Walk Your Work Stress Away During Lunch
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iStock/Thinkstock(PERTH, Australia) — So it’s been a rough morning at work and your lunch break can’t come soon enough. Are you going to spend it at your desk to pour out your troubles on social media?
An Australian researcher warns that’s the last thing you should be doing.
Curtin University psychological scientist Cecilie Thogersen-Ntoumani says the best way to relieve stress is to get out in the open air and walk around — really walk around.
After conducting an experiment with university colleagues who ordinarily got less than 150 minutes of moderate physical exercise, Thogersen-Ntoumani and her team discovered that the group that was sent on three half-hour group-led walks at lunch over the course of several months noted a marked improvement in their work attitudes.
The walkers felt less stress, less tension, more relaxed and, perhaps most significantly, believed that their work performance improved.
The study compared their brightened outlook following walks to what’s known as the “runner’s high,” which comes from the release of endorphins that produces a mild sense of euphoria and helps to relieve stress and depression.
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