Yoga Stretches to Optimize Your Health in the Work Place
- How many hours do you think you sit down a week? Sitting in your car, sitting at your desk, sitting at a laptop, watching TV? A study, in the Telegraph, found on average Britain’s spend 14 hours a day sitting. That’s up to 98 hours a week!
- The way you carry your body and how you use your body is very important. To help your body carry you through life you must look after it! We must be aware of our posture throughout the day. Muscle imbalances and alignment problems are very common as we lead very sedentary lives these days, and this may lead to physical problems as we get older.
- Osteoporosis can affect around 50% of women over the age of 40. Bones decrease in strength as we grow old, but by doing exercises that place impact on the body, we can slow down this process. Weight resistant exercises and even walking can place an impact on the body to strengthen the bones. Women are more prone to osteoporosis because their bone density decreases earlier than men’s. This can be due to the factors of menopause and also that women have less muscle mass than men. So it is really important for women to be active.
- There are many other benefits of physical exercise. People who do regular exercise have a lower risk of many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stoke and some cancers. Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reduce your risk of stress and depression. All of the above are important reasons to exercise when running your own business. You cannot afford to be unwell and off work.
- Break times, lunch times and structured work times are very important. We need to look after ourselves first, so that we can work efficiently with all our energy, strength and motivation.
- Do you have a lunch break? You should eat your food mindfully, in a relaxed environment and leave 15 mins rest after eating to fully digest the food, and allow the body to break down the food, absorb the nutrients, and nourish the body. Try to take a 30 – 60 minute lunch break.
- We are often over thinking, rushing ahead and shallow breathing. This puts a lot of stress on our body as we starve it from the oxygen and mental energy needed for our basic bodily functions such as maintaining a strong immune system and circulating the blood to oxygenate the body and release toxins. When you take deep breaths you switch the body from the stress response to rest and digest! It’s that simple. So try to slow down and take deep breaths.