[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hello, my name is Eve Delachartre,
and I'm a certified yoga teacher in integrative yoga therapy
and prana yoga.
Many of us spend a huge amount of time sitting, and so much
time that our body develops aches and pains.
We can restore a good sitting posture
with a practice of mindful movements,
along with deep breathing.
The two synchronized together improve
the function of our nervous system
and help us form muscle memory.
This short practice can be done during breaks at work.
And we need to remind ourselves to do it while sitting.
I'm going to demonstrate for you what I'm talking about,
and feel free to join me, providing that you don't have
spinal injury or special needs.
So sit on your chair a little forward.
Have your feet apart the width of the hips.
And you sit as vertically as possible without straining.
Let your arms relax.
Hands on your laps.
Shoulders relaxed.
And notice how you feel right now because we'll check again
at the end of the practice to see if there is any difference.
And we start with a few deep breaths.
The whole breath is involving a whole torso,
expanding and becoming smaller.
So notice your body sensations.
Inhale deeply.
Full exhale deeply.
Pause.
Inhale deeply.
Full lungs.
Exhale deeply.
Pause.
One more.
Maintain your shoulders relaxed while you're breathing.
And return.
The first movement we'll do is the movement forward and back
of the spine, including your pelvis.
So inhale.
Move your pelvis forward.
Arch the back, uplift your chest, uplift your chin,
look up.
Use your back muscles.
Exhale, tilt your bellies back.
Push with your abdominal muscles.
Shoulders relaxed, head down.
Inhale, forward again.
Don't throw your head back hard.
Exhale.
Tilt your pelvis back.
Chin tucked in.
Shoulders down.
Inhale one more time, forward.
Exhale, tilt your pelvis back.
Push with your abdominal muscles.
And inhale, come back sitting tall,
and just let your arms relax on your sides.
The second movement is a curve sideway--
side bend.
The shoulders and the hips stay in the same plane.
Breathe in deeply.
And start slowly curve the spine to the right without straining.
Inhale.
Come back.
Full lungs.
Exhale, leaning to the left.
Try to sense your spine curving sideway.
Inhale, come back.
Exhale, curving to the right.
Let your neck stretch on the left side here.
Inhale, come back.
Exhale, curve to the left.
And let the whole right side extend.
Inhale, center.
One more time each side.
Exhale to the right.
Inhale, come back.
Exhale, curve to the left.
Inhale, come back.
And exhale, bring back your hands on your laps.
The next two movements are twists.
Twists are movements of the spine along the vertical axis.
So we don't move forward or back or sideways.
We maintain the vertical.
First twist is a half-twist.
And pay attention to this-- it's a little unusual.
So breathe in deeply.
Exhale, twist the spine so the right shoulder moves forward,
the left moves back, and you turn your head
over the right shoulder, the front shoulder.
Inhale, come back, facing forward.
And exhale, twist with the left shoulder
forward, right shoulder back, and look over
the left shoulder.
Inhale, center.
And do this again.
Exhale and maintain those shoulders at the same height.
Use the muscles around your waist.
Inhale, center.
Exhale, half-twist to the left.
Left shoulder forward, right shoulder back.
Look over the left shoulder.
Inhale, center.
And just stay in the center.
Exhale.
Now full twist.
You bring your legs totally together.
You might have to sit even a little bit more forward.
And make sure your knees stay forward.
They don't move along with your spine.
Breathe in deeply.
Sit as tall as you can.
And exhale, twist the spine.
Hold your right knee with the left hand.
Hold the chair behind with the right hand,
and look behind you.
Inhale deeply, expanding your chest.
Exhale deeply, flattening the abdomen and stay sitting tall.
Inhale, expand your chest.
Both shoulders are low and at the same height.
Exhale.
One more inhale here.
Exhale.
Slowly bring back your torso forward.
And now to the other side.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Twist to the left.
Have your right hand over the left knee, left hand holding
the chair behind.
Look back.
And breathe in, expanding your chest.
Exhale in with the abdominal muscles flattening.
Inhale, expand your chest.
And exhale.
Maintain the vertical alignment of the spine.
One more inhale here.
And exhale.
Bring back your torso forward and re-separate your feet
and your knees the width of your hips.
One more movement.
This one is the elongation of the spine upward.
With this, we do some arm movement.
Remember to match your breath and your movement.
So inhale.
Press under your feet a little further.
Move your arms forward and up.
Feel your spine stretching upward.
Exhale, arms going down.
And feel your arms light where they moved.
Inhale, press under your feet firmly.
Arms going up, elongate your spine.
Exhale, forward and down.
One more time.
Inhale.
Remember to press under your feet.
It gives you more stability.
Exhale, arms forward and down.
And bring back your hands on your laps.
Notice if you feel any difference
between how you feel right now with the beginning
of the session.
And thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
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