Sitting for too long....

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Whether you 're clocking the 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM grind or freelancing from your home, if your work constitutes on sitting on the chair for long periods of time, you'll certainly hear your body screaming with aches. When that happens it's time to assess you work area or station.  

The Assessment
Posture 
Take note your posture while seated in front of the computer. Are you slouching? This can bring discomfort for your back. Try straightening up by tucking in those sleepy abdominal muscles  in to help support your back. 

Adjust the height of the seat. Our elbows want comfort too. So they want to be perpendicular to the table and not at some crazy angle and don't forget to set your foot flat on the floor and not on a really, really small footstool.  

The Seat Itself
 
So I mentioned the seat. Is it an ergonomic chair? Good for you. However for us who will have to content with other less costly chair, check the state of your seat cushion. Does the cushion still have life in it? Or has it depressed to flatness due to constant use? 

Try finding a seat pillow or an inexpensive orthopedic comfort seat cushion. I've tried the seat pillow before and it didn't ease the numbness that I was experiencing from my lower extremities. Of course, it will be up to you, which option can help alleviate those back aches, numb buttocks and other problems associated with prolong sitting.
 
Help Those Stiffened Fingers
 

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If you've been typing for more than an hour, you'll definitely feel you have lead for fingers. Fingers cramping up and you begin to notice that you're not touch typing that would resort to banging your poor little digits on the keyboard which only makes it worse. Then the soreness that's been creeping up your arms will begin to settle down your shoulders. Take fifteen minutes break or even longer if you need it.  


Have a ping-pong ball ready for your finger relaxation. How do you do this? Like when I overextended my fingers during a piano lesson, my former teacher told me to curl my fingers around the ping pong ball and just let my fingers 'play' with it. Roll the ball in your hand for several minutes. I found the round surface of the ball relieved those stiffened fingers. I've never forgotten her advice and it helped me loads.

Cramping Shoulders

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Let your arms fall to your side for several minutes. You can also shake them to ease out the stiffness of the arms and the shoulders. Try some slow shoulder rolls for about three to five repeats then stop. Do a couple more times then shake out gently then rest. 
 
Another exercise I've read from Yoga Journal Magazine Issue May 20, which was helpful to me was the hugging arms routine. This simple  pose was adapted from Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain by Carol Krucoff. What  you do, in a seated position, "inhale and extend your arms at shoulder height, relaxing the shoulders down. Exhale and hug yourself with the right arm on top, dropping your chin to your chest and lifting your chest to meet your chin. Repeat three to five times, alternating which arm is on top."


If you have other ideas, drop me a comment. I would love hear your other alternatives.