Believe it or not, there once was a time when facebook and twitter did not consume 85% of our day. Back then we had other productivity suckers like solitaire and Minesweeper! Though we will never understand the Snood obsession. Alas, whatever you spend your time doing at the computer, we humans certainly do sit for an awful long amount of time hunched over that screen in chair pose. Ouch.
And so we are grateful for a guidebook like Yoga for Computer Users by Sandy Blaine that help us navigate our way through schlumpasana and mouse paws to healthier and more pain-free living. And we’re lucky enough to be giving it away!
WIN: We’re giving away THREE copies of Yoga for Computer Users by Sandy Blaine courtesy of Rodmell Press.
TO ENTER: We had a great time reading some of your responses to how yoga helps you do your job better. In the spirit of getting work done (or you know, whatever it is you do over there. mmhm) and also getting in your yoga, share with us in the comments how yoga helps you get your job, or A job, done. If you’re not sure, then try this: tell us your favorite song that helps get you going. Because music is fun, and that’s at least 2-3 minutes of some serious meditative focus and/or a much needed dance party. Either way, bonus! Don’t worry, one of these days eagle arms will make its way into the next dance craze.
The giveaway closes 11:59 EST Wednesday, October 3rd. Three winners will be chosen at random and announced soon after. Good luck!
UPDATE: We have our winners…Congratulations to Candace, Kat and Eileen! Thanks to all for entering and sharing in the comments.
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Earlier…
Yoga helps me to calm the monkeymind. It helps me to get more focussed, instead of being superchaotic and doing everything but nothing.
It also helps me to get less stiff while sitting at a desk al day.
Lately one of my favorite songs to get some work done is:
Republica – Ready To Go (and sing a long really loud, wobbling my head!)
Yoga keeps me breathing when my students get me frustrated. Teaching is hard but yoga makes it so much more peaceful!
yoga helps me cope with the stresses and emotional heaviness of working with elders (i’m an art therapist & yoga teacher). Even on the most difficult days, I get to my class after work and I can let it all go so that I go home a little lighter.
Favorite song to brighten my day: Somebody’s Arms by Sara Slean.
As a new grad student (who was recently in the workforce) adjusting to this new sense of “freedom”, a lack of set schedule, and lots of working from home, yoga has been fantastic when I need a break (mentally and physically) and also very good for improving my focus during those long afternoons of reading!
I am also a big fan of the new Mumford and Sons album! That gets me dancing.
I go to yoga four days a week during my lunch hour. The bike ride to the studio helps me get in my yogi-mind before I’m there, and then it’s 45 minutes just for ME. No phone, no email, just me and my mat. Of course the ride back isn’t as much fun–but it’s good for me to get my zen on before dealing with the rest of the day.
Incidentally, the shortest time I’ve had my “Yoga buzz” before a coworker killed it was 10 minutes. There was much belly breathing after that. <3
Yoga helps me stay focused and relax those tense muscles that tend to get buggared when you’re a digital goddess. Without that, I don’t think I could manage the desk time necessary to be a social media yogi. I’m a physical therapy yogi with 2 ruptured discs and a really messed up sciatica. It helps me not only manage the pain, but cope with it on a level that nothing else has done for me in over 15 years of dealing with the injury. I do a lot of bed yoga with pillows, bolsters and yummy stretching.
Yoga helps with the big and little aches and pains of life. Before it, there were days when I struggled to walk without a cane or have even been in a wheel chair, not to mention the 2 surgeries to try to help. Nothing has been as beneficial in my life as Yoga. It truly is something amazing to discover and I want to share it with everyone I meet.
Yoga helps wake me up and keeps my crappy desk chair from wreaking havoc on my back!
My fave mental-health break songs: “When I Grow Up” (Garbage), “Single Ladies” (Beyonce), and “99 Problems” (Jay-Z). With bonus “Genius of Love” (Tom Tom Club) if it’s an especially rough day.
Yoga helps me maintain clarity. When I feel overwhelmed or frustrated, I am able to step back, take a moment to notice my emotions and breathe. Just to bring mindfulness into the moment allows me to be present, accept and not allow my mind to spin out of control.
Mental control is a great benefit of my practice that extends far beyond the mat for me. And it is as simple as a closed eye breath.
yoga helps me keep calm in stressful situations. I don’t panic or react strongly when something bad happens at work. It also helped me with the neck/back pain that my work created (that isn’t there anymore because of yoga!)
As a yoga teacher and college student I couldn’t imagine my life without flexibility. Yoga keeps my body strong enough to teach 16 classes a week and helps me break up the 10 page papers and group projects. Yoga also keeps my mind at ease with all of the collaborating and deadlines I have to keep up with. It’s my life, and I love it!
Yoga helps me give better massages. I am more flexible and intune when providing my service
The biggest benefit I get from yoga is the mental clarity. I love the physical benefits to but the mental benefits keep me returning to the mat.
Telepopmusik – Breathe
Old, but it starts me out in a good place remembering to breathe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXuuh49aF1M
Yoga keeps me young or at least young at heart. I have almost retired from my regular job, and now teach several classes a week, mostly Gentle classes with lots of relaxation. I also teach Work Place Yoga when asked and this book would be extremely helpful teaching me how to help others.
Yoga IS my job. Yoga and the teachings of Yoga help me to have forgiveness toward clients that may not share my values toward how we treat others. I try to model my behavior in classes by treating others with kindness, with it not mattering what I get in return. I have my dog Hector, who gives me kindness and love, love, love!
