Yoga For Baristas

Here at Gimme we recently had the pleasure of inviting local yoga teacher Rachel Bush into our lab to teach us how to better protect and use our bodies while on bar. It was a very helpful hour and a half session and I am eager to share a bit of what we learned. Retail managers Liz Clark and Emily Thompson are the gracious models for these pictures.

Photos by Devorah Freudiger, Gimme! Coffee.

The main focus of Rachel's time with us was to teach us to focus our energy on our breathing and how we were holding our bodies. Physically moving each other's shoulder blades to fit in their proper spot on our back allows us to use our diaphragm better and breathe deeper.

Baristas do very precise work and are under a lot of pressure to perform quickly. Because of this pressure we often trigger our sympathetic nervous system, that's the "fight or flight" state of being. We run the risk of spending our days frantic and flustered which is not productive or good for quality. By breathing deep and even we are able to start to move our body into the parasympathetic, or "rest and digest", state of being.

Parasympathetic does not mean slower, but more calm and focused. Remaining calm and focused is the best way to turn out great drinks quickly. By looking at how we move when we are pulling shots Rachel was able to pick out some specific points that might cause stress in our joints. Dosing was one of these points. Proper dosing stance is shoulders back, wrist straight and pulling with the whole arm.

Tamping is definitely a point in drink preparation where Baristas can potentially hurt themselves. It's hard to tamp in a way that is not stressful to your body unless you are quite tall because keeping your shoulder blades on your back is hard with a tamping counter that is too high for your body. The best thing we found to do is to keep our wrists straight and make sure that the power for the tamp came from the core of our body, never our fingers or palms.

Another stressful part of being a Barista is being on our feet for 8 hour shifts. It's important to wear good shoes and to stay aware of the work our feet and toes are doing. To keep blood flowing to your toes during a period of long standing Rachel showed us a simple exercise. Lift your toes off of the floor and spread them out, this can be done inside your shoes. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed on both sides of your heel and pads of your feet.

Then, keeping your toes spread wide, press them into the floor. Again notice even weight distribution. It was surprising for many of us to realize that we stand with all our weight on the sides of our feet. No wonder our feet hurt! Even weight distribution will help with posture and decrease end of shift foot pain. And the activating of your toes will help increase blood flow to your feet.

Even the most careful Barista will feel the stress of this physically taxing job. So stretching is a great thing to get in the habit of doing. Rachel taught us a stretch to do with a buddy. Take a friends hand in yours like you are shaking it. Then grab their forearm with your free hand, don't be shy about using force, but be aware of how sensitive they are. Then, gently pull their hand, extending the joints in their wrist.

Then, you can give their hand a slight turn being conscious of what feels good to them, everyone is different. We had a great time with Rachel and she taught us a lot. Namely that Yoga practices can be incorporated into many parts of everyday life. Yoga is not about fancy workout clothes, it's about learning to properly move, becoming comfortable with your body, and relating in life as part of something greater then yourself.