Corporate Yoga Melbourne found these great meditation practices you can do at work at your desk:
5 minute meditation
Open monitoring meditation allows you to stand in the quiet space behind the waterfall and watch your thoughts but not be run by them. Try this open-monitoring meditation for 5 minutes a few days in a row:
Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and for a minute or two gently allow your mind to rest on your breath, following the inflow and outflow through your nostrils. Then expand your awareness and notice your present-moment experience—tension in your neck, racing thoughts, sounds around you. When something comes up, whether it’s a thought, sensation, or emotion, name it without judging—“Thinking is happening,” “Worry is happening,” “Planning is happening”—and allow it to pass freely.
The dispassionate phrasing allows you to distance yourself from the experience so you can see it as nothing more than a random nerve firing instead of a fact or imperative,” says Steve Hickman, PsyD, executive director of the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness “It trains your mind to allow anxious thoughts to be born, hover, and pass away without having a big emotional impact.”
Sun Breath
Sit in a chair with your feet planted on the floor directly under your knees and arms down by your sides. Press your sitting bones into the seat as you lengthen up through your spine. Turn your palms upward, and take a slow inhale as you circle your arms out to the sides and overhead, connecting your palms. On an exhale, slowly lower your connected palms behind your neck while lifting your elbows toward the ceiling. On an inhale, bring your palms back up over your head. As you exhale, separate your palms and turn them downward as you slowly lower your arms back to your sides.
This dynamic stretch lifts the rib cage, allowing for a deeper breath. It also stretches the chest, which is typically contracted into a protective posture when anxiety is present. The postural change may reduce worry and fear since the physical sensations we feel in the body can affect our emotions.
Knee Bend to Cobra
On an inhale, press your sitting bones into the seat surface as you lengthen up through your spine. As you exhale, tilt your pelvis backward, rounding your back and tucking your chin as you lift one knee toward your forehead. Stay here until the last drop of your exhale. As you inhale, lower your leg back to the floor as you lift your “tail” out from under you, lengthen your spine, and expand your chest while grasping the sides of the chair. Switch sides; repeat 4 times on each side.
This powerful pose helps to loosen the spine, massage and squeeze out tension in the abdominal area, modulate the breath, and facilitate a deeper exhale that calms the nervous system.
Sun Breath Twist
On an inhale, bring your arms out to your sides and overhead. On an exhale, maintain length in your spine as you twist your torso to the right, placing your left hand on the outside of the right knee, and your right arm to the chair. On an inhale, bring your arms back up overhead as you untwist back to center. Switch sides; repeat for three reps. On a fourth rep, hold the twist for three breaths on each side; slowly unwind and feel the effects.
Sun Pose
On an inhale, sweep your arms out to your sides and overhead. On an exhale, turn your palms down and swan-dive forward, hinging at the hips. As you come into a fold, place your palms on your lower thighs to protect your back. On an inhale, press your palms against your thighs to assist in lifting back up, and finish the inhale by lifting your arms back out to the sides and overhead. Repeat six times, moving slowly and rhythmically with your breath. On your sixth fold, release your hands to the floor, allowing your head to hang between your legs for 30 seconds. Bring your forearms to your thighs for a few breaths, then press your palms against your thighs as you inhale back to an upright position.
We hope you enjoy these meditation practices you can do at your desk.
Feel free to contact Corporate Yoga Melbourne if you have any questions on incorporating meditation or yoga at your work.
