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Okay so you’re like me right, sitting in front of your computer, writing, typing, researching for more ideas. Or you’re just saying that and you’re on Facebook for hours before complaining about how time just flew. In any case. Sitting in your chair for hours and hours causes a lot of tension in your shoulders and neck. I forever have this problem. My hips kill me at times as well.
But I don’t wanna get away because I wanna hammer out more ideas and concepts, or finish this level on my Facebook game, Marvel Avenger Alliance. So I researched exercises for writers. And I stumbled upon a really cool idea: Yoga Break for writers. Six easy stretches they say can easy the pain and loosen up the tension caused by writing and typing all day.
They have six easy stretches. I tried each of them out and here are my results:
Position #1: Sit at the edge of your chair, lift your arms over your head, effectively stretching the inside
of the shoulder. Clasp your fingers together, lift your arms straight up. Keep your shoulders down and back. Lift up out of your waist. Engage your abdominal muscles by pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Extend through the palms, and deepen your breath. Remain in this pose breathing deeply for at least five slow, deep breaths. Slowly release and put hands back on knees
I could feel the my arms loosening up. I just got into a car accident (very minor) so it caused a brief dull pain around my left shoulder blade. Despite that, there was definitely a lot less tension in my body immediately after the first stretch and more so after the second time. Although I feel a dull pain in both my upper shoulders. So if you’re having shoulder issues I don’t recommend this exercise.

Position #2: Sit at the edge of your chair, stretch your arms out in front of you parallel to the floor. They should be at shoulder level. Put your right hand on your left shoulder. Using your left hand, press the right elbow. This movement stretches the top of the shoulders. Don’t push the arm into your face. Keep arms level with shoulder. Keep back straight and sit erect, but not stiff. Release slowly.
I felt this stretch in my upper back and shoulder blades. It caused a little dull pain the first time. But the second time, it was a quite nice stretch. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I’d loosened up the shoulder blade even more. After this stretch it doesn’t feel as tight or tense any more.
Position #3: Push back from the desk, but remain seated near the edge of your chair. Open legs wide with your feet planted on the
floor. Take a deep breath and exhale, hinge at the hips, placing your palms or fingertips on the floor. Keep your head a long extension of your spine. Breathe deeply.
I could feel this on right in the middle of my lower back. This is one of my favorite stretches so far. I usually have trouble with my lower back and this really gave it a nice stretch. Of course it caused some tension again in my shoulder, be careful if you have shoulder problems.
Position #4: Turn towards your desk. Straighten your arms and lay your palms on the top of the desk.
Push your chair out, but stay seated in it. Legs are wide apart, feet on the floor. Your head will be slightly lower than your shoulders. Shoulders are extended. Back is not arched or curved, keep it straight, long, and lean. This movement stretches out your stiff spine. You are also opening the hips and shoulders.
I’m going to be honest, I really didn’t like this stretch that much. I keep feeling like I was choking at times. But I did feel a little stretch in my back. I did have to continuously readjust to avoid choking on my shirt. There will be tension in your shoulders, please be careful.
Position #5: Move your chair out of the way. Put your hands on top of the desk. Stand back and do the same movement as
Position 4, but this time you are standing. Hinge at the hips, stick your tailbone out, and your stance is the width of your hips. Spread your fingers out wide. Deepen your breathing. You’ll feel a stretch in your armpits and shoulders, similar to when you are in downward facing dog.
This was much better than position 4, and far more comfortable of a stretch, except the fact that my shoulders are now on fire, lol. But aside from that, it was a nice stretch on my lower back. I could feel a stretch in my outer thighs, buttocks and my lower back.
Position #6: Sitting in your chair, bend your arms so that your hands are in front of you. Close your arms with the elbows and
palms toward each other. Cross your right arm over your left arm, and put your left hand in your right hand. Take a couple of deep breaths and relax into the pose. Don’t force it. You should feel a good stretch in your shoulders. Take deep, slow breaths. You will feel a good stretch between the shoulder blades. Breathe. Pull the elbows down. Now start over, but this time cross your left arm over your right arm. This move is called seated Eagle.
Yes, you will feel this in your shoulder blades. For some reason, this stretch didn’t hurt my shoulder blades as much as it hurt my shoulders. But the tension in my arm are gone. This to me is and has always been a difficult stretch for me. I still recommend it though.
I hope this list helped someone. Regardless of the pains I mentioned, Im still glad I did this to relieve the pains and tension I had.
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