Desk Yoga: Poses For Sitting And Driving All Day
Desk yoga: the short version
Stuart McGill sat in an hours-long traffic jam in Bali, and his upper thigh suddenly burned with pain. Desk yoga is a few simple poses you can do on a chair, at a wall or at a desk, so a day of sitting or driving doesn’t leave you stiff. Stuart had spent days at a PC, then 11 hours in cars in one day, and he had skipped his usual yoga. This note tells what happened, why long sitting makes us stiff, and the easy poses Chris Lalor gave him. It sits in our yoga for back care notes.
Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It is sometimes called modern classical yoga, and it’s the style we teach at Flametree. Props like a chair and a belt are what make desk yoga easy.
Desk yoga in short form
- The story: Stuart’s long sitting and driving left him flat on the couch.
- Why it bites: sitting shortens the hips and legs and rounds the chest.
- Research: a 2015 review linked long sitting to higher health risks, so break it up.
- Break it up: Chris suggests standing for an hour for every two sitting.
- Poses: Dog at a railing, a chair twist, and Reclining Big Toe Pose.
- Drivers: stop, get out, and put your feet up.
- Next step: your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree.
What happened to Stuart after too much sitting?
A long sit turned into a fortnight of pain. After a Flametree retreat in Bali, Stuart spent 11 hours in cars around the island in one day. It came after many 8 to 11 hour days at a PC, and he’d done less yoga than usual.
In the Ubud traffic jam he felt sudden, extreme pain in his upper thigh. Chris put it down to his piriformis (a muscle deep in the buttock that links the lower back and legs). The pain then spread through his right leg, which Chris describes as sciatic nerve irritation.
The worst came back in Darwin. One morning he could do nothing but lie on his tummy in bed. Then he spent many days on the couch, with his sleep broken by pain.
Chris reminded him of a few simple poses from her weekly back, neck and shoulders class, and he started doing them. He says his back is improving. Chris also bought a raisable desktop, so she or others in the office could stand to work. It’s one man’s experience, not a promise, and it sits alongside proper medical care.
Chris Lalor with her hands on a chair seat, bending from the hips. This is the kind of easy pose we call desk yoga. It lengthens the back instead of rounding it.
Why does sitting make you stiff?
Long sitting shortens some muscles and switches others off. Each week Chris sees students stiff from what looks like harmless sitting. From her experience, long sitting tends to:
- squash the lower front of your belly and your hip flexors (the muscles that lift your thigh);
- shorten your quadriceps (front of the thigh) and hamstrings (back of the thigh);
- round your chest and tighten your upper back and neck;
- load the piriformis, deep in your buttock.
Research agrees that sitting matters. According to PubMed, a 2015 review of 47 studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that more sedentary time was linked with a higher risk of death, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, even after allowing for exercise. The link was generally stronger in people who moved least, which is a good reason to break up the day. It shows an association, not proof of cause. You can read it at doi:10.7326/M14-1651.
How often should you stand up from your desk?
Mix sitting with standing, and keep moving in between. Chris’s rule of thumb, from her own experience and not from a trial, is to stand for one hour for every two hours you sit. Shorter swaps are fine too. Just keep an eye on the total. And don’t stand all day either.
A few practical tips from Chris:
- Point your feet forward at a standing desk, as in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Chris says feet turned out squeeze the back muscles inwards.
- Stand on something soft such as a yoga mat, in flatter shoes than usual.
- Try a raisable desktop. One that sits on top of your normal desk may be less hassle and cost less than a whole new desk.
- Use the same rules for TV time. Long sitting is long sitting wherever you do it.
- Sit on your sitting bones when you do sit. Our note on tucking the tailbone explains how.
Which desk chair yoga poses help after sitting or driving?
Start with poses that use a chair, a railing, a table or a wall as a prop. These are easy to do at the office, at home or anywhere. These are the poses Chris suggested to Stuart:
- Downward Dog with your hands on a railing, a table, stairs or a couch. It lengthens the spine and the backs of the legs (Adho Mukha Svanasana).
- Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana) to a support. Chris used her stair railing. A table or a yoga block works too.
- A simple twist. Stand with one foot on a chair, or sit on a chair with a block between your thighs.
- Reclining Big Toe Pose (Supta Padangusthasana). Lie on your back, take a leg up, then to the side. Use a belt if you can’t reach your foot.
