Get Active Advice
At the beginning of November, there was a focus towards National Stress Awareness Day. The Health Development Specialist from the SE Trust has shared a few stress relieving exercises to help relieve stress and get active as you go through your working day:
- Get Active, Take a walk - A quick walk around the block creates an opportunity to get fresh air, stretch your legs and clear your thoughts, and then return to your work with renewed focus.
- Stretch - If your job involves sitting down looking at a screen all day, stretching every hour or so is important to help prevent postural problems.
- Breathe deeply – Deep Breathing (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) has proven health benefits. It encourages a full exchange of incoming oxygen and outgoing carbon dioxide and signals to your nervous system to calm down.
- Practice mindfulness - So, what is mindfulness? Quite simply, it means the mind is present to what is happening in the moment. Think about it for a minute – is your mind in several places at once?
- Visualize a happy place - A quick mental break can do wonders and visualisation is a great technique for relieving stress at work. If you can’t get outside for a quick walk, find a quiet space in the office, close your eyes for a minute or two and visualise a place that makes you feel calm and happy.
- Laugh - It’s no joke, laughter really is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to stress relief exercises at work. Not only does it lighten the load mentally, laughter also enhances your intake of oxygen (we know from the deep breathing that’s a good thing), it stimulates your heart and other organs, and increases the release of endorphins from the brain (the body’s natural feel-good chemicals).
- Perform exercises at your desk, such as seated leg raises, calf raises, and chair dips
Please see the Get Active at Work Flyer from the SE Trust - if you can, please print this out or share an electronic copy with your colleagues at work.
The Mind Body Business Programme have a number of dumbbells available that you can avail of to encourage your staff to move a little move throughout the working day this winter. Why not incorporate 5-10 minutes into your next team meeting or lunchbreak to complete some group dumbbell exercises – these will provided on a first come first served basis (maximum 8 per business). To request dumbbells for your business, please email healthandwellbeing@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk .
