4 Lunch-Time Yoga Poses to Boost Your Energy

Whether you might be staying home with a new baby or working too many hours at the office, anytime is a good time for yoga. You can do yoga stretches and postures in bed or even while driving to work. Below you will find four lunchtime yoga poses to boost your energy in the middle of the day.

Hundreds of fitness seekers use their lunch hour to squeeze in exercise and take off extra pounds. If you are still on a work-from-home routine, lunchtime is perfect to grab a few yoga poses or turn on a YouTube or Netflix Yoga video and follow along.

“I occasionally use my lunch hour for Yoga,” said John Ray White, 35, who works at the Arkansas attorney general’s office. Downward-facing dog and sun salutation are two of the postures he practices every day.

“Practicing yoga in the middle of the day some people think is the break that they need to face the afternoon,” said Ray.

Lunch-hour fitness routines become more popular in warm weather.

You can try these four poses during your lunch break:

Kick Back Log-on Pose

Interlace your fingers behind your head. Relax your elbows and shoulders. Smile, breathe, and stretch your elbows back. Let the tightness release slowly.

E-mail Meditation

While reading your e-mail, remember to breathe slowly and focus your attention on your breath. Make the out-breath two times longer than the in-breath. This will immediately calm you.

Photocopier Stretch

Place your hands on the edge of the copier. Stand back with feet apart. Drop your head and chest. Breathe and relax your shoulders. Here is a chance to use a free moment to your benefit and visualize you are in your favorite place.

Close-the-deal Warrior Pose

Raise your arms to the side with your fingers pointed. Take a big step to the side, with your right foot out and knee bent, your left foot planted, and your left leg straight. Keep the upper body straight and strong, shoulders relaxed. Relax into the stretch — don’t hold your breath. Return to a standing position, switch sides, and repeat. This is a very short version of the Warrior Pose taken out of flow but it will still have benefits when you don’t have time to complete the entire flow.

More Yoga

Can’t do Yoga right now, but need some relaxation and yoga inspo? Try this Yoga Coloring Book. Studies have shown that coloring calms the brain and helps your body relax removing feelings of anxiety and stress, and improving sleep. For more instruction on Beginning Yoga, I highly recommend YouTube because you can easily enter a search for beginning Yoga. A couple of my favorites are:

Yoga with Kasandra

Yoga with Adrienne

Quick Wellness E-Book and Habit Tracker

Do you travel for work and have a hard time fitting in any type of exercise? The above quick yoga poses and breathing techniques will work for you. You can also try to incorporate walking daily or you can try the tips in this E-book, Quick Wellness. It also comes with my bonus Habit Tracker to help you track your habit changes on your wellness journey.