How long you need to stay in them depends on how bad your back is and how long you’ve had the problem. Chris’s advice is that regular yoga is the best habit, so problems are less likely to come up at all.
A gentle chair twist: sit tall, hold the back of the chair and turn from the waist. You can do this one at your desk.
Red flags need a doctor straight away: numbness around the groin or saddle area, a change in bladder or bowel control, leg weakness that’s getting worse, fever, or pain after a fall. For ordinary stiffness, talk to your yoga teacher, your yoga therapist and your doctor if you wish.
What do drivers say about yoga?
One long-haul driver found yoga worth the effort. G. drove trucks for 30 years, more than 12 hours a day. In his words: “It’s as sedentary as it gets… vibrations, bumps, and sitting in one spot all day long. My back was hammered by it.”
He started yoga because he could feel himself getting stiffer. He did three beginner courses back to back, going about three times a week, and then moved up a level. “Best of all, I don’t have any back or other pains any more.”
That’s one man’s experience, not a promise. He says props helped, including a rack he lay back over, and that Plank made his arms stronger. He also tells other drivers to get out of the cab and put their feet up on the fuel tank, a mild cousin of Legs Up The Wall Pose.
A seated twist on the rocks. You can get the same turn on a chair, with a block between your thighs.
Where do you go from here?
For the full picture on research and poses for the lower back, see our post on yoga for lower back pain. For the neck, try yoga for neck pain. We also run a back, neck and shoulders class, which is open to everyone.
Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online. Your first class is free if you’re new to Flametree. New students, and anyone who has been away three months or more, can also get a half price 10 class pass with 2 extra classes free, to use online, in the studio, or both. In the studio, just come along. Online, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join. See the beginner timetable.
Already practising yoga? The same half price 10 class pass for new students, and for anyone away three months or more, is also available as the non-beginner half price pass.
Desk yoga: questions people ask
Can yoga help if you sit or drive all day?
Yes, it can help you stay looser and move better. Yoga lengthens the hips, legs and chest that long sitting shortens. For long-lasting back pain, see our post on yoga for lower back pain, where the trials are set out. Chris’s own advice is to mix sitting with standing and add a few easy poses.
What are the best desk yoga poses?
Four easy ones are Downward Dog with your hands on a railing or table, Intense Side Stretch to a support, a twist on a chair, and Reclining Big Toe Pose. A chair, a table or a wall is all the prop you need.
How do you stretch after sitting all day?
Move the parts that sitting shortens: hips, hamstrings and chest. Try Reclining Big Toe Pose with a belt, a chair twist, and Downward Dog with your hands up on a railing. Go gently and stop if anything pinches or tingles.
How often should you stand up from your desk?
There’s no single rule. Chris suggests standing for about an hour for every two hours you sit, and moving in between. Shorter swaps work too. The aim is to avoid long unbroken sitting.
Can sitting too long cause sciatica or piriformis pain?
Long sitting can leave the hips and buttocks tight, and for Stuart it was part of the story. After days at a PC and an 11-hour day in cars, Chris put his pain down to an irritated piriformis (a deep buttock muscle), and it spread down his leg. Anyone with leg pain, numbness or weakness should see a doctor or physiotherapist, and tell their yoga teacher.
Do you need a mat or special clothes for desk yoga?
No. A chair, a wall, a table or a railing is enough, and you can do most of the poses in work clothes. A yoga mat is a good, soft thing to stand on at a standing desk.
What can drivers do on a long trip?
Stop, get out and move. One long-haul driver, G., tells other drivers to step out of the cab and put their feet up on the fuel tank, which is like a mild Legs Up The Wall Pose. A few standing poses at a roadside rest stop help too.
Where can I do desk yoga in Darwin?
Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner in Darwin and LIVE online, including a back, neck and shoulders class. If you’re new to Flametree, your first class is free. In the studio, just come along; online, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join.
Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and live online. This note is general information, not medical advice. If you have back pain, leg pain or a health condition, talk to your yoga teacher, your yoga therapist and your doctor if you wish.
Sources: Biswas A and colleagues. Sedentary time and its association with risk for disease incidence, mortality, and hospitalization in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine, 2015, 162(2):123-132 (doi:10.7326/M14-1651). Chris Lalor’s email “Sitting Can Be Deadly” to Flametree students, 2024. A student, G., in his own words on Flametree’s Facebook page, 2019.
