Do you have stress at work?
There are physical as well as emotional stresses. Some stressors make us feel powerful, in charge and are fun, and some make us feel anxious and cause pain.
If we run on stress-fuel most of the time, we need to give our bodies a break.
1. Watch your posture. When we slouch, we can’t breathe as deeply. We don’t get as much oxygen into our brains and bodies. Slouching makes us tired and stressed. Slouching makes our backs ache.
2. Feel your “sit bones” on the chair. Center yourself so your weight is equal on both sides. You want to feel your sit bones equally. Rock slowly and gently, rolling on your sit bones from front to back, front to back. This relaxes your back and neck. Let your head move slightly forward as your round your waist backward. When you round your tummy forward (closer to your knees)let your head move over your shoulders.
3. Get more sleep. If you are not sleeping as much as your body needs, your stress level will go up. You will be more easily irritated. Arrange your evening or morning schedules so you can get 30 or 60 more minutes of sleep.
4. Grab a funny story or joke to share or to laugh privately about. Laughter makes stress hormones go down. A good laugh is like a massage from the inside out. Sharing something funny makes us feel better.
5. Pretend you are chewing gum. Keep your lips together, teeth slightly apart. Open and close your jaw without opening your lips. Your teeth should stay apart. This relaxes tense muscles around your jaw and temples.
6. Sit up and close your eyes. Roll your eyes around. With your lids closed, look up and roll your eyes in a complete circle. Roll your eyes in the opposite direction, in a complete circle. Do this several times in each direction. Eyes have muscles, and they can get tired. This relaxes the muscles around your eyes.
7. Take a “re-focus break.” Stop what you are doing and look around. Look at something at a distance. Look at something very close, perhaps your hand. Look far away again. Re-focusing helps tired eye muscles and gives us a quick mini-break.
Lots of little breaks reduce stress and actually help us be more productive, because we have less discomfort. When we take a lot of mini-breaks, we feel better and we get more done, not less.
Now you have several strategies you can use to reduce your stress at work.
Which will you use first?
In my experience, the people who are more proactive get the most benefit from a stress reduction program. Get started now!
“Because You Deserve To Feel Better!”
