Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Time for lunch?
When responsibility to oneself is put second to the belief that something else is more important, then we are most certainly on a slippery slope. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that we should concider ourselves more important than other people. Far from it. Indeed, someone else's well-being, health and care, along with commitment our work can mean the world to us.
There are many calls on our time, our attention, to our job, home, dependents and if we allowed, far more than we could possibly fit in to any one day or life. But while you are attending to everything and everyone else, who is looking after YOU? There is only one person who can really look after you and that is YOURSELF. Unless we are invalided, handicapped, dependent in some way and we are 'in the care' of someone or the hospital, there will be no-one looking after us. Who can make sure we are properly fed, rested, hydrated or cleansed other than ourselves? It is up to us. If we don't look after our own health and wellbeing, then we suffer along with reduced levels of happiness and ability to think clearly, calmly and be effective. If we don't look after ourselves, no one else will and we will not be in a condition to do our job properly or attend to the needs of others, as we would like. In order to help others and be in a condition to do so long-term, we need to look after the one who is doing the work.
Looking after ourselves first, does not mean that we are selfish other than we are attending to the needs of the SELF. By doing so we can attend to the needs of others better and bring our best to the task or occupation. We increase our value to others, by ensuring we are in our best condition to do the job.
So it is with alarm that a recent survey shows a whopping 76% of workers in the UK feel that they can't get away from work for lunch because they are "simply too busy". More than half say they regularly eat lunch at their desk with over a quarter doing work at the same time. Almost half of Britain's workers admit to regularly not taking a full lunch break despite nine out of ten saying it would make them feel more positive and refreshed for the afternoon ahead. These are the results of a survey conducted by Powergen, as published in the Institution of Engineering & Technology Careers Magazine. More than 800 workers in 10 cities were interviewed.
As TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "It's not possible to concentrate or be creative for long periods of time without taking decent breaks and time spent out of the workplace provides the perfect opportunity for staff to recharge their batteries. Employees who feel unable to get away from their desks are not going to be a company's most positive asset."
Because we may think or believe that we cannot get away from our desk we are fulfilling our own prophesy. What we think is what we get. But I'd wager that if we just do take a proper break and go out for a lunch and breath of fresh air, the job will get done just the same.....and possibly better in some cases. When we are rested, nourished and had a change of pace and environment we will be more productive, clearer headed and more effective.
NASA the space agency conducted experiments with astronauts and pilots with regards to the benefits of a short nap after lunch. They found that by doing so, productivity can increase by up to 33% and alertness by 54%. Their results and my own experiences motivated me to set up the UK's first National Siesta Day on 28 June this year.
By taking care of our own health and well-being and by having a proper break we treat ourselves with respect and integrity. We satisfy our own bodily needs and we are more likely to feel good about ourselves. It filters through to everything we do. We will get more out of our life, and also be in a position to give more, to help others with theirs.
