Mastering Mini Breaks
How Tiny Walking Breaks Benefit The Mind + Join Fridays pilot
‘When it came to self-esteem, the biggest improvements came in the first five minutes of exposure to nature’ - here
Register here for the pilot session this Friday lunchtime (15 mins, open to all) to plan a week of mini walk restorative breaks. To recharge focus, reduce anxiety & restore some internal confidence. An excellent protective habit.
One of the things I’ve always found ironic is that the more I need help the less likely I am to ask for help. I’m not sure when or how it happened but somehow when things feel really hard my default response is ‘you’ve got to find a way through this on our own’.
Slowly (years) I’m getting better at asking for help but something happened a couple of weeks ago and I found myself defaulting to ‘you’ve just got to deal with it on your own’. As humans we have not evolved to deal with problems alone. Physically and mentally we are hardwired to work with others. We have a much higher chance of survival together. Two heads as they say is often much better than one.
How can I find a way to ask for the help I need sooner? Take more quality breaks.
Over the last 6 months I’ve regularly taken a 10 - 15 min walk at 3pm. There have been so many benefits. The inspiration happened when I decided to measure my mood at four different points during a normal working day. I was looking to identify any patterns. One thing became clear; around 3pm almost everyday my mood rapidly deteriorated. I’m more self critical, less patient and prone to catastrophising. Whatever my ‘internal weather’ was at the start of the day by mid afternoon the storm clouds would move in.
What is the cause? I’m not 100% sure but at this point I’d guess my brain is experiencing cognitive fatigue from working hard. I also think our circadian rhythm has a part to play. There seems to be a natural slowing of body and mind in the afternoon for many people. This insight led me to test 3 techniques to see if I could improve how I felt in the afternoons. These were;
1 minute breathing technique - 8 breaths, one nostril
Mini walk restorative break - without my phone
Kept my phone out of sight 3pm - 5pm - I’d also noticed that this time of day I was more susceptible to ‘just checking my phone for one minute’ and then find myself watching mindless mini videos 20 mins later and feeling worse than I did before I checked my phone!
A mini restorative break helps me reset my perspective, calm my mood and recharge some essential focus energy. I zoom out to see the bigger picture.
When our workload is overwhelming, our brain gets fatigued and we make false assumptions. If we don’t create protective habits to reset perspective we start to believe the false stories we tell ourselves.
Today our aim is to plan a meaningful mini restorative break to recharge focus energy, reduce anxiety and restore some confidence in ourselves
What does the science say about the significant benefits of mini restorative walking breaks?
Mind - improves memory & attention here reduces anxiety here
Body - can reduce back pain here
Mood - as effective as drugs to lift mood and treat depression here
Creativity - a single walk can ignite creative thinking here
Resilience - improves problem solving abilities and lifts mood = increase in resilience
The Mini Walking Restorative Break Checklist
Book the time in you calendar now - minimum 10 mins, chose a time of day that feels easy, its a great way to start or end your lunch break - no phone
Have a clear place in mind you will walk to; park, bench, cafe, shop, its much easier to convert intention into action with a clear destination
Ask yourself this question; what’s one thing in nature I can notice today? This helps us use biofeedback to return our attention to the present moment
Pause to take a 4 Breath Pause - eyes open or closed, use your breathing to calm your body to help calm the mind
Smile or say ‘good morning/afternoon’ to one person you see, when someone smiles or says hello back it helps us feel connected to others
Join the pilot session here to plan your mini restorative break walks for the week ahead
“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. ” - William James
You are a good person, doing you best. That’s enough. You give some much energy to others, you deserve some quality time for you.
P.S - Thank you to everyone who submitted their challenging situations last week. I hope you are all ok. My colleague Joy and I reframed the situations together but the video ended up being 40 mins long. I’m going to try and figure out a way to provide a useful response in a shorter video. Leave it with me, I will post something before Easter.