{"id":2598,"date":"2016-12-06T10:16:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T16:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/?p=2598"},"modified":"2023-04-27T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T17:02:57","slug":"give-yourself-a-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/give-yourself-a-break","title":{"rendered":"Take a Moment to Relax &#8211; Give Yourself a Break!"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\"><strong>Give Yourself a Break!<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p align=\"center\">\n<p>The holidays are upon us and many are stressed to the max. Our expectations are over-the-moon.\u00a0Give yourself a break. Choose a couple of things from your to-do list and pare them down or cross them off. You really don&#8217;t need to make 5 dozen each of a dozen different kinds of cookies. The season will go on even if you don&#8217;t get the most elaborate ever gingerbread house made.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Studies show that one of the ways to handle stress is to do small things for others. Adding a few new things to your list of nice things you already do for others will help manage your stress. Here&#8217;s a list from Peg Johnson, Editor, WPA, of things that are easy to do:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Say thank you to someone you don&#8217;t usually&#8230;coworkers, service personnel, your family.<\/li>\n<li>Pay for the person behind you in the fast food line.<\/li>\n<li>Hold the door for someone.<\/li>\n<li>Let someone who only has a few things go ahead of you in the checkout line.<\/li>\n<li>Leave a thank you note and maybe a gift card for your mail carrier and paper deliverer.<\/li>\n<li>Leave a thank you note taped to the garbage can when you put it out for collection.<\/li>\n<li>Let the person behind you have the next open parking place.<\/li>\n<li>Go out of your way to carry someone&#8217;s packages for them.<\/li>\n<li>Give up your seat on the bus to someone else.<\/li>\n<li>Next time you get good service in a retail establishment ask to see the manager and report the excellent service you received.<\/li>\n<li>Drop off a small bag of cookies at your neighbors house.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now you&#8217;ve tried a few of those, here&#8217;s a relaxation script you can do right at your desk. Keep practicing until you can feel the benefits by just remembering how good it felt.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><a name=\"Break\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Give Yourself a Break &#8211; Relaxation at Your Desk<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p>Time: 10 minutes<\/p>\n<p>This quick routine can be done almost anywhere: your desk at work, in bed, in the line at the grocery store, while riding in the car, while watching TV, while listening to a lecture, at that interminable choir concert at your child&#8217;s school.\u00a0It combines the benefits of deep breathing with progressive muscle relaxation.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><strong>Script<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Turn off your phone and put your computer on screen saver. . . Get comfy in your chair and close your eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Draw in a long, slow breath while you imagine it filling your body.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Blow it out in a long, slow stream. . . Imagine that all the toxins in your body are leaving with it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Draw in another long, slow breath. . . Think of the oxygen filling your cells with new life and energy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Again, blow it out in a long, slow stream as you picture your stress going with it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Draw in another long, slow breath. . . imagine peace entering your soul.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">As you blow it out, imagine all the restlessness in your body going with it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You are relaxed.<\/p>\n<p>Pause<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Now, beginning with your toes, tighten and release your muscles&#8230; Breathe in as you tighten them, out as they relax. . .Now do the same with your feet, ankles, calf muscles, and your thighs. Breathe in and out slowly as you pay attention to each muscle group.<\/p>\n<p>Pause<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Continue with your abdomen. . . Let it expand with good, clean, oxygen-filled air. Blow it gently out as you relax. . . Do the same with your chest, arms, hands, neck, and face.<\/p>\n<p>Pause<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Rest. Breathe in a normal, relaxed way. Enjoy the relaxed feeling of your body and mind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Sit as quietly as you can for five minutes. Then open your eyes and rejoin the world, feeling relaxed and ready to face anything that lands on your plate.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/pdf\/Relaxation-at-your-desk.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" shape=\"rect\">Click here<\/a> for printable version. Enjoy the last few weeks of the holiday season! May peace and joy be with you in the New Year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Give Yourself a Break! The holidays are upon us and many are stressed to the max. Our expectations are over-the-moon.\u00a0Give yourself a break. Choose a couple of things from your to-do list and pare them down or cross them off. You really don&#8217;t need to make 5 dozen each of a dozen different kinds of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Take a Moment to Relax - Give Yourself a Break! #relaxation #holidaystress","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,348],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-exercises"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Take a Moment to Relax - Give Yourself a Break! - The Wellness Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The holidays are upon us and many are stressed to the max. 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