Get Up and Stretch

Hello Tuesday!
As I'm sure you know, its Less Stress in the Office Day. Sorry I bailed on destressing your office environment last Tuesday but I was out of the country and had limited access to the internets. In fact, I spent most of the day last Tuesday in a cold room in a rather uncomfortable chair working half in French (bonjour!), a language, btw, which I do not speak. But that's neither here nor there.

The point is that sometimes we have to work in conditions that are less than ideal. Perhaps we have been given a job but not all the tools to do it, or a deadline that seems impossible to meet, or a language we really don't speak. But its work, and its hard sometimes. As my Dad has pointed out to me in the past, that's why you get paid to do it. A good point, I think.

So how to reduce the stress that comes with infuriating work tasks. There are lots of things you can do, but today we are just going to focus on one that is fast and easy. It won't change the task at hand, but hopefully it will change your outlook.

1. Get up from your desk.
2. Stand with your feet together, shoulders back, and head held high.
3. Inhale through your nose as you bring your hands out to the sides and then up as high as you can over your head.
4. Stretch stretch stretch up!
5. Exhale as you drop your arms, head and body reaching down towards the floor.
6. With your head hanging loose down by your knees, grab your elbows and just hang there for 30 seconds or so. Don't forget to breathe!
7. Now go back to whatever you were doing.

Note: Just to state the obvious, if there is any reason you think you cannot or should not do this then don't. Maybe do a different stretch that you can do instead.