Yoga @ Your Desk:

Yoga Position #22: Billy Jean Swing

by Blake More

Like Elvis, Billy Jean is another king of swing, no matter what Bobby Riggs says. Yet, you don't have to be an ace tennis player to know the secret to a good swing -- no matter what the racket -- is freedom in the upper body.

Objective: This posture isolates and moves the upper half of the body, allowing u.s. to open.

  1. Find a comfortable place to stand, making sure there's plenty of room for you to swing without knocking anything over.

  2. Keeping your back straight, place your feet hip-width apart and allow your arms to hang limply at your sides.

  3. Leave your eyes open since this helps you to stay focused and aware of your body.

  4. Gently press your lips together and begin breathing through your nose.

  5. Take 3 easy, but full breaths.

  6. Breathe rhythmically and, with your knees bent and your pelvis and legs steady, begin twisting the upper body from side to side (this is a loosening-up exercise, so you should contract your muscles gently and without strain).

  7. Allow your arms to swing from left to right as if they were the armless sleeves of a raincoat. You should have a rag doll limpness from the waist up.

  8. It's best if you exhale as your torso twists, and inhale as it swings forward.

  9. Keep swinging until your body wants to stop or you hit 40-love.

Blake More

Certified yoga instructor Blake More writes regularly forYoga Journal and Alternative Medicine Digest.. Before she learned to breathe and stand on her head at the same time, Blake was a dedicated stress junkie and pastry queen whose main source of fitness was running to catch trains in Tokyo.

Now, much to her amazement, she has traded city thrills for bucolic serenity, practicing yoga next to three mama goats, two bunnies and lots of chickens. She is currently working on her third book.

For more of Blake's tips on how to be a body-wise business person, check out her book, The Definitive Guide to Headaches.