Melbourne, Australia – Good Vibrations Yoga is pleased to announce the release of Salute the Desk 1.2, a brand new app that brings healthy practices, such as stretching, movement, postural awareness and mindfulness right to your iDevice. For many of us, being busy means being tied to the desk, and missing out on regular exercise. Salute the Desk is a mini yoga class for your workspace. Program in guided stretches and meditations to actively engage with yourself throughout the day, and increase your mindfulness and effectiveness.

Being busy has become a modern day mantra; an accessory to lives that are always switched on and connected. For many of us the only antidote is to completely switch off and take a digital holiday. But is work-life balance really a binary application of being on or being off? Instead, why not integrate the different aspects of your life into a more fulfilled whole? An early morning surf, a lunchtime jog or even slipping out for a mid-afternoon yoga class won’t just break up the routine, it might even help you live longer.

A growing body of research shows sitting too much brings long-term health issues, but how do you find the time to take a break? Actively engaging with yourself at work, through exercise and meditation, can dramatically increase your happiness and effectiveness throughout the day. According to the iOpener Institute, in a company with 1,000 employees, increasing happiness in the workplace:

* Reduces the cost of employee turnover by 46 percent
* Reduces the cost of sick leave by 19 percent
* Increases performance and productivity by 12 percent

Fiona Patterson has been on her own journey. After years working as a veterinary surgeon, she moved to a large multinational corporation and trained outside work as a Tai Chi, Qigong and Yoga instructor. Salute the Desk brings all of this together in a great app for the ‘too busy’ brigade. As her corporate workplace’s unofficial guide to stretching and relaxation, Fiona found a genuine thirst for her knowledge. She also discovered that even a little bit of guided practice made an enormous difference to her workmates.

“I started my own company, Good Vibrations Yoga, and planned to do corporate group sessions. But every second person was telling me, ‘you should really make an app!’ I hooked up with some young developers: our aim was to address the physical as well as mental aspects of stress and tension. We wanted people to feel comfortable stretching and moving in the workplace. The Salute the Desk iOS app has been an extension of this work.”

If that conjures awful images of your lycra-clad manager planking on the desk, Fiona says it’s not about that at all. “Feeling comfortable in the workplace means giving yourself permission to take a short break, and realizing that this actually makes you happier and more effective. You can do subtle stretches right at your desk, or you can book out a meeting room for ten minutes and go through a longer routine.” Lacking the motivation to get started? Salute the Desk will help you make it happen.

Guided Stretching And Relaxation:
The app gives you the experience of a mini yoga class at your desk. Audio and visual guidance is in real time, and is complimented by comprehensive written instructions. The audio is high quality and professionally recorded.

Program Your Routine:
Set reminders to stretch different body areas, do a guided relaxation or let the app suggest something for you. Salute the Desk features over two hours of content, including 27 yoga poses and two guided relaxation sessions, which you can customize for your own routine.

Anywhere, Anytime:
All of the stretches and guided relaxations can be done discreetly at your desk.

Stay Motivated:
The progress page tracks your use and shows which body areas you have/haven’t stretched. You can share your routine via social media, email or SMS: it’s perfect for workplace challenges.

Change Yourself:
A key feature of the app is developing awareness around healthy seated posture. With each use, you will deepen your body awareness. You will learn to sit tall and permanently improve your posture in a natural and relaxed way.

The Salute the Desk app navigates off 4 main swipe screens:
* Sit Tall- a workshop to improve your posture
* Salute the Desk – a full body stretching sequence
* Zone In- choose stretches to target specific body areas and release tension
* Guided Relaxations- to calm and refresh

Each swipe screen launches an animated player- pause, rewind and fast forward as needed.

Additional Features:
* Scheduling in practice is easy. Plan your sessions and set reminders to practice
* View your session history on the calendar
* Track your progress- see which body areas you have stretched
* Share your progress via social media, email or SMS
* Perfect for when traveling

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
* Requires iOS 6.1 or later
* Optimized for iPhone 5
* 73.8 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Salute the Desk 1.2 is $3.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Health & Fitness category.

Salute the Desk 1.2
Purchase and Download
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Fiona Patterson founded Good Vibrations Yoga in 2011 in Melbourne, Australia to help bring the practices of Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong to the modern workplace, through classes, workshops and seminars. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2014 Fiona Patterson / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.