15 Minute Office Yoga

This CD/ROM consists of 15 practices, each approximately 15 minutes in length, designed to be played on your computer. I’d considered adding this to my Body Wisdom Media collection for a long time, and am pleased enough with it now.

PROS: This is a useful little tool for quick yoga breaks at work. I find that adding these breaks to my traditional yoga routine is keeping cranky areas happier for longer spells of time. The practices cover various zones of anatomical focus, such as “Hands, Arms & Shoulders Care,” to counteract the affects of typing and hunching over your keyboard; Neck Relief and shoulder opening sequences, hip openers and three back care offerings. Practices geared toward your mental state feature titles such as Relaxation, Wake Up! and Focus. There is mellow background music, recognizable from other Body Wisdom Media offerings and suitable for an office setting, as is the quiet voice of the prompter. Props used are a straight back office chair (I substitute my office stability ball since my wheeled desk chair has arms!) and the top of your desk. Sample moves include finger and hand stretches, shoulder shrugs, waist stretches, seated hip stretches, and several stretches in which you lean across your desk, either seated or standing, and simple standing poses.

CONS: It is purely functional, there is nothing soul-stirring or dynamic about this little collection. And “little collection” is the operative phrase - the 15 practices are comprised of approximately the same 15 chapters played in variations of 4 to 5 each. The CD would benefit from a wider variety of moves and additional chapters focusing on prana and mental relaxation, not just stretches. Some practices are almost identical. The view size is small, too - the active screen is only 3x3 inches, set in the middle of an 11.5x9.5 inch grey “wallpaper” block. On my 19” monitor, this leaves an empty border one to two inches to the top and sides. The model demonstrates in front of a grey curtain and wearing a rather drab little outfit. Even the prop chair is grey.

Other considerations: If you’re on an IT system that does not have Quicktime loaded you’ll have to download it from Apple.com, which may present a problem for those bound by firewalls. And if you’re in a cubicle environment, you’ll have to not mind co-workers walking by while you’re bent over the desk with your head on your crossed forearms, for example, or your butt sticking straight out behind while you reach across your desk, or stand with your back arched and pelvis pressed into the back of your chair.

Despite the cons, I do still get benefit from it, drab and repetitive as it may be. Repeating these stretches over time has had a therapeutic quality on my spine, shoulders and hands; mentally, the background tunes take me back to savored moments from my Body Wisdom DVD practices for a nice “off the mat” mental health break. Sure, you can do stretches on your own, but the CD helps me zone out and not think for a few precious minutes, and is helpful for those who cannot access digital downloads from work.