Natural ways to reduce anxiety – Part 3

This week the daily mail reported that three in four office workers blame desk for sickness: badly set up desks and chairs cost companies 7bn each year. Rather than sitting in silence or popping pain killers to ease headaches or back pain,  here are my top 7 tips for staying healthy while working at your desk.

1. Sit up straight.  As you read this post, if you’re not running to an appointment or standing, how are you sitting? Really take notice of how you are sitting and poised. Are you legs crossed? Is your back hunched over as you read this? Or are you sitting up straight?  If you are sitting ensure that you are sitting up straight, not slouched, with your head directly over your torso and your feet on the ground, using a foot rest if necessary.
2. User a wrist support.  Repeatedly bending your wrists up and down (extension and flexion) compresses structures inside the carpal tunnel in the wrist. This can cause pain and lead to injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.  Place the heel of your palm on a wrists pad to minimise wrist pain.
3. Use a headset.  If you spend a lot of time on the phone user a head set rather to avoid holding the phone to your ear by raising your shoulder which may cause neck & shoulder pain.
4. Don't bang the keyboard instead use a light touch.  Try to use the minimum amount of force necessary to depress the keys. The tendons from your fingers connect near your elbow, so striking the keys too hard can lead to problems you might not associate with your keyboard-for example, pain and inflammation in your elbows (Epicondylitis).
5. Look straight ahead.  Maintaining proper eye level with your computer monitor is essential. This helps you avoid straining your back, neck, shoulders, and arms. In addition, proper eye level reduces unnecessary eye strain. To accomplish this sit in your office chair and stare straight ahead. You should be looking directly at the center of your monitor. If you are not looking at the center of the screen adjust the monitor until you have the correct measurement and use a monitor riser where necessary.
6. Save your work, save your shoulders.  Working as a massage therapist who specialise in Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massage withing an office environment, I know muscular tension in shoulders causing neck and shoulder pain is a common problem.  To minimise the build up of muscular tension in your shoulders, every time your save your work or send an email simply circle your shoulder three times clockwise and then three times anti-clockwise.
7. Book a massage.  If you are feeling the stain and pain for working long hours at your desk then book a massage which are highly effective at relieving neck pain, shoulder pain, back pain and tension headaches.

One of the first things you learn as a massage therapist is that everyone wants deep pressure in massage.  This is because no one wants a light fluffy massage because they feel there will be no benefit and they have wasted both their time and money. The second thing you learn as a massage is that everyone has their own idea what deep pressure is and what would be light pressure for one person is deep pressure for another person.  Even if you take one client, the pressure they consider deep on their tight shoulders will be different from their idea of deep pressure on their legs.   So there is no fixed concept of what deep pressure is, it varies from client to client, and with the same client it varies treatment to treatment and depending up on the part of their body your are treating. Given all this how do we work out pressure in clinic.  First, we base it on our experience, your body type, the tension in the muscle we are working on.  But most of all we talk to you about how the pressure feels to you and respect your preferences for pressure. I am sure most of you have heard me talk about good pain.  Its based on a phenomenon that I have seen in clinic over the years.  This is where someone comes into clinic in pain, we apply pressure and the pain turns into a good pain – because the pressure is a source of relief.  For some people this “good pain” just feels right.  This good pain is strong but welcome and came sometimes be described as a “sweet ache”.  For some clients the good pain, is such a welcome relief that pain doesn’t even seem the right word. A word of warning, I like all my other therapists are only human and sometimes we get it wrong.  This can be if we have missed a trigger point that is very sensitive, and we go into deep or the opposite can happen where a muscle locks up and we apply pressure and you as the client can’t feel anything.  These situations can also arise due to change with your body i.e. an intense gym session or longer work hours than usual so lots of extra time sitting at your desk. I try to ask all my clients regularly without sounding like its some automated message, do you want the pressure deeper or lighter and if so let me know.  I know the other therapists in clinic do this as well. In clinic we always want you to get the most out of your treatment.  So please remember we always welcome feedback on pressure throughout your treatment.

Following on from last week’s entry on building resilience, it is important to state that resilience don’t just help you manage stress but it fosters inner strength to help you meet goals, life challenges and achieve success. Most of my clients hold more or less physical tension which I would like you to think of as a bad habit that relaxation will help you break.  Relaxation is like changing the idling speed on a car.  When a car turns over too quickly, wasting expensive fuel and putting a strain on the engine, the mechanic can reset the idling speed to a much lower level.  Similarly when busyness, concerns, time pressure have speeded us up too much, making us tense and irritable, we can learn how to let go and attain a much calmer state of being.  So taking the time to learn what relaxes you! It is worth re-emphasising the point that it is possible to make an enormous difference to your state of mind through yoga, tai chi, relaxation and meditation and all other sorts of physical exercise. While most of celebrate our wins, it is also important to celebrate when we do good for others, as often other’s don’t notice.  We all know life has its ups and downs, when your life is in turmoil, you may not do things "perfectly".  Rather than worrying or simply surviving turmoil, why not ask what you can learn from the situation.  But don’t beat yourself up, remember you always do your best, when you know better, you do better! One habit that I try to cultivate to help put a smile on my face especially when I am feeling down is to cultivate a gratitude attitude.  However bad my day goes, before I got to sleep I try to think of three things that I am grateful for.   These don’t need to be big things; it can be as simple as “I am grateful that the transport system ran on time” as I had a busy day.  A gratitude attitude helps foster joy, fulfilment & peace of mind.