Yoga keeps me warm and awake in my cold office! I like to do forward bends, spinal twists, and such to keep my blood moving for my sitting job.
It’s totally the calming influence. Certainly, my flexibility and posture are improved and when you physically feel better you do better work, but my centered attitude and sharpened mental focus are the biggest benefits of yoga at work for me.
Yoga helps me deal with the ups and downs of working with clients and in situations with lots of ambiguity. I can go with the “flow” of events as they unfold without getting frustrated lots better since I’ve been deep into my yoga practice. Also, it has helped in my mental flexibility and acceptance of others ideas.
Yoga helps me look at a problem from many different angles – literally and figuratively. When there’s something that I can’t figure out, I’ll use inverted postures like downward dog and breathe from my hands to my feet. This new outlook usually helps me to switch my mode of thinking. I use pranayama a few minutes before very stressful meetings and I become the calm thinker in the middle of someone else’s chaos.
Helps work out the kinks acquired sitting at a desk all day!! Awesome!!
My yoga practice prepares me for a day of demanding inner-city kiddos: the mindfulness of asana transfers to my presence with kids so that I can create healthy boundaries, listen and respond with joy and compassion. Playground yoga tricks also inspire kids to try out the practice so they can walk back to class feeling clear, pumped and present.
Yoga helps me focus and come to work energized. I love doing an early-morning routine, then coming in to the office feeling like I’ve already accomplished something for the day.
Yoga helps me to calm down and stay focused, even when it’s frenzied and chaotic. When I remember to focus on my breath and bring my attention to my breath, it’s like a mini nap that leaves me refreshed and able to focus on the tasks at hand.
Yoga helps me at my software job because I am seated most of the day- having proper alignment is key to a successful day because without it I hunch over and cause pressure all over my body- from my hips to my shoulders and fingers. On top of that, I listen to what my friend likes to call ‘chillwave’ music- haha, really just electronic stuff that is more ambient than jarring. It just helps the time go quicker 🙂
i’m relatively new at my office, and as an ice breaker, i talk a lot about yoga with my co-workers. we trade tips and tricks. it got really funny one afternoon when we had a leg balancing contest.
I am looking into yoga per recommendation from my doctor. I commute an hour in the morning and evening and sit at a computer all day. I have been told the many benefits of yoga and am eager to try it since I have lower back pain issues.
Yoga helps me keep my cool when it gets super hectic in the office.
Ahhhh, yoga has changed all aspects of my life and it has made me realize I should be the same person in many ways at work and outside of work – the union of yoga. I have brought to my very hectic business world the underlying idea of doing good and being good to myself and others – and unsurprisingly, the rewards have been immediate and magical. More directly – I go to a women’s yoga class on Friday at 4:30 and when I walk out – the work week and all that goes with it is behind me and the rejuvenation has begun!
Yoga helps me tune into tension that can develop in my jaw, shoulders and neck when I’m working at the computer. With this awareness, I can consciously relax those muscles. Yoga asanas also develop core strength so I can sit with greater ease.
Yoga helps my concentration, mood, and attitude.
I’m an digital artist and work from home, on the computer for approx 18hrs a day, every day ~ I am really keen to see what this book/yoga for computer users can teach me, as am always looking at quick exercises i can do during my regular breaks. Electronica music from the Psytrance (Psychedelic Trance) is an essential part of my daily life that also inspires my creativity ~ so to find the something that blends the two together, is very exciting for me! ~Webgrrl (Australia)
Taking several small “yoga” breaks during the work keeps me balanced and focused. I look forward to them everyday.
Yoga helps me in my job by creating awareness of my alignment as I sit at my computer all day long leaning in head slumped forward and shoulders curled in.
Yoga helps me stay calm and detached to the outcome my team missing deadlines, throwing me curveballs and quarrels.
Yoga keeps me from stepping back into my work-a-holic behaviour of 80 hour long work weeks and bringing work on weekends.
I work in the publishing industry. Yoga helps remind me I love my job.
Yoga creates a space in my day for just me. Before my practice and after my practice I am mommy, lawyer, daughter, sister, wife… but in my practice I am just me.
My yoga practice helps me focus my breathing, keep better posture, and maintain my muscle strength & flexibility so that I don’t have to feel so lethargic after sitting in front of a computer all day!
Yoga classes gives me permission to step back and relax for a little while, and I think that carries over into work. I work in publishing and there can be drama around deadlines (obstacles, etc.) and (on a good day at least) I can call on my yoga practice to mentally detach for a second to get perspective and stay calmer.
I was happy to talk with Sandy Blaine for my article “Office Yoga: Sneak These 10 Stretches into Your Day” at http://bit.ly/RXbNYB so now I have some yoga geared specifically to the office, which is really nice!
Yoga helps me get up in the morning and look forward to the day. It helps me sit at my desk and retain some semblance of sanity as I spend much of my day in confrontations. It helps me remain respectful of my opponent even though it can seem, for that moment, to tell him/her what I really think of his/her position. It helps me retain respect for myself. It brings me joy.
yoa helps me deal with my kids when they drive me crrrazzzy… we all do yoga together 🙂 I am a yoga teacher !
Remembering to breathe helps with insufferable people. I crank up flashlight by George Clinton- it’s great for sun salutations
Yoga slows me back down to the present. That helps me keep perspective on whatever it is I am doing. And just like yoga practice – we do the best we can in that moment on a non-judgmental peaceful way.