This short, work-from-home flow is the perfect way to recharge midday.
Working from home has its undeniable perks, as long as you know how to keep yourself productive and accountable without relying on the external expectations of in-person office life for motivation. And as long as you know how to take breaks, move around, set up a proper work space, call it a day, and set real boundaries for yourself.
The privacy, physical space, and flexibility typical of remote work life is incredibly conducive to taking short, frequent breaks to move your body throughout the day. No one will know (or give you judgmental side-eye or report you to HR) if you take a five-minute break between video calls to stand up and march around your kitchen, or do some light, but effective stretches to increase blood circulation and wake up any muscles that have gone dormant while you were filling out spreadsheets. (Sorry, glutes, it’s nothing personal.)
Keep finding yourself with 10 minutes to spare between virtual presentations? Below, Beth Cooke, yoga teacher and an instructor at Obé fitness—online destination for streaming live, on-demand workouts from home—shares three quick and easy yoga stretches designed to be squeezed into even the busiest work day.
The following beginner-friendly yoga poses are amazing to do separately as isolated moves, but they feel even better when done in sequence for an energizing midday flow. When you’re ready to melt work stress away, use the above demo video as a visual guide, or follow the step-by-step instructions below. (Don’t forget to breathe deeply and move with your breath). Happy stretching!
Move 1: Standing Side Bends
- Start in Mountain Pose: Standing tall with feet hip-width apart.
- Sweep your arms up to the sky and hook your thumbs together.
- Reaching up high bend your upper body gently from side to side, feeling a stretch along the side of your body.
Move 2: Standing Forward Bend
- Start standing tall with feet hip-width apart and arms and hands raised straight up to the ceiling (or flow directly into this pose after doing your standing side bends, above).
- Press your palms together in a praying motion, bring your arms down, hinge at the hips, and slowly fold forward over your legs.
- Grab your elbows and let your head, neck, and upper body relax and be heavy.
- Find a gentle sway to open the upper back, stretch the hamstrings, and lengthen the spine.
Move 3: Shoulder Stretch
- Start from a forward fold (or flow directly into this pose after completing your forward fold, above).
- Bring your arms up and back behind you, then interlace your fingers behind your back at the base of your spine.
- Let your arms fall forward to open the shoulders; keep your neck relaxed and head heavy.
- Release your fingers and begin to roll up, keeping your tailbone heavy and tucking chin to chest. Imagine stacking each vertebra one by one as you roll up to standing mountain pose again.
- Finish standing tall and roll your shoulders back two times.
