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De-stress at your desk
Many of us spend long stretches of time sitting in front of a computer. We often forget to take care of our body and by the end of the day we have shoulder pain, cramped muscles and headaches. The good news is there are ways to pamper your body during your workday without leaving your desk or office. Having an ergonomic workstation, doing stretching exercises and meditating are a few of the ways you can take care of your body from your desk.
To ensure your workstation is ergonomically correct, arrange your equipment appropriately. Proper equipment setup involves seat positions, mouse and keyboard height, monitor placement, your work environment and healthy work habits. For example, keeping your elbows loosely close to your sides and not pounding on the keys greatly reduces the amount of stress placed on your wrists. An easy-to-implement guide can be found at the Stanford University's Environmental Health and Safety Web site at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/EHS/prod/general/ergo/keys.html.
Stretching approximately every half hour can relieve the physical stress placed on the body from working at a computer. A number of Web sites provide animated stretching exercises that can be done right at your desk. An excellent example is the British Library's "Desk Exercises" page at http://pages.britishlibrary.net/blwww3/deskexercises/, which features animated figures performing neck and shoulder, eye and lower-back exercises. Another good, animated site is Ellen Serber's "Repetitive Stress Injury Exercises" at http://www.mydailyyoga.com/yoga/rsi.html.
Taking five minutes out of your day to relax, breathe and visualize is an excellent way to cope with everyday stress. If you are in a quiet office or have a set of headphones, you can meditate right in your chair. "Learning Meditation" at http://www.learningmeditation.com/room.htm, offers a number of meditation "rooms," including "Quick Getaway" (4 minutes), "Soothing Session" (5 minutes) and "Work Stress" (4 minutes). Each audio session brings you down into a relaxing state and returns you to the world energized. Beginners to meditation may want to try Susan Salzberg's five-minute "Beginners Meditation" available through O, the Oprah Magazine at http://www.oprah.com/rys/omag/rys_omag_200103_meditate.jhtml.
Completely de-stress by doing 10-15 minutes of yoga at your desk. Many Web sites provide free, online streaming-video or audio sessions that can be done in your chair or a quiet area of your office. "Yoga without Tree Hugging" http://www.zenyoga.co.uk/yoga/postures.htm provides two audio sessions, "Office Yoga" (10 minutes) and "Breathing and Relaxation" (8 minutes), that guide you through a yoga session from your chair. For those who prefer streaming-video, the "Hatha Yoga Video Series" at http://www.yogavideo.com/ provides four yoga sessions (15 minutes each). Finally, visit the Yoga Learning Center's "Online Yoga Studio" at http://www.yogalearningcenter.com/. For a small fee, you can have high-quality yoga sessions streamed right to your desktop. Try their four-minute demo at http://www.yogalearningcenter.com/ShowVideo.cfm.
Start the New Year by doing something good for yourself as you go through your workday. It's a beautiful way to multi-task.
—Laura Taddeo and Cynthia Tysick, University Libraries