You’ll feel better if you eat well.
Snack on fruit or nuts whenever you’re hungry.
Order a salad with your meal.
Once in a while, eat light.
Skip the quick fixes like sugar and caffeine.
Drink herbal tea.
Most important of all: Use your lunch like a meditation. No calls or typing while you eat.
Whenever you feel tired, drink lots of water. Fatigue is a common symptom of dehydration.
“Your work is to discover your work, and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.”
—Buddha
Change into sweats at lunch and keep your back healthy with this series of stretches.
Lie on your stomach, your forearms on the ground.
Keep your elbows beneath your shoulders, slightly supporting your raised upper body.
Keep your hips on the ground and your buttocks tight to support your lower back.
Gently lift your head and chest.
Breathe and stretch, letting the tight areas release.
Hold and breathe.
When ready, gently lower yourself to the ground. Repeat.
Practice this stretch if the Beginner’s Cobra is easy, but skip if you have lower back problems.
Lie on stomach, hands under shoulders, palms down, elbows in.
Lift your head and chest by slowly contracting your lower back muscles.
Use your arm strength for support.
Breathe deeply and relax.
Get on your hands and knees to begin each Cat Pose.
Raise your head up and arch your lower back down.
Exhale as you drop your head and arch your lower back up.
Move slowly, stretch deeply.
Repeat.
Gently lower your body onto your calves with your arms stretched out.
Relax your head and neck.
Breathe and rest. Feel your lower back release.
Lie on your back to begin each of the following Healthy Back Stretches.
Bend legs and cross arms over chest.
Breathe deep and slowly sit halfway up.
Pause. Feel your belly tighten.
Breathe, release, rest, and repeat.
Bend legs, arms at your side and palms down.
Gently raise your hips and hold.
Breathe, release, and repeat.
Interlace fingers around your right knee.
Stretch your knee toward your chest, hips on the floor.
Breathe and hold.
Release, then switch legs.
Pull right knee to your chest.
Take a deep breath and gently bend your right knee over your left leg.
Hold your right knee down with your left hand over the knee.
Turn your head in the opposite direction.
Take deep gentle breaths and relax your whole body. Keep both shoulders down.
Gently release, then switch legs.
“To know that you do not know is the best.”
—Lao-tzu
Sometimes the most powerful stretches are the easiest ones.
Interlace fingers or arms around bent knees.
Gently stretch your knees to chest, keeping your hips on the floor.
Hold the stretch. Breathe into your lower back.
Relax your body, and rest in the pose.
“Work is love made visible.”
—Kahlil Gibran
This is a gentle, relaxing stretch for your lower back.
Sit on calves and lay upper body on legs.
Place arms at your side.
Turn face to one side or lay forehead on ground.
Let your body relax and breathe.
