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Improving Comfort WhileSitting At Your Desk 
ByLeland VallCertified Alexander Technique Instructor  New York, NYIf you find a long day of sitting at your desk uncomfortable, you might blame anynumber of things: your computer, your chair, your work, or some other part of your life.While each of these may present challenges, an important component in all thesechallenges is how you respond to them. Responding to daily challenges with excesstension can also contribute to your discomfort.The Alexander Technique can help you avoid responding to these challenges with excesstension. While the Alexander Technique is usually taught by a trained instructor to guideyou through this process, you can try the following short investigation right now, whileyou are sitting at your desk in front of your computer. It can help you better understandhow to eliminate habits of excess tension so that you can feel more comfortable whileyou are sitting at your desk.
Alexander TechniqueSelf-Lesson
•
First, Don’t get ready. Don’t change your position and don’t try to sit“correctly.”
Each of the following bullet points will ask you to become aware of some subtle tensions that you may be causing in your body. During theinvestigation you can move if you want, but do not confuse what I am asking youto do with movement. Think of these activities instead as stopping what you arealready doing, the habitual excess contraction of muscles.
 
The
blue
arrow pointsto the crown.
Less Good
Head falling down and back with spine fallingforward.
•
Experience yourself sitting there.
 Neither freeze in place nor change your  position.
•
Without changing anything, place your attention on the back of your neck,the area just below the base of your skull.
Almost everyone has tension hereand if you get to know what you are doing you might be able to get rid of thattension with just a thought. But still, don’t do anything about it.
•
The base of your skull is not the end of your spine.
Your spine extends all the way to about the level of your ears, ashigh as the roof of your mouth. Your head is perched thereat the top of your spine with most of its weight forward of the spine.
•
While still noticing the tension at the base of your skulland without muscularly moving your head, gently allowthe crown of your head to gently rotate, almostimperceptibly, forward and up.
If you are able to allowthe crown of your head to rotate forward and up, asopposed to moving your head muscularly, you might noticea softening of the spot at the back of your neck, as well assomething that you might describe as extra room in your neck.
•
If you have become tired of sitting in one place,you may want to change your position.
Changeyour position if you want, but do it a little moreslowly than usual and pay attention to that spot atthe back of your neck. As you move your body themuscles in the back of your neck may tighten.
•
After you change your position, once again allowthe crown of your head to gently and almostimperceptibly rotate forward and up.
As youallow for this rotation, see again if you notice theextra room at the back of your neck.
•
Without disturbing your new head position,point your spine up toward and past the back of your head.
Think of pointing your spine as if you were pointing your finger.
•
Notice if you feel some extra room in yourwhole torso or if your breathing is a littleBetter
Crown of head rotatedforward and up with spine pointing up and past the back of head.The
red
arrow pointsforwardand up
 
easier.
•
Without moving your feet, add them to your awareness and allow your heelsto fall toward the floor.
As you do this, you might discover a feeling of extraroom in the back of your legs.
Adding Movement - Leaning Forward
Often we need to bend forward in the chair to reach something on a desk.But before you try this, now might be a good time to gently put yourself in a better sitting position.
•
Without losing awareness of your previous activity, placeyour feet fully on the floor and move your hips and torso allthe way to the back of the chair as shown in the photos.
•
After you have improved your position, once again allow thecrown of your head to gently, almost imperceptibly, rotateforward and up as you also point your spine up and past theback of your head (like your finger pointing) while allowingyour heels to fall into the floor.
•
As shown in the photograph on the left, bend forward fromthe hips (not the waist) while continuing to allow for all theprevious activities (head rotating forward and up, spinepointing up and past the back of your head, heels falling intothe floor). After bending forward, return to the previousposition with your torso against the back of the chair.
This movement mayfeel easier than bending at the waist. The trick to bending forwardwith greater ease is to make sure that you bend from the hips and thatthe relationship between your head and torso stays fairly similar throughout the movement.
•
To find out a little bit more about what you are doing when youbend forward, place your hand on the back of your neck asshown in the photo on the right.
•
With your hand on the back of your neck, bend forward fromthe hips, just as you did before, while continuing to allow for allthe previous activities (head rotating forward and up, spinepointing up and past the back of your head, heelsfalling into the floor).
As you do this, you shouldfeel that your hand does not get
 squeezed 
betweenyour head and shoulders.
Bending Forward - Good
 Notice that I am bendingfrom the hips, not the waist,and the relationship betweenmy head and torso stays thesame.
Bending Forward - Better
This photo shows my handnot being squeezed as I bend forward.
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