Happy Thought for 26 January 2024
Have a Happy Thought:
While some of our holiday breaks may be fresh in mind, others may be distant memories. Either way, I hope you’re entering 2024 with at least some positive energy.
One way to hold on
to that (or maybe create it if that’s what you need) may be to introduce
frequent, but short, breaks into your day, ideally getting out into some blue-
or green-space.
Image: A stump
next to a tree-shaded pathway has had googly-eyes drawn onto it so it looks
like a startled face. Picture by author.
In fact, taking mini-breaks might benefit your physical health as much as your mental health!
A recent study out
of Columbia University in the US has found that taking frequent-but-short
breaks, 5 minutes out of every 30, can have really impressive impacts on physical
and mental health like:
- Blood
sugar
- Insulin
- Blood
pressure
- Mood
- Fatigue
- Cognitive ability (apparently, I need this a bit, it took me three tries and spell-checker to spell cognitive correctly)
The study calls these mini-breaks “exercise snacks”, and they don’t have to be difficult! It can be just a short stroll around the house or office. Or maybe a little bit of housework. Or, if you are so inclined, a little bit of weightlifting or a flight or two of stairs. The point is to move (read: not standing still or sitting), just enough to get the blood pumping a little but not enough to feel like you’re “working out”. If five minutes out of every half hour is too much for you, try for at least a few minutes every hour, you’ll still get most of the benefit.
And if you take
your exercise snacks outdoors, you might just get a mood boost from the blue/green
spaces, as well as giving your eyes a rest from your screen. Just be
careful about mixing your food snacks with your exercise snacks…
Image: An ice
cream cone landed ice-cream down and melting into a tree-shaded dirt path.
Picture by author.
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