Yoga for a desk-bound neck, shoulders and hips
Ten poses aimed at the three places a chair shortens: the front of the hips, the front of the chest, and the muscles that hold the head forward.
20MINUTES ON THE MAT · 10 POSES
The whole practice, posted the way a timetable is posted: 10 poses across 20 minutes, each one holding for as long as the ruler below says it holds. At 2.5 MET that is about 61 kcal for a 70 kg adult, at once or twice through.
ಮೂಲ.YogaPath ಅನುಕ್ರಮ ದತ್ತಾಂಶ — ಕಲಿಸಲಾಗುವಂತೆ ನಿಲ್ಲುವ ಸಮಯ.one breath ≈ 5 s · ruler spans the published 20 min.ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ಜುಲೈ 2026
Eight hours in a chair puts the hip flexors in a shortened position, rounds the upper back, and asks the neck extensors to hold the head in front of the shoulders all day. None of that is an injury and none of it needs treating — it is simply a position held too long, and the answer is to spend some time in the opposite ones.
The sequence, in order
Every pose name links to its full page — steps, muscles worked, common mistakes and who should skip it.
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1
Easy Pose Sukhāsana
1 minute
Sit tall and take ten slow breaths, letting the shoulders drop.
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2
Thread the Needle Pose Parivṛtta Bālāsana
1 minute each side
Thread one arm under the other and rest the shoulder down.
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3
Melting Heart Pose Anāhatāsana
1–2 minutes
Hands forward, chest melting towards the floor, hips over the knees.
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4
Cat Pose Mārjaryāsana
10 rounds
Move the spine through flexion and extension with the breath.
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5
Low Lunge Añjaneyāsana
1 minute each side
Low lunge with the back knee padded — this is the hip flexor pose.
-
6
Eagle Pose Garuḍāsana
45 seconds each side
Eagle arms, standing or seated, to open between the shoulder blades.
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7
Cow Face Pose Gomukhāsana
45 seconds each side
Cow-face arms with a strap if the hands do not meet.
-
8
Raised Arms Pose Hasta Uttānāsana
3 breaths, 3 times
Stand and reach overhead with a small upper-back arch.
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9
Standing Spinal Twist Kaṭicakrāsana
1 minute each side
Rotate the spine with the hips facing forward.
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10
Bridge Pose Setu Bandha Sarvāṅgāsana
45 seconds, twice
Lift the hips and let the chest open towards the chin.
Before you start this sequence
- Read the cautions on the individual pose pages. Between them, the poses here rule themselves out for pregnancy, high blood pressure, glaucoma, and neck, knee, shoulder and wrist injuries — the details differ pose by pose.
- A sequence is an order, not a prescription. Leave out anything that hurts and the rest still works.
- If you are pregnant, recently post-surgical, or managing a health condition, get your doctor's view before starting, and learn from a qualified teacher in person.
ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಮಾತ್ರ — ವೈದ್ಯಕೀಯ ಸಲಹೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಗರ್ಭಾವಸ್ಥೆ, ಗಾಯ ಅಥವಾ ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗಳ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವು ಆಸನಗಳು ಸೂಕ್ತವಲ್ಲ. ಅರ್ಹ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಂದ ಕಲಿಯಿರಿ ಮತ್ತು ನೋವಾದರೆ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ.
Notes on practising it
The most useful version of this sequence is the short one done daily rather than the long one done fortnightly. Four poses at lunchtime beats twenty on Sunday.
How the ruler above was set out
- Each pose gets the stay time it is taught with — a count of breaths, or an inhale and an exhale where the movement is the transition.
- Breaths become clock time at one stated convention: one breath ≈ 5 seconds at an even practice pace. Nothing else on the ruler is assumed.
- The stays are laid across the published 20 minutes in proportion, so the seconds spent moving between poses sit inside the poses rather than vanishing.
- The energy figure uses the nearest published style code in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — 2.5 MET here — through the standard ACSM relationship for a 70 kg adult.
kcal = MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 × minutes
= 2.5 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 × 20
= 61 kcal for the whole practice
ಮೂಲ.2024 ವಯಸ್ಕರ ದೈಹಿಕ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳ ಸಂಗ್ರಹ.2.5 MET · 70 kg reference adult.ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ಜುಲೈ 2026
The wider activity dataset, covering everything that is not yoga, is at BurnLab.
ತರಗತಿಗೆ ಮೊದಲು ಕೇಳಲಾದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳು
How long does the Desk worker — neck, shoulders and hips sequence take?
About 20 minutes for 10 poses at the stay times listed. Suggested volume: once or twice through. At 2.5 MET — the nearest published code in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities — that is roughly 61 kcal for a 70 kg adult.
Do I have to do the poses in this order?
The order is the point. Sequences are arranged so that each pose prepares the next one and answers the one before it — a backbend followed by a forward bend, a long hold followed by something that unloads it. Reordering them is fine once you know why they sit where they do.
Is the Desk worker — neck, shoulders and hips sequence suitable for beginners?
Yes. Every pose in it is a beginner-level shape with an accessible version, though you should still read each pose's own cautions — a beginner pose can still be wrong for a specific pregnancy, knee or neck.
What do I need for it?
A mat, and for several poses a block and a strap — a folded blanket and a belt do the same job. Nothing here needs a studio.
Other hours on the timetable
ಆಸನಗಳ ಹೆಸರುಗಳು ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕ. ಈ ಪುಟದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿ ಹಂತ, ಪ್ರಯೋಜನ ಮತ್ತು ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು YogaPath ಗಾಗಿ ಬರೆಯಲಾಗಿದೆ, ಯಾವುದೇ ಪುಸ್ತಕ, ಸ್ಟುಡಿಯೋ ಅಥವಾ ಇತರ ಗ್ರಂಥಾಲಯದಿಂದ ಪುನರುತ್ಪಾದಿಸಿಲ್ಲ — ನೋಡಿ ಈ ತಾಣವನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಬರೆಯಲಾಗಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅದನ್ನು ಯಾವುದರಿಂದ ಬರೆಯಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಮಾತ್ರ — ವೈದ್ಯಕೀಯ ಸಲಹೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಗರ್ಭಾವಸ್ಥೆ, ಗಾಯ ಅಥವಾ ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗಳ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವು ಆಸನಗಳು ಸೂಕ್ತವಲ್ಲ. ಅರ್ಹ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರಿಂದ ಕಲಿಯಿರಿ ಮತ್ತು ನೋವಾದರೆ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ.
ಮೂಲ.ಪ್ರಕಟಿತ ಆಸನ ಆಕರಗಳು.ಕಲಿಸಲಾಗುವಂತೆ ಆಸನಗಳ ಹೆಸರುಗಳು, ಜೋಡಣೆ ಮತ್ತು ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಗಳು.ಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ಜುಲೈ 2026
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This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
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