Most people with a desk job will relate to the eight-hour struggle to avoid the dreaded ‘computer-hunch’. Assessing the position of your chair, desk height, keyboard raised or flat, slippers on or off: in the end it all seems a little pointless when you find yourself posed to dive headfirst into the wondrous world of work via your computer screen.
Let the challenge begin
After a long day of excel and emails in a bid to make the world more knowledgeable of our handmade wool slippers, releasing myself from another unfortunate human pretzel-like pose, I decide something needs to be done. Based in Siem Reap, Cambodia where people come either to “visit-temples-and-get-drunk” or “visit-temples-and-do-a-cleanse”, the choice is obvious: yoga!
With a tendency to draw others into my plans, I quickly find willing victims Eva and Marie to drag along. We meet at Kingdom of Wow workshop the next day, all set for our intro to yoga. Dressed in my “active wear” I admit to already feeling super flexible and balanced, I could easily stop here, another reason why I need moral support to get my derriere to this work-out session!
Our first session is yoga stretch, which sounds like the perfect easy-going yoga for beginners: slow and deep stretching. Exactly what you need if suffering from computer-hunch, I thought. And it was, but blimey right up there with a Muay Thai sparring session in intensity. We’re all pretty fit but try sitting on your knees with your arms stretched in front with your chest touching the floor for a whole 5 MINUTES!! After an hour we’re grateful to get back to the slipper-making business albeit feeling super relaxed and flexible.
Finally finding flexibility in yoga slippers
Our second session is Hatha basics which practices a series of calm poses. Quite agreeable we thought, Eva and I at least, Marie having already bailed. By session three, we’re really getting into it, with a faster series of poses combined with proper stretching. It’s quite possible I can now put on my slippers with straightened legs while gracefully bending down to touch the floor. Ha!
So, did yoga help me beat the computer-hunch? Not really. But at least I’m now complementing my daily climb into my computer screen with some healthy stretching. And I’m seriously considering replacing my chair for a space hopper…. who’s game for another challenge?!
