Yoga for the Indexer

…or editor, or proofreader, or anyone who does most or all of their work in a sitting position.

There was a lot serious continuing education at the American Society for Indexing’s 2018 conference, like software exploration, specialty indexing, controlled vocabulary, and indexing music sessions. There was also a session that still applies today entitled “Kinks and Cricks 101” that caught my eye and proved to be very worthwhile.

Most of us don’t stop to analyze where we feel the discomfort of a day’s work—sometimes it is an allover ache and stiffness: low back, wrists, neck, hips, and probably some other parts, too. Not only is our body strained by repetitive movements, we are also stiffened by lack of movement. We know we should exercise more but we succumb to the pressure of deadlines and just keep on working through the discomfort, so a session on kinks and cricks was most appealing.

It was delightful to find Anna-Marie Larson with a stack of bath towels and advice on how something simple could improve how we feel at the end of a day at the computer. No special equipment required.

First, we got a lesson in sitting properly—with the aid of those towels, tightly rolled and placed appropriately under the buttocks. This changed the angle between the spine and thighs just a bit—the same effect you might get from a special, expensive, posture cushion. That gave us better posture without having to think about it. Yes—a simple bath towel can relieve our slouching posture and the aches and pains resulting from it! No mention of those expensive ergonomic chairs, just something we could do easily and at no cost. Without the demonstration I certainly would not have believed how much of a difference that change in position made. (That rolled towel can also be used for lumbar support, too.)

After that, we worked through stretching exercises for the body areas that are most prone to accumulation of tension during the workday: necks, hands, forearms. The emphasis here was not “no pain, no gain” performance or learning the names of poses that contort the body in fantastic ways: it was just thoughtfully directed at relieving tension. For those of us who were terribly stiff, Anna-Marie showed modifications that would let us start the exercises and gradually improve flexibility and comfort.

All in all, valuable tools for all of us in the “sitting” professions.