I do tons of laptop work. On the desk, on the bed… etc. Its unavoidable.
What can I do?
esp w ref to…
Noel’s,
I agree with Lars and InnerAthlete. I don’t recommend Bikram. It’ s not necessarily the style of yoga but more so the teacher. A compassionate teacher who is aware of your personal goals is a big key to your success. The type of classes I would recommend perhaps Restorative and Hatha. (Maybe even occasionally adding a Gentle Class?)
Posture is a goal for me, too!
Is is really unavoidable?
You could get a separate keyboard and mouse to work with your laptop. Most laptop keyboards are just too small for comfort.
You could also choose to always work at a desk. Use a properly adjusted chair and desk. Always maintain a lumbar curve, feet on the floor, thighs horizontal, lumbar spine supported, straight upper arms, horizontal forearms, head retracted, head looks down ~20? at the screen, use a book holder. There are plenty of references on the web giving more details on proper ergonomics for a PC workstation.
Have frequent breaks. There are software devices to help you adhere to this.
Best of luck in changing your working “asana”.
I have been doing power yoga for about 3 months but I have come to the conclusion that this is not the best style for what I am trying to achieve. Power seems to be too fast to allow myself to really sink into stretches and free my body up. I think I need a style that is more focussed on relaxing and lengthening/stretching muscles as oppose to an overall workout which power seems to be.
Mindful & gentle alignment-based asana/schools of yoga.
And if you really are stuck and at your wits end ( as i was) you can use’Hanna Somatics’ as a standalone therapy, or combine it with the above.(Consult my thread with that title for more info.,useful links etc- http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/hanna-somatics-3719.html)
In my own practice, i treat them quite separately.I only just now trying to eae back into a therapeuitic asana pratice of the sort above. i would also say that a gentle pranayama practice can ease tensions, and stress, in both mind and body. An expeirenced teahcer would be best for this or a mindful practice.
But i seem to be making bettter progress now.And it is empowering knowing i have tools better suited for the job of correction.
The more agressive yogas based on merely strengthening and stretching can often only serve to merely cement already poor posture, and habituated patterns,(postural)reflexes and habits.
Yogas that just give you a workout ,and require little effort or use of mind will not be perfectly suited to the job( more hit & miiss ,perhaps).Ppower yoga sounds like an american form of ashtanga yoga and i personally would not recommend either these( neither would I have much faith in bikram or the like), if they have not already brought any results.They may indeed do you more harm than good, often by conditioning the muscles into a higher state of contraction.Breath is of obviously the key here, making yourself more relaxed.
But yoga is a slow medicine, as andrew coultahrd points out , and eccepting where you are at any given moment in your life and being patient when you do open up is part of the key.
If youare totaly new to yoga or asasan i would’nt really matter to mcuh at this stage and you can check out with might work fro you with a well-trained teacher.
In response to crahsnburn i would say there is never one muscle or even group responsible- i used to think my hipflexors/psoas were the cuplrits and focused very mcuh on those as the root of my postural -distortion issues- they are significant but you have to treat the whole body & take an integrated approach, as nothing works in isolation, they are all part of a clever web- abdominals,lowerback, side muslces
You will inevitably read alot of things and opinions if you reseach these things. BUt the conclusions i’ve come to which made so much sense to me, and was a bit of a eureka moment for me, was this -you cannot change the musclular system, without re-programming the brain( and Hanna Somatics can deliver on that front) or changing the nervous system. A lasting and complete cure can come through an integrated full body-mind approach.I fyou’ve already tried power,ashtanga, hot/bikram for relief or results for at least a year and they have’nt delivered i’d maybe think about looking or shop another style elsewhere.
It may be that one may need to stop asana altogether, and this may be the best prescription,if it is doing more harm than goood, if ,like most folk out there, the expense invovled with a highly trained experienced teacher one=to-one is somewhat currently out of reach.
There is obviously more to yoga than just miving about on a mat,after all. If you have struggled with a therpautic type asna practice, as i have,i would seriously give hanna somatics some thought, andd a try. You can order any of those programs i suggest avaiable…
OKAY, Regarding more info. on 'Hanna Somatics ',the above link does’nt work- this one-
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/f18/hanna-somatics-3719.html
Unfortunatley when you click on it, you’ll be led to here-
http://www.yogaforums.com/forums/hanna-somatics-3719.html - ‘no page’
So, Observe that these 2 addresses are different ,so therefore need to add [U][B]f18[/B][/U] into the directory path of address
Otherwise you’ll just get ‘no page’
Sorry about that.
[QUOTE=Willem;17610]Is is really unavoidable?
You could get a separate keyboard and mouse to work with your laptop. Most laptop keyboards are just too small for comfort.
You could also choose to always work at a desk. Use a properly adjusted chair and desk. Always maintain a lumbar curve, feet on the floor, thighs horizontal, lumbar spine supported, straight upper arms, horizontal forearms, head retracted, head looks down ~20? at the screen, use a book holder. There are plenty of references on the web giving more details on proper ergonomics for a PC workstation.
Have frequent breaks. There are software devices to help you adhere to this.
Best of luck in changing your working “asana”. [/QUOTE]
I do all the above things as and when I can. But being a traveling job in consulting I dont always have control / time / resources / items to control this.
Are there asanas that I can do to strengthen & relax the muscles that might get aggravated and affect posture long term.
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. So please do the best you can in terms of working posture. A close relative of mine developed repetitive strain injury while doing a consulting job - the cause being a combination of laptop work and job stress.
During breaks you could do simple neck, shoulder and wrist exercises - pavanmuktasana or joint freeing series. And abdominal breathing for relaxation.
For more detailed advice it would be helpful to provide us with more details on your age, health, yoga and exercise practices, lifestyle, diet. What is the specific concern you have with your posture?