There are many upsides to work from home jobs and one of the best things is work time flexibility and a bad thing is all time sitting that might lead to lower back pain.
Considering that most Americans spend 48-minutes per day commuting, working from home frees up an average of 4-hours a week, empowering remote employees to spend extra time stretching and low time sitting in traffic.
The adverse effects of a stationary lifestyle are well documented and medical specialists urge people to join regular workout into their days. Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, or HIV.
Remaining in the same position for a long time causes back pain in many people. While having good ergonomics and pose can help to reduce discomfort from the work desk, yoga is advised by many wellness and health experts to stretch and strengthen the body and treat back pain.
So How About Yoga?
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Yoga is an ancient mental, physical, and spiritual practice from India that links breath, mindfulness, and movement. For the past 4 years, yoga has many benefits. The most popular place to do yoga is home. Doing yoga at home motivates and relieves stress.
Presently almost everyone got opportunities to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yoga is the best and effective practice to manage chronic body pain, increase flexibility and strength. It also boosts inner calm and lowers anxiety, which increases productivity.
How Can Yoga Help Work From Home People?
According to the National Institutes of Health in 2017 shows that consistent and regular yoga practice helps to relieve mild to severe chronic pain in the lower back.
As the general rule, people with sensitive or chronic health conditions are suggested to consult their medical professionals before starting any new physical fitness or practice routines. Pregnant women are suggested to seek specialized prenatal yoga classes. Learn yoga posture safely under the guidance of a trainer. Here is yoga for lower back pain for people working from home.Â
Mountain Pose – Tadasana
How to do it?
- Take a breath, stand and keep your feet together, let the big toes touch. You can also keep your feet at a hip distance.
- Extend the toes, engage the leg and feet muscles, flex knees slightly and draw the abdominal muscles in and upward.
- Breath out, tuck your tailbone down, draw the low ribs in, keep the spine straight, extend the shoulders away from your ears, take the hands open and downward by the sides. Let chin level to floor.
- Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
Strength and lengthens the legs, spine, and feet, which can reduce sciatica pain.
Caution:
Those with reduced blood pressure should practice with one hand on a wall or the chair back for balance.
Ardha Uttanasana (Half Standing Forward Bend)
How to do it?
- Get into tadasana, breath in, and extend the spine.
- Exhale, fold front halfway, keep hands over shins, thighs, or mat. Firm legs, feet, and draw abdominal and muscles of pelvic part and protect the lower back.
Modification:
- If this is not comfortable for the lower back, then go to the wall and press hands to the walls instead of hands, legs, shoulder-width apart.
- Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
This yoga helps to strengthen and lengthen the muscles of the legs, back, abdomen, and feet.
Caution:
People with neck injuries should keep the neck straight and look down instead of forward.Â
Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend)
How to do it?
- Take Ardha Uttanasana, breath, lengthen the spine, draw the abdominal muscle upward and inward.
- Breath out, fold forward, keep the abdominal muscle raised up and in, the crown of the head drops down to the floor. Press the palms or fingertips to the outsides of the shins, calves, floor, or feet.
Modification
- Flex the knees if straight legs are much intense for the lower back or hamstrings.
- Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
Extend the muscles of the lower back, calves, hamstrings, hips, feet, thighs. It also calms down the mind and relieves neck tension;
Caution:
Those with neck or back injuries should fold as far as possible without discomfort. Keep the back of the neck straight. Look down in place of forward.
Pregnant women are suggested to skip this pose.
Cow – Bitilasana (Cat – Marjariasana)
- Breath in and extend the spine, then come down to hands and knees over a yoga mat, carpet, or blanket. If more padding is required, then keep a folded blanket under the knees and roll the yoga mat up under the heels of hands to lower flexion of the wrists.
- Cow: Form a tabletop pose by keeping hands at shoulder width, wrists under your shoulders, knees at hip-width, spine straight, and look down. From here, breath into a cow, bend back to drop your belly, raise the sitting bones, lift the chest front and look front or up.
- Cat: From cow, breath out and bring the spine back to straight, then continue rounding the back up to the ceiling for cat position. Bring the abdominal muscles up to the spine and sky. Make aim for the crown of the head to the floor.
