Easy Changes to Stay Healthy at Work
I was talking to one of our members the other day, and he mentioned that he recently started taking walking meetings. Instead of sedentary meet ups sitting in front of screens, he and his client or colleague will take laps around the city block. “What a simple change to implement into your work day to stay a little more active,” I thought. “What things could I change up in my routine?” Well, below are a few tips via Carrie Klaus from Element Yoga and Āyurvedic Wellness who teaches classes once a month at The Root!
Prioritize Your Lunch Hour
How often do you stop what you are doing and prioritize your lunch hour? Have you ever gotten busy and worked right through lunch? Or shoveled food into your mouth while answering emails? You aren’t alone. About 40% of American workers say they only occasionally, rarely, or never take a lunch break. And the majority of those take only 30 minutes or less.
When we skip meals we diminish our digestive fire, what āyurveda calls agni. According to āyurveda, strong and healthy agni supports all of our physical functions, and our digestive health is an indicator of our overall health. Skipping meals also aggravates vata dosha, the air and ether elements, which can make us feel more anxious and on edge, and cause our minds to feel more scattered and less focused.
But simply eating isn’t enough. What, when, and where we eat is also important. Āyurveda recommends that your midday meal be your most substantial meal of the day, and include your harder to digest proteins. Agni is most strong during the hours of 10am and 2pm, which makes your lunch hour the ideal time to digest these heavier meals. Āyurveda recommends waiting about 4 hours between meals, so anywhere from 11am - 1pm is an appropriate lunch hour, depending on what time you get up and eat breakfast. And, eating under stress, at your desk, or distracted by your phone or other electronics draws energy away from digestion. Make time in your schedule to step away from your desk and eat in a calm, peaceful, and quiet environment where you can eat mindfully, focus on chewing your food completely, and practicing gratitude for the nourishing qualities of your food.
2. Take a Nap, Or At Least Take A Break
Napping during the day promotes softness, heaviness, and cooling - all qualities that are desirable, especially in the warmer months.
To get the most benefit from your nap, time it to correspond with the juncture between pitta time of day and vata time of day, around 1:00pm - 2:00pm. Naps counter the light and rough qualities of vata, so around this time of day you’ll get double the benefit.
If your work or schedule doesn’t afford you the opportunity to take an afternoon nap try to work in some downtime near this pitta to vata transition. Step away from you desk, sit comfortably and quietly for 5-10 minutes with your eyes closed, phone notifications silenced, and your mind at rest.
3. Learn the Proper Sitting Posture
Do you often find yourself slumped over in your chair, spine in a C shape, head hanging over the keyboard? How about slouched down in your chair, with your tailbone tucking under? Did you know that being more mindful about your posture while you are seated at your desk (or even in your car, your dinner table, or your couch) has a number of positive health impacts?
It’s true! Improving your posture can:
✔️ Improve your digestion.
✔️ Boost your mood.
✔️ Improve spinal health.
✔️ Breathe Better
So, how should you sit? Start with your pelvis and work your way up.
🧘🏽♀️ Start with both feet resting flat on the floor, legs uncrossed, and knees bent at 90 degrees. Adjust your chair height so your feet will comfortably touch the ground, and your thighs will be parallel to the ground.
🧘🏽♀️ Find your sitting bones (the two bony points at the bottom of your pelvis), and try to sit in front of them, so that your pelvis is in a slight forward tilt. Using a small blanket or towel in the back of your chair that you can sit on the edge of will help you sit in front of your sitting bones, or sit on the edge of your chair.
🧘🏽♀️ Elongate your spine. Your spine has four natural, alternating curves, to help bring the spine into its natural alignment, imagine that your spine is being pulled long from an imaginary string attached to the top of your head, then use your abdominal muscles to support the structure of your spine.
🧘🏽♀️ Once you have your spine aligned properly, draw your shoulders back and broaden your chest slightly. Start by shrugging your shoulders toward your ears and then rolling them back and down, and relax them into place.
🧘🏽♀️ Finally, lift your chin parallel to the ground, and then pull your head back slightly to align your ears mostly over your shoulders.
Once you have your posture set, adjust the height of your laptop or computer monitor and keyboard to support you in keeping your shoulders and head aligned. And, DO NOT sit for more than 30 minutes at a time. Set a timer if you need a reminder, but get up, take a short walk (remember that break I mentioned earlier?), and stretch every 30 minutes!!
