Relax Frequently. Very Frequently.

by Nina

“When we’re renewing, we’re truly renewing, so when we’re working, we can really work.”—Tony Schwartz

On this blog, we’ve talked till we’re blue in the face about how important it is to reduce stress to support healthy aging. After all, chronic stress can cause everything from heart disease and stroke to depression. But when people are busy with their everyday lives, it’s often difficult for them to make lifestyle changes to support a long-term goal. But according to a recent editorial in the New York Times Relax! You’ll be More Productive, there is also a short-term payoff to relaxing on a regular basis:

“A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal—including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.”

Yes, author Tony Schwartz says that relaxing on a regular basis “it’s possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably.” He goes on to say that human beings didn’t evolve to expend energy continuously but rather to pulse between spending and recovering energy. This is a reference to the fight or flight response vs. the relaxation response, which we’ve discussed in previous posts (see Chronic Stress: An Introduction and The Relaxation Response and Yoga). This is not big news to us, of course. What got me intrigued, however, was Schwartz’s statement that “strategic renewal” ideally should come every 90 minutes.

“during the day we move from a state of alertness progressively into physiological fatigue approximately every 90 minutes. Our bodies regularly tell us to take a break, but we often override these signals and instead stoke ourselves up with caffeine, sugar and our own emergency reserves — the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol.”

Among other studies, Schwartz cites the work of Professor K. Anders Ericsson and his colleagues at Florida State University. Dr. Ericsson studied elite performers, including musicians, athletes, actors and chess players, and found that in each of these fields, the best performers typically practice in uninterrupted sessions that last no more than 90 minutes. They begin in the morning, take a break between sessions, and rarely work for more than four and a half hours in any given day.

Legs Up the Wall Pose (Better Than Sleep)

 Of course most of us can’t take a nap every 90 minutes—something Schwartz recommends—at work. Besides, unless you’re sleep deprived, sleeping probably isn’t the best way to relax and restore yourself (see Conscious Relaxation vs. Sleep). So—wait for it—how about doing a little bit of yoga every 90 minutes? Maybe shut your office door and do a restorative pose or two (see Mini Restorative Sequence). Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani) would be my pose of choice. And if you don’t have a door (yeah, I worked in one of those cubicle thingies back in the day) or feel like being active instead of resting, try some of our office yoga poses. We’ve got a sequence you can do in your office clothes (see Mini Office Yoga Sequence) and a series of seated poses you can do right at your desk (see Chair Yoga Mini Sequence). And, of course, you could always meditate, even in a noisy environment (see Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations)!