Recharge your batteries

When we keep pushing ourselves beyond our natural limits, we are building a debt of strain in the body that we will eventually have to settle. It's like borrowing from the bank; eventually you will have to pay it back with interest. Try and:


• Find a place that recharges your batteries like the beach, a park or even the squash court so that when you walk away, you feel refreshed and revitalized. Visit these places often.


• Create stress-free zones at home, one area of the house where you can rest and relax, meditate or exercise, even if it is just a relaxing chair or a corner of the room, which has a good feel about it. When you go to this spot, mentally dump your work worries in a big bin outside the door. This process of 'decontamination' helps to separate work areas and relaxing areas.

Getting Your Second Wind

The cheapest most effective stress-buster is breathing. Notice what happens to your breathing the next time you feel anxious or tense. You'll often find it is shallow, fast and confined to the upper part of your chest. Then watch someone sleeping, especially a child. You will see a slowing down of the breath and a rise and fall of the stomach instead of the chest.

Make this kind of relaxed breathing an antidote to stress by putting your hands at the bottom of your ribs and the next time you breath in feel your diaphragm and stomach expand like a balloon. Then let the air out fully with shoulders relaxed. Pause for a second or two and then take another breath. Nerves attached to the diaphragm are activated with this kind of breathing and send signals to the brain with the simple message, relax. Not surprisingly you also increase the blood's oxygen level after a hearty bout of laughter.

Many people smoke more when they are stressed because they take long breaths. The same strategy works better if you do it without the cigarette. Every time you are aware that you feel stressed, take two slow breathes. It is the second breath that has the relaxing effect. No one else notices, it makes you feel good and eventually becomes an automatic response to stress. Or have a good laugh!

A few simple exercises can make the world of difference. Follow them, and you will reap the benefits.

The information provided comes courtesy of Consultant Nutritionist Belinda Rennie at the Osteopathic Health Centre in Dubai, and in association with the Healthy Workplace Campaign by Workplace Solutions providers Kinnarps of Sweden.

In next weeks final article we will be focusing on ergonomics in the workplace and how every employee and employer needs to consider the surroundings and conditions they are working in.