Yes, it is that time of year again, Blue Monday. It is indeed a hard time of year, where winter seems as though it will last forever, amongst many other challenging factors. But, if we got through last year, this year should surely be easier?! Like so many, I personally had to deal with a lot of change and loss, however, this gave me a chance to test the practices that I often advise my clients on, and so I thought it might be useful to share a small overview of these below!
- Understanding others to reduce feelings of conflict.
Are your colleagues or indeed family driving you crazy, do you feel misunderstood? Last year, I met the wonderful James Knight and Ashley Boroda and learnt about the IMA colour system. It shows how to increase your understanding others, maximising your connectivity and reducing conflict. Check out: https://imahigh.com/. I am a high blue! - Keep Learning: In this ever connected world with so much information available at our finger tips, find your passion and focus on what you would like to learn. Keeping the joy of learning alive and sharing this knowledge to help others is a powerful supplier of dopamine, as is helping others!
- Keep moving: When mood is low, exercise needs to become a non-negotiable. The best time to exercise is in the morning, boosting circadian rhythms and setting the right tone for the day. I also find it gives the head space to solve problems. By exercising in the morning, it is less likely that a busy day and high workload will take over and exercise will be squeezed out. In addition, remember that ANY movement during the day is beneficial, batches of just 3-5 minutes can make all the difference.
- Posture:
As an ergonomist, I can’t not include this. Good posture not only promotes healthy muscles and tissues, it also boosts oxygen. As well as reducing your risk of back pain, good posture enables us to be more logical, more direct, have more self belief and improves our concentration levels by allowing more oxygen to reach our muscles, tissues and brain. - Self awareness:
Regularly check in for areas of tension. Performing a body scan check for when, say, your shoulders are raised and then simply drop the shoulder down to reduce the risk of tension build up through the day. - Eat well:
I have just finished reading Andrew Weils 8 weeks to optimum health. It includes ‘a step by step plan to keep your body’s natural healing system in peak working order’. It is a great prompt to eat healthier, boosting our immunity system, mood, muscle and nerve health.
Focus on the positive. Blue mood highlights areas in our life where we want to change, and this can be a gradual process, through learning, connection, research and understanding, and most of all, being proactive. Part of my job, when we are providing ergonomic support, is to replace negative thought patterns with positive ones when laying out a road map to recovery. For more information on how we can help, contact us for a free exploratory call at [email protected]
