Finding Ease: Simple Adjustments for Laptop Work

Awareness in the moment. Sitting on the couch, laptop on your lap, legs extended and feet crossed at the ankles or not. You are deep in thought, perhaps creating a blog. Take a moment to notice how you are doing this. Are you looking down from your neck? Are you holding your breath? If so, does this create tension in your neck, face, or jaw?

Now, grab a small pillow and set it under your laptop. What has changed? Breath, neck tension, visual sensations, arm or shoulder tension? (If too much, find a thinner pillow or fold up a bath towel.) Look down as if looking down onto a NYC street from 30 stories above. Just the nod of your head on top of your spine. No need to collapse the upper spine and compress your lungs. Stay long through your spine without propping. Find ease.

Bring your attention to your lower spine. Is your lower spine rounding or collapsing? If so, adjust and scooch your sacrum back into your back support (a large pillow?). You will find better support for your back after scooching. Your spine will feel lengthened, but perhaps this has changed your visual relationship to your laptop. Find another towel and place that on top of the other one. Or a different pillow. Initially, this may take some fussing, but if you are sitting and working for a longer period of time, it's worth it! Your time working at the computer could give you energy, instead of draining you. The small and subtle adjustments can have a powerful effect on your feelings of comfort and effectiveness. These same strategies can be applied to driving your car or sitting at the dinner table. Have fun with it! Experiment!