How to relieve stress in the office

Living stressed all the time is something we have normalized, but that doesn’t mean it is right or that it cannot be avoided. Stress is one of the worst enemies of quality of life and usually manifests mainly in the work environment and from there affects other personal areas. At Zen to Go, we want to see you calm and relaxed, that's why we have prepared this brief guide to help you with practical exercises so you can manage stress in the office properly. 

How does stress affect our body and mind?

Stress is not so much a mental state as a series of hormonal activation processes in the body in response to a real or imaginary threat, which has very real physical consequences. In excess, it causes, among other things:

• Muscle pain, especially in the cervical and lumbar areas

• Insomnia 

• Frequent headaches or migraines

• Digestive alterations such as colitis, diarrhea, or constipation

• Irritability

• Memory and concentration loss

• Tiredness 

• Weight loss or gain

In extreme cases, stress can be the direct cause of gastric ulcers, sexual dysfunction, and even lead to clinical depression.

Stress and work productivity

What we colloquially call “stress” is actually a physiological response that occurs when the body prepares to fight against a threat. In evolutionary terms, it is a very adaptive strategy if it involves escaping from a predator or hunting prey, but in the modern work context, it becomes a kind of diffuse general discomfort that neither helps us perform better nor achieve our goals.

Paradoxically, the more stressed we are, the less we perform, we are less assertive and we make worse decisions. Combating stress is not only a health issue, it is also a productivity issue. 

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Techniques to relieve stress in the office 

Neither the work, nor the problems, nor the challenges in the office really come to an end. Stress occurs when we over dimension everyday and inevitable elements of our daily work life, we carry all the responsibility on our shoulders and try to push processes to the maximum that have their own rhythm. To fight against this harmful inertia, discipline and specific actions are needed. Here we explain some of them: 

1.- Take brief breaks at least once an hour

Forcing attention on the same task and maintaining the same posture for more than fifty or sixty minutes starts to take its toll on both our mind and our body. Under no circumstances is it healthy to be continuously glued to the chair and the computer for eight hours. 

Make sure to clear your mind and stretch your muscles for a moment with each hour of work. As much as possible, also try to organize your tasks in a way that allows you to vary the nature of the activities you do.

Among other things, you can get up for a glass of water to stay hydrated or do some of the exercises we explain below.

2.- Anti-stress muscle relaxation

Preferably, you should perform this exercise standing, paying attention to maintain a straight cervical posture, shoulders back, and the diaphragm well open; be fully aware of the neck muscles, where much of the stress tends to accumulate.

Slowly, make ten movements with your head up and down, and then do another ten repetitions moving your chin to the left and to the right. Finally, repeat the exercise bringing your left ear to your shoulder and vice versa. Try to coordinate the movements with your breathing. You can also relax the shoulders and hips with gentle circular movements. 

Practicing this simple routine once or twice a day will make a great difference as it will allow stress to be released properly instead of accumulating until the end of the day. 

3.- Controlled deep breathing

Most of the time, humans breathe with short and rhythmic nasal inhalations and exhalations of which we are generally not aware. This kind of automatic breathing does not occupy even 30% of lung capacity and therefore keeps oxygen levels acceptable but not deep. 

Properly oxygenating the brain and tissues corresponds to “charging the battery” of concentration and facilitates focus as well as emotional relaxation. It is very easy to do controlled deep breathing exercises, you can do them from the comfort of your chair and they will only take a couple of minutes. 

• Adopt a comfortable posture with your back straight and eyes closed

• Inhale steadily while counting slowly up to ten

• Try to fill your lungs from the base of your chest or diaphragm

• Exhale slowly while counting to ten

• Repeat five or six times

4.- Meditation

Meditation is not only a trendy practice but a scientifically proven technique to reduce levels of anxiety, stress, and irritability. What is exactly meditating? Basically, it is freeing the mind from the past and the future to ground it in the here and now. 

There are different meditation techniques that vary widely from one another: some aim to leave the mind completely blank while others rely on guided visualizations that promote states of well-being. Regardless of which one suits your personality best, taking five or ten minutes a day to meditate is a sure bet to control work stress.

5.- The power of laughter and music

Stress is a state that has a lot to do with an alteration of blood pressure and mental processes, as it makes us focus on problems rather than solutions. A simple and effective way to return to a state of well-being and creativity and “think outside the box” is to listen to our favorite music or simply have a good laugh for a moment. 

Music positively influences heart rate and hinders the release of stress hormones. Meanwhile, laughter helps relax muscle tension and promotes a flood of happiness hormones. Therefore, taking a break to listen to a song that makes you feel good or just joking with a coworker is, in fact, a very healthy way to improve your performance.

In addition to the practical advice you just read, consider that you can always turn to one of our anti-stress massages at home at the end of a particularly heavy day or week. It's super simple, just log in to our App and select the type of massage you need: we will come to the comfort of your home and even your office.