Have you heard new adage “sitting is new smoking” …
When I heard about it I thought hell yeah! better I had quit smoking already now I need to quit sitting too? Until I got diagnosed with chronic back pain a couple of years ago. I told my chiropractor “I am quite a fit bloke” How come I got back pain in spite of working out and leading an active lifestyle? He mentioned about the science of posture and how the human body is meant for hunting in the fields and not sitting in front of a damn computer the whole day long.
Now if this was 1860, I could have done something about the “hunting in the fields” part but in 2017 it is a pretty tough gig. Specially living in this civilization makes it even harder to imitate our ancestral modus operandi.
We might have come from the planet of the apes but now since we are in the information age let’s see how we can still quench our postural thirst by staying in “well-being worker” limits. This is what I suggest as our plan of action to make our work breaks count.
Breaks are good, but do we take them? Ask yourself, “What makes a good break for me?” Do you take yourself to the local park, call a friend, check into the gym, or laugh out loud with colleagues? Or it might be just eating your food mindfully—which one is your fit? Find it and use it.
Ensure you drink more than 2 litres of water: Have you been asked this questions – Do you drink enough water? I am sure you would know the benefit but it has the added advantage of making you run to the toilet pretty often and also break the sitting posture cycle for the sake of your bladder.
Get a fitness tracker: A little bit of technology to help you motivated and stay on track, most of the trackers can now start to beep (like mine) every 50th minute of an hour asking you to move your body (I said body…)
Don’t press the send button: At times you’ll catch yourself sending an email to a person sitting at the same floor. Have you done that? I know I have, why not try the alternate and walk to the person to have a chat.
Catch that yawn: Yawning is actually a signal from your brain craving for oxygen! That is body’s natural response to initiate a break in posture. Next time when you catch yourself yawning at work get up and stretch yourself.
7 min refresher: It is scientifically proven 7 minutes is what it takes to break your postural pattern, experiment all the activities you could do in 7 minutes like brushing your teeth after lunch with an added advantage of dental hygiene.
Power Naps: There is a misconception, you don’t have to actually sleep merely closing your eyes and listening to some relaxing music for 10-20 mins would do the job.
In conclusion, it matters less what you do than why you’re doing it. Pay attention to three aspects of body, mind and spirit to tune into your own energy style and choose work break activities that will truly refresh you.
Originally Published On September 18, 2017