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Yoga movement diagram

Office Yoga {format} {format} {format} 2:37 Rebecca Flowers

A realistic approach to yogic release.

Broadcast: Sep 3 2007 on HV PODCAST; Sep 6 2004 on NPR Day to Day Subjects: Business, Comedy, Labor, Health

Commentary: Office yoga exercise as relaxation technique

September 6, 2004 from Day to Day

ALEX CHADWICK, host: This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. I'm Alex Chadwick.

More on Labor Day now, the celebration that honors the social and economic achievements of American workers. But producer Rebecca Flowers Schamess takes a darker view of labor, one that you'll experience when you join her in this little relaxation exercise.

REBECCA FLOWERS SCHAMESS reporting:

Picture yourself in your office. Imagine the hardness of your chair as it pinches a nerve in your hip. Feel the harsh fluorescent light burning into the backs of your eyes. Feel the stress bunching up around your neck and shoulders. Focus on your tension: the telephone, your e-mail, your Day-Timer and the paperwork that human resources needed this morning, all at the same time.

Think of all the work you will do in exchange for your tiny paycheck. Listen to the sound of your boss chewing you out as you fail to complete your assigned tasks. Understand that you are inconsequential. Stretch your arms out to greet the enormous expanse of the company you work for, and celebrate your anonymity as a mere cog in the vast machine.

Now let's close our practice by embracing the notion that you are easily replaced. Imagine that one day you didn't show up for work and were soon replaced by someone who looks and talks just like you and wears the same size shoe. Breathe.

CHADWICK: Labor meditation yoga from producer Rebecca Flowers Schamess with help from Hearing Voices, a collective friend to independent radio producers everywhere.