Working in an office takes it’s toll on our bodies. According to a recent article in The Telegraph office workers need to do an hour of exercise each day in order to avoid early death! I’m pretty confident in saying that most of the population struggles to fit in an hour of exercise on top of their busy workday and busy lives.
How about attempting a daily workout in the office? All you need is some cheap office chairs, a standard desk, a break time and some office yoga moves! The team at Furniture at work have collaborated with health and yoga experts to create an office yoga workout programme and it’s fab. The brilliant thing about yoga is you can do it anywhere, on a beach, at your home, in your garden, even in the office.
Although I don’t work in an office I do sit down for prolonged amounts of time when writing at my laptop. It’s normally in a rather awkward position which sees me twisting my torso and sitting with my legs furled up and I know it cannot be good for me. So I’ve recently started to incorporate some changes including a daily workout. You can find me at the gym for an hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. On my days off I want to make sure I walk or do some yoga stretching at home too. I’ve noticed the exercise really helps make me feel more energised and strong in both body and mind. I find swimming particularly theraputic, the water calms and soothes me and I can mull over my thoughts while I swim.
Image: Unknown – Pinterest
The other change I’m making is to do with my working space. I’m actually getting my office decorated! It’s been replastered, the floor has been sanded and we’ve painted it a lovely fresh yet soothing light green called Montacute Sage from Hemsley by Homebase. I’m hoping to create a bright workspace which is inspiring and calming. With shades of green and white and some sharper graphic black lines, I’m again going to add the soothing quality of water and nature with prints and plants. I literally can’t wait to work at a desk with a good quality office chair – it’s the little things!
As part of my office I’ve also decided I am going to create a little yoga / meditation spot so I have somewhere to escape the chaos of the rest of the house!
This post is written in collaboration with Furniture at work.
Hello Lucy
I heard of an experiment that illustrated the effects of chronic stress in a most unusual way. Chronic stress (long term stress) builds over time, is hard to identify, and often denied.
Part one of the experiment involved placing frogs in extremely hot water. As you would expect, they jumped right out of the pan. This is an example of “Yikes, I’ve got to do something about this situation!!!”, or acute stress. It is similar to getting your taxes ready the night before you meet with your accountant.
Part two involved placing the frogs in tepid water. They sat passively looking at each other while the experimenters turned up the heat. Finally, two frogs made an attempt to jump, but it was too late. Why didn’t the frogs jump out when they could have?
Yoga offers us tools for healthier living in a chronically stressed environment. My yoga practice helps me to feel healthier, happier and to make better choices. Are you are tired of sitting in a pan of hot water? Jump into Yoga. It works!
Best wishes.
Gwyneth Clover recently posted..Health and beauty benefits of plums
Your office plans sound really restfl and fresh cannot wait to see
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