Office Yoga Improves Health and Well-Being

Expert office furniture suppliers, Furniture At Work, have teamed up with a Manchester-based yoga teacher and two office workers to put together a manageable, and light-hearted yoga-based workout video. The aim is to show how easy it is to keep active and reduce the risk of death associated with prolonged periods of inactivity, as shown by several reports over the last few years.

The latest report, published by UK medical journal Lancet, says that sedentary desk work is now as big a risk to public health as smoking. The numbers speak for themselves, with smoking contributing to more than 5 million deaths a year and inactivity now contributing to a similar number.

The study Lancet published looked at participants’ level of activity and how long they spent seated. It found that those who sat for at least 8 hours and engaged in no physical activity had a mortality rate of almost a third higher than those who were active for just an hour.

UK health guidance recommends 30 minutes of physical activity a day, half of that the study suggests would combat the effects of being chained to a desk. However, half of women and a third of men do not manage this.

Bob Robinson from Furniture at Work, said, “we all know that getting enough exercise is an important part of keeping healthy, but being faced with the fact that we’re not doing even half of what we could to reduce risk is shocking.”

“Making even the slightest change to our working habits can massively improve health and wellbeing. The easy, and not so easy stretches demonstrated in this video aim to show the UK public that yoga is an achievable way for everyone to stay active.”

Yoga expert, Samantha Shaw from Manchester Yoga Central, was brought in by Furniture At Work to help two average office workers, Emma and Paul, learn a variety of yoga moves they can use every day at their desk. Not every move was easy and both looked challenged towards the end.

Ms Shaw put both through their paces with a routine of yoga that began with basic moves but then built up to some more challenging positions that take strength, flexibility and stamina.

“It was much harder than I expected,” said Paul, “and I’m not exactly unfit. It was really fun though. Not all the yoga moves will make it to my desk, but some certainly will.”

Bob Robinson went on to say, “I’m really impressed with everyone involved in the project, and we really hope we can help encourage change in offices across the country. My Eagle pose definitely needs more practice though, before I attempt it mid-coffee break in the office! .”

Furniture At Work have been operating for over 14 years and are experts in office furniture for every size of business. The company owns and operates their own warehouse that holds a huge amount of stock which is delivered by their own fleet of vehicles. The company also has fully trained fitters that can assist in on-site design, ensuring you have an attractive and productive office.

Sources

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30370-1/fulltext

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/27/office-workers-must-exercise-for-an-hour-a-day-to-counter-death/

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/28/health/office-yoga/index.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Unknown&utm_campaign=Leadify

http://www.furniture-work.co.uk/blog/?p=537