One Minute Retreat

You may not know it but it even adds up to that tummy bulge we often call “middle aged spread.” Blame it on leptin, the protein that’s depleted when you’re always beating deadlines and chasing after the subway train every day but, it’s the same protein that knocks off your appetite control, causing you to eat when you really didin’t want to or don’t need to.

Stress can lead to so many conditions and illnesses which is the reason it’s important to fight it off, and it doesn’t necessarily have to with long sessions in the gym or a two week vacation, though these things really do help! The problem is though, when you’re stressed, trying to add an exercise routine of 3 times per week or taking a vacation can actually induce more stress particularly when you’re struggling to find the time to fit these things in.

What I have discovered however is that taking short and consistent “time-out” sessions add up and really are great ways to refire your energy, clear your mind and prepare you for the task, or day ahead.

Just taking a short break to have a cup of cappuccino or treating yourself to a bouquet of white roses from the nearby flower shop can be enough to put your mind at ease and create a positive distraction from your current activities to enjoy some “me-time” or give you enough time to stop blowing off steam.

There are a number of little activities you can embark on when it comes to busting stress and, these are the things that you can do whether you’re sat on your sofa or at your hard mahogany office table. You’d be amazed at how relaxing it is just tapping your fingers on your desk while looking away at the office window and watching the world go by.

Maybe there are activities going on outside your office window that you’ve been too busy to notice before like, the new business complex they’re building across the highway and suddenly, it becomes interesting watching the heavy machinery transport large volumes of dirt from one side of the complex to the other or, watching with fascination, how they lower that steel girder that will support part of the new building.

This may sound a little too simple but taken into a psychological context, stress is caused by doing much more than what one can normally handle, whether emotionally, psychologically, or physically. Breaking away from the situation that is causing the stress is the best way to avoid getting more stressed.

So, if you’re reading this from your office, take look out the window and in less than a minute you will find something that diverts your attention. It could be a funny-looking outfit worn by an office executive or a poodle who tiptoes beside his owner wearing a polka-dot dress.

If you have the chance, what would be even more beneficial would be for you to open your office window, and feel the fresh breeze on your face. This has superb cooling effect, especially if you just came out from a boiler-room meeting!

Try doing this as you tap your fingers on your desk. It could be a good way of rechanneling your energy, positive or otherwise into an inanimate object. You’ll find yourself drowned out by the tapping sound, making your mind wander to far-flung places and happy thoughts.

So whatever it may be that bothers you, tap your fingers, look out the window, and enjoy it!

Dr Cynthia