Morning Yoga

Yoga has a special place in my heart. It promotes flexibility, balance, and strength all at the same time. It is also a key form of stress relief that helps to lower cortisol levels (stress hormone), lower blood pressure, and reduce cardiovascular disease risk (as well as a whole list of other physiological benefits). In terms of neuro-cognitive performance, yoga has also been shown to clear the mind and improve memory retention. Yoga also enhances performance in other sports and reduces the likelihood of injury by stretching tight muscles.

My experience with yoga has been very positive. Before doing morning yoga I would wake up and immediately start addressing daily problems without any forethought or planning. Morning yoga helps me clear my head prior and then plan out a systematic approach on how to address these problems. Additionally, I find that when I plan in the morning, I subconsciously plan throughout the day and stick to a schedule (this helps me allocate enough time for assignments and meet submission deadlines).

Morning yoga also encourages me to wake up earlier. On days when I have class early in the morning, establishing a daily morning yoga routine helps me get out of bed earlier and get to class on time. For those dreaded 7:30 am lectures/meetings/conference calls, this really helps.

Before doing my routine, I generally walk around for 5 to 10 minutes after getting out of bed and let my body warm up. After I spend approximately 1 minute in each pose and concentrate on deep breathing. Overall, this routine should only take around 10 minutes (plus the warmup time). My routine is as follows:

- Child's pose (then roll wrists forward after 1 minute)

- Cobra pose

- Downward dog

- Low lunge (alternate to other leg after 1 minute)

- Warrior 2 (each side for 1 minute)

- Triangle pose (each side for 1 minute)

- Optional: Half moon (disclaimer: this one is hard... )

Child's Pose

Downward Dog

Low Lunge

Warrior 2

Triangle Pose 

Half Moon Pose

Is it my posture?

Good morning all,

I was with a good friend last night discussing how people's posture seems to be getting progressively worse. How we feel, how we communicate with others, our perceptions of ourselves, and how we physiologically act are determined by our posture habits. With the advent of technology and the increasing shift into a stationary lifestyle (desk jobs, internet surfing, TV watching), our posture has continuously declined (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Evolution of man

Everything from mobile phones, to incorrectly adjusted computers, to poorly designed chairs may be affecting our posture negatively. Wearing heavily loaded backpacks, commuting in a car on the way to work, biking, and walking down the street looking at a smart phone may be contributing to poor posture. Also, exercise routines such as excessive chest development (bench press), and upper trapezius muscle development may be contributing to poor posture.

Poor posture may be a increasing physiological aches and pains. For example, poor posture may be causing "upper cross syndrome" defined as tight upper traps and tight pectoralis minor muscles (Figure 2). The result of this muscle tightness (and often imbalance) is a winging scapula and stressed rotator cup muscles that cause shoulder pain and other issues. Chances are, if you have shoulder pain, your muscle tightness (and imbalance) may be contributing to the symptoms.

Figure 2: Upper Cross Syndrome

Fortunately, I am here to help! As a student I spend the majority of my day studying and using the computer. Some techniques I use to improve my posture include stretching, strengthening, and optimizing ergonomics. These techniques are listed below.

Stretching routines (spend 10-20 minutes daily doing these):

- Mountain pose stretch (yoga pose, 2 minutes)

- Lacrosse ball myofascial pressure release (upper trap roll, pec minor roll, 8 minutes)

- Chest stretches (doorway stretch, 5 minutes)

- Doorway hangs (stretches lat muscles, and chest muscles, 5 minutes)

Strengthening routines (spend 10-20 minutes daily doing these as well):

- Lower trapezius exercises (5 minutes) -> (https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/h/blog-article-john-snyder-best-exercises-for-trapezius-muscle)

- Rowing exercises (15 minutes)

Another major contributing factor is what we do every minute of every day. From my personal experience, one can perform thousands of exercises at the gym, and spend countless hours of stretching with limited results due the other 11 hours each day spent doing other tasks. To improve posture significantly, pay attention to ergonomics during daily activities.

Ergonomic optimization (all day, every day):

- Alternate between a standing and sitting desk with appropriate keyboard and monitor height (Figure 2).

- When writing by hand, use a drafting table.

- When sitting in a chair (or on the couch) use a posture assist device that correctly facilitates posture cues.

- When driving, adjust seat and steering wheel correctly to keep chest up and head neutral.

- Avoid excessive smartphone usage (as looking at smartphones at waist-level tends to cause poor posture).

Standing Desk Ergonomics