- Repeat cat/cow poses 3-5 times, breathing to arch the spine for the cow, breath out to round the spine for cat position.
Benefits:
Stretch and lengthen muscles of the back, neck, and torso, which gently massage the internal organs and spine.
Caution:
People with neck or back injuries should keep the neck back straight and long.
Bhujangasana
- From tabletop: breath out and lower down to belly by pressing into the hand, engage the pelvic and abdominal muscles to save your back. Stretch the leg outward back, press the top of your feet firmly over the floor at hip-width apart.
- Cobra: Breath in, press the palms to the floor under the front shoulders, engage pelvic floor muscles and abdominal. Also, press the pubic bone in the mat.
- Cobra:
- Breath in, and press the palms toward the floor in front of your shoulders. Engage your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and squeeze the pubic bone into the mat.
- Straighten the arms as much as possible without any discomfort in the neck, back, or shoulders. Get the shoulder bone together, raise the chest upward, and stomach lifts.
- Keep thighs on the mat, and breath here for 3-5 times.
- Upward-facing dog: with face down stomach position, flex your elbows and palms firmly over the floor on either side of the waist. Breath in, straighten your arms, raise your chest upward and forward, bend the back, lift your right over the mat, stomach lifts up and in, and get the chest front. Look at the nose or in the front direction.
- Hold up facing dog for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
It is an all-purpose pose to lengthen and strengthen the front side of your body. Stretching helps to strengthen the muscles of the feet, thighs, spine, chest, hip flexors, and abdomen. It also opens your lungs and heart. Cobra and upward-facing dog are part of the sun salutation sequence at the beginning of yoga class to warm and activate the body.
Caution:
Beginners are suggested to first try cobra, then upward facing dog. Be cautious about not straining the wrists or back and skip this and another belly exercise if you are pregnant.
Adho Mukha Svanasana
How to do it?
- From cobra: breath in, curl the toes under, flex the knees.
- Exhale, raise the knees away from the floor, lift and lengthen sitting bone high to the sky.
- Straighten your legs and ground the heels to the floor, flexing the knees if required. Tops of the thighs raised, tailbone lengthens and tucks from slightly.
- Draw your pelvic floor and abdominal muscles in and up. Press all the 4-corners of the feet and hand them firmly into the mat. Ears should level with your upper arms. Look at your nose or to the navel without straining your neck.
- Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits:
It is an all-purpose pose to lengthen and strengthen the backside of your body: the spine, legs, arms, calves, hamstrings, feet, and hands. It helps to calm down your mind, relieve pain from the shoulder, neck, and back. This yoga is a part of a sun salutation sequence and a parallel pose to the upward-facing dog.
Cautions:
If you feel the wrist flexing is painful, then fold the top mat on and keep the heels of your hands over the folded mat. If wrists cannot support any weight, go down to the knees, arms extended straight, hips up, over the ground with palms down for puppy pose. Alternatively, push your forearms into the ground, flex the elbows, and straighten your legs back for forearm plank or walk the feet inside and hips upward for dolphin pose. Skin this yoga if you are pregnant.Â
Shalabasana
- From Shalabasana breath in, beneath the hips to a level, get the head forward, and develop into a plank position with the arms and legs straight. Breath out and lower down your body in one line.
- Press the feet heads over a mat set hands on either side of the hips and hold the back of your hands on the mat, the palm should face up.
- Breath in, lift your head, upper torso, chest, and legs above the mat. Spread the neck back, keep the big toes collectively and point the toes if it does not pain in the back. Bring everything into the midline of the body from your head to toe. Look forward or on the nose. Hold this asana for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
This yoga is best for backbend that prepares legs, back, and shoulders for deeper backbends. It also strengthens the torso, arms, legs, and lower back.
Cautions
Those with shoulder or neck injuries can raise the chest lightly or keep the chest over the floor and keep the neck back long. If back pain continually happens, take the feet apart and press the tops of the feet into the floor or take a cobra pose. Skip this yoga if you are pregnant.
Paschimottanasana
- From Shalabasana breath out and release the forehead and feet tops to the floor. Breath in and keep hands under the shoulder. Breath out and press up and back into downward-facing dog. From a downward-facing dog get into a seated position with legs together extended out in the front direction and keep feet together. Bend feet and activate legs.
