A few stretches to beat stress

With busy schedules and deadlines, exercise or any form of relaxation seems to be a distant dream for professionals. And as pressure and stress levels increase, IT professionals and others, who have to work at the desk through the day, find relief in desktop yoga.

This is a form of exercise where one can do simple stretches while sitting on the chair or at a work station.

The concept has been in the City for a while and professionals tell Metrolife that it has helped them in many ways. Rachna Mohan, a programme manager at Dell, says, “This is a very new concept to me. Although I’ve started practising it only recently, I can already see the changes in me on all three levels –– mentally, physically and emotionally. I can concentrate better while working and I’m able to handle stress more easily now.”
Rachna often gets frozen shoulders, and desktop yoga has helped her to deal with this as well.

“I try my best to do a few poses for the forearms, wrist, shoulders and the chest, every two hours or so. Emotionally, I’m more focussed and patient now,” she adds.
There are others who were introduced to this concept a while ago but are practising it more now.

Latha J, a senior manager with Embrace HR, says, “Although I was introduced to the concept a few years back, I stopped doing the different exercises and then, it skipped my mind.”

 At a recent sessionof recreational activities at office, Latha was reintroduced to desktop yoga, and since then, she has tried to include it into her schedule as and when possible.
   “I focus more on the breathing exercises, which helps to calm oneself and take proper decisions,” she adds.

Prashanth Madusha, a senior analyst at Accenture, feels that since the time he’s been practising this form of yoga, he’s been able to perform better and also feel comfortable with his schedule.

“I don’t experience any physical pain now, especially stiffness in the back. There are exercises for the palm and the neck that I try and do every two to three hours. Since these are capsule exercises of barely 10 to 15 minutes, these rarely take away our work time,” adds Prashanth.

It’s often team leaders who have to deal with a lot of stress. Saravanan Murthy, an area manager with a software firm, manages a team of 200 people. “I work with a team which has to continuously deal with demanding customers. This can be very monotonous and stressful. So, I practise this form of exercise for a few minutes of relaxation, and advise it to others as well. It’s always great to see many of them coming back saying it helped them,” Saravanan describes.

Stretching elbows and other such exercises, are what Saravanan does every three hours, in his work schedule that often extends to 12 to 13 hours. “I also do
a lot of breathing exercises,” he adds.

Jonathan Smith is a freelance emcee and voice-over artiste, who helped in organising recreational initiatives at IT companies through an employee engagement company. He says, “health and wellness is of utmost importance for a fuller and better life, and for better work performance. The demand for such classes has increased, since these companies realise the benefits of this particular type of yoga.”