Yoga, in addition, can help to relieve some of the problems that office work can cause. An example of this is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, the wrist affliction that often affects those who spend hours on a computer.
Yoga asanas, practiced with proper shoulder, elbow, and wrist alignment can help relieve the pain of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A specific yoga sequence to free up your contracted hamstrings, hip flexors, and lower back can also help alleviate the back pain an office chair sometimes facilitates.
With simple yoga exercises one can release tensions as they arise and consciously put oneself in an inspired and creative mood. Computer users often have tension and pain in the "mouse hand", arm, elbow, shoulder, neck or back.
Other common ailments are headaches, eye complaints and lethargy, which also arise due to tensions, and which prevent the person to work efficiently.
If you experience frequent or chronic neck, back, shoulder, wrist, hip, or knee pain, you are not alone. Research shows that 80% of Americans suffer from lower back pain severe enough to consult a health professional or use drugs to relieve pain. In 1988, lower back problems ranked seventh among reasons for all U.S. hospitalizations.
Back pain is the number one reason for worker absenteeism, costing businesses in the U.S. $30 billion annually in lost time and medical benefits.
Acute or short-term low back pain generally lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature — the result of trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house or in the garden, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues.
Symptoms may range from muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain, limited flexibility and/or range of motion, or an inability to stand straight. Occasionally, pain felt in one part of the body may "radiate” from a disorder or injury elsewhere in the body. Some acute pain syndromes can become more serious if left untreated.
Mindful yoga is designed to target the muscles crucial in supporting the spine for long periods without pain. Yoga can increase your body awareness, help you break habits, teach you how to release patterns of tension, and bring length to your spine.
Not all yoga programs are created equal. If an action or pose is causing you pain, don’t do it. Be sceptical about what someone is asking you to do. Ask for credentials, and reasons, and let someone adjust your body (move your body for you), there is a really good reason for it, they can see your alignment.
Continued …
Glen Wood - The Yoga Teacher, dedicated to unlocking the Real Secrets of Back and Shoulder Pain.
