My name is Mark Walsh from Integration Training. This is my top 7 tips for how to relax in your lunch break.
I do a lot of stress management, resilience, different kinds of workshops for very busy, busy stressed people
Sometimes I get no lunch break at all. If they're lucky, I highly recommend it. Again, make it half an hour and I would say if you can use that half an hour effectively
to really relax, that's gonna help your efficiency, your relationships and your general health and well being.
So, what you can do in a half hour lunch break to relax?
#1. Change your environment. Really get out of the office, go for a walk, preferably in nature maybe by the tents or in a park.
Get out of your office. If you cant do that atleast get away from your desk eat your sandwich by the water cooler or on the floor.
Whatever you can do to change the environment.
So, you really get your mind, your whole body gets a real rest from the work environment even if its just for 20 or 30 minutes.
#2. Take some kind of gentle exercise if you can.
So like, then it might be a walk, it might be a stretch. There's a lot of yoga stretches you can do in your chair or it could be maybe doing
Tai-Chi or something like that. If you could do that in nature all the better.
So, walking by the tents. You live in London or going to a park. Nature can really help you relax.
#3. Know the stories and narratives you've been living in.
So, often we get caught up in our own stories, our own world are actually started thinking that this makes us stressed.
So, you might be thinking for example, My boss hates me, no one likes me, I'm overwhelmed, I can't do my job.
Take a break at lunch and you release that truth. You start asking yourself is that really true?
Maybe my boss is just stressed, maybe I'm not getting support because everybody else is busy but maybe there's one or two people I could ask.
And you know I've done my job for a few years. I'm competent even if it feels very busy. Its like changing the narrative, and friends can really help with that talk it through and they can ask you "Is that really the case?" This brings us to
#4. Which is social interaction.
For many people receiving empathy, talking to another human being about something completely different from work can really be restful.
You know social creatures that can really help. Equally if you know you're introverted and its being alone that really recuperates
your energy then it might be being away from people should job is very social and you're an introvert.
#5. Mini Meditation.
So, mindfulness has been shown by lots of good research to relax people, to be good for health and their productivity.
This just means paying attention. So, it could be paying attention to your body, your posture, your breathing.
Noticing yourself breathe, even a few breaths can help. I recommend 10 minutes, if you can find that time. Sitting upright yet relaxed way.
There's loads of ways of meditating but they all have this attention on the present moment.
It could even be just smelling off a cup of coffee or tea looking out the window, noticing the here and now.
If you do that even for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes usually at lunch that can really reset your whole system.
Manage your state, make it much more efficient for the afternoon. Related to meditation is centering, this is another way to get yourself together under pressure.
We have a video on that if you're interested. So, centering again it can be a belly breath, adjusting your posture helps you
comeback to a central point which is gonna be more productive, more efficient.
#6. Ask for what you want.
Often people are stressed 'coz they're not making a request that they need to.
So, for example, somewhere the other day music was playing in the background quite loudly.Everyone's kind of stressed, background noise can make people stressed.
But no one's going to ask and eventually I stood up and well I asked if can you turn the music down and then they were really happy too.
It was no problem. I will say its just one more question we need to make and again
just having a break at lunch, And then okay what do I really need to ask for here for the softening,
#7. Acceptance and Gratitude.
Some things however, we cant change, you know what its raining today.
There's nothing I can do about that. The sense of acceptance can go a long way. Related to that is gratitude.
So, stress and gratitude are incompatible. If you're grateful for whatever it is in your life that you're grateful for
then that will take down your stress. So, you could make a list at lunch time, just a short list in 2 minutes what I am grateful for.
Im grateful for my health, my Im grateful for having a rock overy my head. I have work,
I have a pair of Florsheim
Anything you're grateful for note it down and you'll feel better.
Here are my top 7 ways to relax in a lunch break
#1: Change your environment particularly in nature.
#2: Some kind of walk or gentle exercise.
#3: Note the stories you're living in and see if you need to change those.
#4: Social Interaction, Empathy, Social Support or being on your own if you're an introvert.
#5: Mindfulness and meditation and centering.
#6: Asking for what you want and
#7: Acceptance and Gratitude.
So, I hope these have been helpful. Its human to get stressed.
I get stressed, we all get stressed its how we handle that for the sake of our health, our relationships and our efficiency at work.
If this has been useful for and you'd like more, then get in touch. We do one to one stress coaching as well as workshops for groups.
Its Mark Walsh from Integration Training. That is www.integrationtraining.co.uk. My email is mark@integrationtraining.co.uk.
If you have any questions, then please put them in comments and I'd love to address your questions free of course, here as well. Thank you. Bye.
["Thanks Mark. That was really a good video. Ive been really stressed and its so hard at work. Im gonna go outside and get some air and some water and have a new meditate on.
That's gonna help a lot. Thanks Mark. That's been very useful."]