Your "coffee break" may consist of an out-and-back sprint to grab a latte to-go, but in Sweden, the institution of the coffee break (usually around 10 a.m. and another at 3 p.m.) is a sit-down mini-meal that dates back to the 1700s.
It's called fika, and it involves leaving the workplace with a friend to have a cup of coffee and, usually, a sweet treat. Schedule an afternoon fika into your busy day, and invite friends to join you (you can't fika solo). Gevalia, a coffee brand founded in Sweden in 1853 and now available in the U.S., has found that Swedes prefer darker, stronger-tasting brews than Americans do, so follow their tradition by ordering French roast or espresso, as well as a chocolate or pastry.
If you're worried about being away from your desk, keep in mind that a 2009 MIT study showed that those who got up to socialize with colleagues during the day showed a 10 to 15 percent increase in productivity over coworkers who preferred to be left alone. As for the cinnamon roll, be sure to savor it with your coffee on-site: Research has shown eating in front of a computer causes us to eat more, appreciate the food less, and nibble throughout the day.
2. India: Getting a Massage-Above the Shoulders
Indian head massages date back thousands of years, according to Ayurvedic texts, and are believed to not only balance the chakras, or energy centers, but also alleviate stress, stimulate the lymphatic system and relieve migraines. While some versions of this therapy can put clients to sleep, others can induce heightened alertness and concentration, which can make you eager to dive back into a project, says Denise Galon, PhD, a certified massage therapist based in New York.
Galon practices and teaches a form of head massage called "champissage" which involves traditional frictional moves on the head combined with Western de-tensing techniques for the shoulders and neck. To relieve headaches and stress, Galon suggests the "occipital rub": Place your first three fingers behind your head at the spots just behind the ears where the neck connects to the head. With your elbows bent, push your fingers toward and away from one another, creating a rubbing movement on the base of the skull. Do this for 30 seconds--then sigh in relief.
3. Japan: Going Shoeless at Work
We've heard about the habit in Asia of taking off shoes before entering the home, but in Japan, it's also common for professionals to kick off their stilettos when arriving at the office. They store their "outside shoes" in a vestibule, cubby or locker and change into inexpensive slippers to pad around the office and settle in at their desks. Being comfortable not only helps people to better focus on their work (and not the throbbing pain in their big toe), but, for women, it also helps eliminate calf and ankle cramps from wearing high heels. When you consider the amount of time we spend at the office, comfortable, under-desk slippers seem like a worthwhile investment.
While Japanese and Americans are both infamous for their workaholic tendencies, Japan, like most other industrialized nations, has a law requiring employers to provide paid holidays--20, plus the country's 16 public holidays. In the U.S., where there's no law mandating vacation time (the consulting firm Mercer has found that the average tends to be 15 days), we enjoy only 10 public holidays--and only a few fall during months warm enough to go barefoot.
Simple relaxation techniques can help you manage stress and release tension
What’s stressing you out? Chances are, it’s quite a long list: work, your kids, money, family and a whole host of other factors contribute to stress. But if you’re trying to reduce your stress by simply shutting out these stressors, you’re going about it the wrong way.
The way to deal with stress is not by trying to fix what’s “wrong” in your life, says Dr. Edward Leyton, a physician and psychotherapist in Kingston, Ont. Instead, we need to learn how to adapt and deal with those stresses we face on a daily basis to achieve true relaxation.
1. Fight or flight
Human beings are hardwired to deal with stress in a certain way, says Leyton. “It’s the old story of the sabre tooth tiger who lives around the corner,” he says. “We come across the tiger in the jungle and our stress system is wired for us to expend energy in the face of that stress. It’s called fight or flight.”
In other words, our body is made so that if we’re stressed, we either physically fight our stressor or physically run away. The problem is most of today’s stresses are psychologically oriented, and you can’t start literally punching your way out of a problem like a demanding boss (no matter how much you wish you could!).
What happens when we get stressed is our adrenaline goes up, but we no longer have the physical release. We don’t expend that energy, therefore we get tense, causing things like tension headaches, pain in the jaw, grinding teeth and more. In the long run, holding in all that pent-up energy can contribute to serious health conditions, Leyton says.
2. Dealing with stress
The truth is we’re not going to be able to eliminate stress in our lives. Nor can we stop our physical fight or flight response to stress – in fact, Leyton says we don’t want to eliminate that response (it comes in pretty handy if you’re about to be run over by a car!).
Instead, Leyton recommends finding ways to manage your stress response, release the stress and relax so it doesn’t get pent up inside. Here are some of his best tips on how to relax:
a. Breathe deeply:
Breathing deeply activates the body’s relaxation response, reducing the adrenaline caused by our fight or flight response. Most of us breathe far too shallowly, Leyton says. Take deep breaths from your diaphragm, pushing your stomach in and out.
b. Exercise:
Exercise is a great stress reliever, Leyton says. “If you’re under stress and you’ve got that energy in your muscles, it is activating that stress,” he adds. Try a bout of vigorous exercise to release adrenaline and reduce stress.
c. Tune out and focus:
Leyton says many of us can reduce stress by simply tuning out the information we’re bombarded with every day and focusing on one thing. He recommends finding a mantra or affirmation that helps you focus and repeating it while breathing to achieve relaxation. Meditation can also be helpful, he adds.
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