32 brain breaks
Checked October 2026

Brain Break Stretches

One slow stretch for a chair, the space beside a desk or tired hands, named for what it looks like.

Show all 32

Tie both shoes1 minute. Sit on the front half of your chair with your feet flat and a little apart. Fold forward slowly until your chest rests on your knees, and reach down as if to tie both shoes at once. Let your head hang for 10 counts. Roll back up slowly, head last.

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All 32 brain breaks

Sitting in your chair 8

Arms around a barrel 30 seconds. Hold your arms out in front in a big circle with your fingers linked, as if they were around a barrel. Round your back and push the barrel away from you while your chin drops toward your chest. Stay rounded for 10 counts. Let go, sit tall and do it once more.
Buckle the seat belt 30 seconds. Sit tall. Reach your right hand up over your left shoulder for the belt, then pull it slowly down across your body to your right hip, turning a little as you go. Click it shut. Do the other side, and buckle up 3 times each way.
Duck feet, pigeon feet 30 seconds. Sit tall, hold the sides of your seat and stretch both legs out with your heels on the floor. Turn both feet outward as far as they go, like a duck. Turn them inward until your big toes touch, like a pigeon. Go back and forth 10 times, slowly, moving the whole leg.
Kick off the slippers 30 seconds. Sit tall and hold the sides of your seat. Stretch both legs straight out in front, off the floor. Point your toes hard for 3 counts, as if kicking off a pair of slippers, then pull your toes back toward you for 3 counts. Do 6 of each and lower your feet.
Open the double doors 1 minute. Sit on the front half of your chair with your feet together on the floor. Let your knees fall slowly apart like two doors opening, and rest a hand on each knee. Hold the doors open for 10 counts, sitting tall. Close them slowly, and open them twice more.
Pick up what you dropped 1 minute. Sit tall with your feet flat. Slide your right hand down the side of your chair toward the floor, as if a pencil had fallen there, and let your left arm lift over your head. Stay for 5 counts, then sit tall and do the left side. Three pencils on each side.
Rock the cradle 1 minute. Sit tall and lift one foot onto the other knee. Slide one arm under that shin and the other around the knee, so that your lower leg lies in your arms like a baby. Rock it gently from side to side 10 times. Change legs.
Tie both shoes 1 minute. Sit on the front half of your chair with your feet flat and a little apart. Fold forward slowly until your chest rests on your knees, and reach down as if to tie both shoes at once. Let your head hang for 10 counts. Roll back up slowly, head last.

Standing beside your desk 16

Clock on the wall 1 minute. Stand facing a wall at arm's length and put one palm flat on it with your fingers pointing up at 12. Keep the palm flat and turn your hand outward until the fingers point sideways, then further until they point down at 6. Hold each for 5 counts. Come back up to 12 and change hands.
Draw the bow 1 minute. Stand side-on to the board with your feet apart. Hold a bow straight out toward the board with one arm, and with the other hand pull the string back until your elbow points behind you. Look along the arrow for 5 counts, then let it fly. Three arrows, then turn around and shoot three the other way.
Dry your back 1 minute. Hold a pretend towel behind you: one hand over your shoulder at the top, the other behind your waist at the bottom. Pull the towel up with the top hand, then down with the bottom hand, 10 slow times. Swap hands and dry the other side.
Empty coat sleeves 30 seconds. Stand with your feet apart and let your arms hang like the sleeves of an empty coat. Turn your body left and right from the middle, and let the sleeves swing and wrap around you. Twenty easy turns. Slow down until the sleeves hang still.
Fingers climb the wall 1 minute. Stand facing a wall, one step away. Put the fingertips of one hand on it at shoulder height and walk them up the wall like a spider, as high as they go while your heels stay down. Hold for 5 counts and walk them back down. Change hands, and climb twice with each.
Lean on the lamp post 1 minute. Stand side-on to a wall, a big step away, and put your near hand flat on it at shoulder height. Keep your feet where they are and let your hips lean in toward the wall, so that your body makes one long curve. Stay in the curve for 10 counts. Turn around and do the other side.
Look at the ceiling fan 30 seconds. Stand with your feet apart and put your hands on the back of your hips, fingers pointing down. Lift your chest and look up at the ceiling above you, leaning back only a little. Hold for 5 counts and come back to tall. Three times, slowly.
Over the fence 1 minute. Hold the back of your chair with one hand and stand beside it. Lift your outside knee in front of you, swing it out to the side as if stepping over a low fence, and put the foot down. Step back over the same way. Five fences, then turn around for the other leg.
Push the walls apart 30 seconds. Stand with your arms straight out to the sides and your palms turned out, fingers up, as if a wall stood on each side of you. Push both walls away for 5 counts without bending your elbows. Let your hands hang and shake them. Push three times.
Put on the backpack 30 seconds. Stand tall. Reach your right arm behind you and slide it through a strap, then your left arm through the other strap. Hitch the pack up by lifting both shoulders, hold for 3 counts and let them drop. Take the pack off one arm at a time and put it on again, left arm first.
Slide the drawer 30 seconds. Stand with your feet apart and your hands on your hips. Keep your hips and your head where they are, and slide your ribs to the right like a drawer sliding out. Slide them back in and out to the left. Ten slow slides, smooth and level.
Slow hula hoop 30 seconds. Stand with your feet apart and your hands on your hips. Circle your hips as if a hoop were turning in slow motion: forward, side, back, side. Keep your head still, as if it rested on a shelf. Five circles one way and five the other.
Stir with your knees 30 seconds. Stand with your feet together, bend your knees a little and rest a hand on each one. Draw a small circle with both knees together, as if stirring a pot on the floor. Five circles one way, then stand up tall. Five circles the other way.
Swinging gate 1 minute. Sit or stand tall and let your chin sink to your chest. Roll it slowly toward your right shoulder, then back through the middle to your left, like a gate swinging on its hinge. Five swings each way. The gate only swings in front: do not tip your head back.
Toe drag 30 seconds. Stand with one hand on the back of your chair. Reach one foot behind you and rest the tops of its toes on the floor. Press down gently for 10 counts and feel the front of that ankle stretch. Change feet, and do each foot twice.
Two heavy buckets 30 seconds. Stand tall with your arms by your sides. Imagine a full bucket in each hand, pulling your fingertips toward the floor while the top of your head stays high. Hold for 10 counts and feel the space between your ears and your shoulders grow. Put the buckets down and shrug once.