- Breath in and reach forward, and take hands outside the legs or over the mat to thighs, shins, knees, ankles, and feet side. Engage pelvic floor and abdominal muscles.
- Breath out, fold forward, flex the knees if needed, keep the neck back long.
- Hold this pose for 3-5 breaths.
Benefits
An essential complimentary extent after backbend, stretch the shoulders, spine, and hamstrings, helps to calm the mind.
Cautions:
People with tight hamstrings are suggested to sit on a folded blanket, roll a blanket under the knees for support, hold over strap connected around the bottoms of the feet.
Janu Sirsasana
- From Paschimottanasana: Breath in, sit up tall, breath out and release the hands to the side. Breathing in, flex the right knee, and start the sole of the right foot as much as probable into the left thigh.
- Breath in, get your pelvic and intestinal floor tissues, and get the hands to the out of the left leg such as knees, thighs, ankles, shins, breath out, feet side, and cover the middle of the chest on the left leg. Keep the back of the neck long. Hold for 3-5 breaths.
- Inhale, sit tall, breath out, free the hands, and return on the other side.Â
Benefits
Lengthens the hamstrings, and shoulders muscles, bodyside, and spine.Â
Cautions
Individuals with interior thighs or tight external, keep a collapsed cover under the twisted knee to support relaxation. For those with tight hamstrings, utilize a lash and flex the knee o the straight leg to the twisted front gradually if tightness is available.
Ananda Balasana
- From Janu Sirsasana breath in, stretch your legs outward in the front direction, breath out, lie down over the back, take the feet upward in the air.
- Breath in, bend the knees toward the chest and extend the legs as wide as you feel comfortable.
- Grab the sides of bent feet with the hands. Draw the knees to the armpits.
- Pose the ankles right over the knees. Push up using feet and pull down using the hands. Find a comfortable pull and push resistance equilibrium using feet and hands.
- Take some rocks on the spine by side. Breath in when the feet come upward in the air, and breath out when they go forward to one side. Feel a sense of relaxation and playfulness to this rocking movement.
- Roll side to side or hold the happy baby for 3-5 or more breaths.
Benefits
Open the hips, stretch the hamstrings, raise foot, knee, wrist, and ankle mobility. It relieves the shoulder and back discomfort, calms down the mind, and relieves fatigue and stress.
Cautions:
Those with ankle and knee injuries, flex your joints carefully. Those with spinal injuries or necks support the neck and spine with an extra blanket. If clasping the feet is not possible, use a strap or keep legs up, flex the knees lightly and roll side to side, arms on both sides of the torso, palms down over either side for stability. Alternatively, keep both feet at hip-width and let knees fall together in constructive rest or put the knees together and pelvis over the floor, move the knees side to side in a wrap-around wiper action.
Tips For Lower Back Pain While working from Home
Move Regularly
Regular movement is important while working on the desk and sitting for long hours. Take regular intervals between work. Try walking around, taking a phone call, or doing shoulder rolls.
Alternate The Stand And Sit Approach
The typical misunderstanding is that standing desks are better than sitting at a work desk. The truth is, both have their advantages but it is mostly about balancing. The time length of any pose is a risk factor, so sitting more or standing more also creates various problems. Therefore, keep changing between standing and sitting. Keep both feet equally weighted over the floor and keep breathing.
Be Mindful Regarding Work from Home Fitness Choices
You have been sitting down for a greater piece of the day, which can enhance screen time and influence by and large wellbeing. The most typical approach to manage these difficulties is by doing yoga. A lack of hip, core, pelvic, strength, and spinal extension can develop the risk of the lower back. Exercise is significant yet additionally, it needs to play out the correct way.
Also, take instructor help to prevent posture slip and injury. The best workout for the back should be about core control and strength, rather than stretching and speed to fatigue. Pilates also a good exercise for working from home to control muscles and functional movement patterns.
Sleep In The Right Way
Different mattresses are the common problem for back pain. Typically, a solid mattress provides more support and makes you wake up without any pain. Improper sleeping and low-quality mattresses always cause back pain. This lower back pain becomes even worse when you sit or stand for a longer time.