing alone increases your energy expenditure.�
But I think we can do better than that. (I mean, just standing up is kind of boring so you might as well do some stretching and/or strengthening while you�re at it.) Now I work at home so I not only can use the desk of my choice but I can also take housework breaks, which mean getting up and going downstairs to do dishes, put in a load of laundry, or sweep the kitchen. (I get lots of thinking done during those breaks, as well as a relief from sitting.) However, I used to work in an office�and even in a cubicle!�so I know that�s a bit more challenging. But there are many different kinds of standing poses can you do in your office clothes in a small space
For starters, we just happen to have this little sequence Featured Sequence: Opening Tight Shoulders that�although it was designed to open tight shoulders�would work really well in an office. How about doing one pose in the sequence for each short break? At the end of the day, you�ll have completed the whole thing. After a few weeks, your shoulders are going to start feeling pretty good! (If you don�t have a wall, try the Half Downward-Facing Dog pose with your hands on your desk. And if you don�t have a doorknob, try the Cobra holding on to the edge of your desk.) Ram�s post Yoga in Skies with poses you can do at the back of the airplane has some similar ideas as does Yoga for Traveling. And I�m sure we�ve all realized by now that Tree pose can be done any time, anywhere. Finally, I bet you can come up with some of your own!
For starters, we just happen to have this little sequence Featured Sequence: Opening Tight Shoulders that�although it was designed to open tight shoulders�would work really well in an office. How about doing one pose in the sequence for each short break? At the end of the day, you�ll have completed the whole thing. After a few weeks, your shoulders are going to start feeling pretty good! (If you don�t have a wall, try the Half Downward-Facing Dog pose with your hands on your desk. And if you don�t have a doorknob, try the Cobra holding on to the edge of your desk.) Ram�s post Yoga in Skies with poses you can do at the back of the airplane has some similar ideas as does Yoga for Traveling. And I�m sure we�ve all realized by now that Tree pose can be done any time, anywhere. Finally, I bet you can come up with some of your own!
Baxter sets a timer to remind him to take breaks from writing. I just get up every time I complete a little something like a blog post or a section of the book.
If you give this a try, let me know how it goes!
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