Hands, wrists and arms 8

Garage door 1 minute. Hold your elbows out at shoulder height, bent to a square corner, with your fingers pointing at the ceiling. Keep your elbows where they are and lower both forearms forward until your fingers point at the wall in front: the door is shut. Lift it open again. Eight slow doors.
Palm sandwich 30 seconds. Press your palms together in front of your chin, fingers pointing up and elbows out. Keep the palms pressed and lower your hands slowly toward your waist, until the heels of your hands start to come apart. Hold there for 5 counts. Lift back up, and lower twice more.
Pedal with your elbows 30 seconds. Put your fingertips on your shoulders. Draw circles with your elbows as if they were pedals: forward 8 times, big and slow, then backward 8 times. Last, pedal one elbow forward while the other goes back.
Pull off the gloves 1 minute. Your gloves are a size too small. Take hold of the tip of one thumb and pull gently, as if easing the glove off, then do each finger in turn. Slide the whole glove off from the wrist to the fingertips. Now the other hand.
Rev the handlebars 30 seconds. Hold two handlebars out in front of you. Roll both wrists back, knuckles up, as if revving an engine, and hold for 3 counts. Roll them forward, knuckles down, for 3 counts. Rev 8 times, then shake your hands loose.
Stir the tea 30 seconds. Link your fingers and hold your hands in front of your chest. Stir them in a slow circle, letting your wrists roll all the way around, 10 times. Stir 10 times the other way. Keep your elbows still, so that only your wrists do the work.
Turn the doorknobs 30 seconds. Hold both arms straight out to the sides with your hands in loose fists, a doorknob in each. Turn both knobs forward as far as they go, so that your whole arm rolls, then backward as far as they go. Ten slow turns. Your shoulders stay down the whole time.
Wring out the washcloth 30 seconds. Hold a wet pretend washcloth in both fists, arms out in front. Twist one fist forward and the other back, as far as they go, and hold for 3 counts. Twist the other way. Wring it 6 times, then flick the water off your fingers.

How this list was compiled

Own work, written on October 11, 2026: stretches done sitting in a chair, standing beside a desk or at a wall, and stretches for hands and wrists, each named for what it looks like and described in our own words. None is a yoga pose from the yoga list of this site, none puts weight on a desk top or a chair seat, and none needs anything but a chair and a wall. No program, video, song or character is named, and no line is taken from another brain break list of this site. The list states no outside fact. Every stretch is slow and should feel easy: do less of any that does not. The length that opens each line is the one the page's timer starts at. It is our suggestion, not a research finding, and the list makes no health or fitness claim. Licence: own work

How it works

These brain break stretches are a few lines to read aloud and do, with no video to follow. Each of the 32 is named for what it looks like, so a class can picture it, and 19 take 30 seconds.

Read the full guide

A stretching brain break that stays in the chair

Sitting in your chair holds 8 for a room with no space to stand. Tie both shoes is a slow fold over the knees. Buckle the seat belt is a reach across the body, and Duck feet, pigeon feet turns both legs out and in from the seat.

After a long spell of writing

Hands, wrists and arms holds 8, such as Pull off the gloves, Stir the tea and Wring out the washcloth. Standing beside your desk holds the other 16, and three of those need a wall: Fingers climb the wall, Lean on the lamp post and Clock on the wall.

Read the name first and let the class guess the move. Then read the line.
Every stretch is slow and should feel easy. Do less of any that does not.

Questions and answers

What is a good stretch brain break for a whole class?

One that needs no room and no partner. Two heavy buckets, Slow hula hoop and Put on the backpack are done standing in one spot, take 30 seconds each and cannot bump a neighbor.

Are these brain break stretches the same as yoga?

No. None is a pose from the yoga list, and nobody sits or lies on the floor. They are everyday moves with a picture attached: drying your back with a towel, drawing a bow, stepping over a fence. The yoga list is a separate page.

How long should a brain break stretch last?

Half a minute to a minute. 19 of these take 30 seconds and 13 take 1 minute. The timer starts at the length of the stretch on screen.

Which stretches get a class out of the chair?

The 16 in Standing beside your desk. Over the fence and Stir with your knees move the legs, Draw the bow and Dry your back move the arms and shoulders, and Slide the drawer moves only the ribs.