How Yoga Nurtures Your Programming Skills

When you think of software developers, engineers or architects and specially those who just stepped into startups, the image that typically comes into mind is: stereotypical, overweight, frumpy group of coders struggling through a demanding sessions where pressure is high and time is running out. The physical impact of sitting behind a keyboard all day is all too obvious: tight shoulders, rigid hips, back problems, and disordered breathing. Consequently, it is easily to lose your grip on stuff, physically and mentally.

How to cope with the STRESS?

If there is one thing that engineers love, it’s efficiency, and yoga can be highly efficient way of conditioning body and mind, that helps you to cope with the stress, think more clearly and keep harmony between your mind and body.

At first glance, yoga and technology seem like uneasy fellows. Yoga’s spiritual image appears at odd with the highly scientific mindset of the software developer. But looking in deep and analyzing cause and effect of rigid work routines, yoga is a powerful way of re-centering oneself and putting oneself back in the body.

Believe me, you don’t have to get up before 4am, have a cold shower and complete demanding 2 hours yoga practice. All you need to get yourself retreat to once a week to get away from the madness of programming and startup world, and gradually, you can be more consistent by giving an hour to yoga practice in the morning. After all, this is your body and you should give respect to it before pushing it to the limits.

There are lots of yoga benefits that keep your mind and body healthy. But there are 5 important aspects of yoga every software developer should consider to cope with their work routines.

1. Better Posture:

Because yoga strengthen your core, you will notice that your posture will improve as you practice if for a few weeks. You will walk with confidence, shoulder back, tummy in, head held high. Good posture is healthy, and its also attractive. After all, you will someday step into corporate world where your physical posture and body language matters.

2. Improved Eye Site:

Due to long exposure to computer screen with intense work pressure, you find yourself squinting and rubbing your eyes. This can cause suffering from blurred vision, itchy and watery eyes, headache, double vision and other symptoms of eye strain. Your whole career is based on good eye sight and obviously you are not going to compromise on misbehaving your own eyes.

Fortunately, simple yoga exercise can help you rejuvenate the eyes. When mindfully practiced,   yoga exercises: like Palming, Eye Rolling, Focus Shifting, Distance Gazing can rest overused muscles, reduce tension in the face and eyes, and help strengthen muscles that help the eyes focus. “By making the eyes more flexible and adaptable, you can keep eye problems from getting worse, and can even improve them,” said Dr. Grossman.

3. Stress Relief:

One of the key benefits of yoga is that, if you practice it regularly, it can be a marvelous stress-buster. As part of the yoga routine, you are forced to clear your mind and focus on your body and breathing. Because of this, your stress reactions diminish and you can have improved mind performance and give your 100% in programing.

4. No Back Pain/Stiffness:

No matter how well your sitting position is and how ergonomic your chair is, sitting more than 8 hours in front of computer with high stressed work can cause you stiffness and back pain. And taking careless attitude can make it worse in the long run. Medical research has shown that practicing yoga regularly can actually be as effective, or even more effective, than pharmaceuticals in the treatment of back pain and stiffness. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to move around without back pain?

5. Better Sleep:

A good night sleep of at least 8 hours is necessary for a healthy body so it functions properly and naturally. However, sleep disorders and insomnia are commonly found in software programmers due to their demanding work sessions with high pressure of work deadlines. With thousands of programmers suffering from varying degrees of insomnia on a regular basis, this is one benefit of yoga that’s a real selling feature. Doing yoga a few times a week can actually help you sleep better, for a variety of reasons. It’s true!

‘Overwhelming’ is overwhelming short of expression when you think about how complex, organized and systematic human bodies are. You need to pay justifiable attention to keep your body and mind well organized and toned, so you could get maximum of your skills.