It’s Wednesday, HOORAY! ! ! , and time for another installment of ERGO WEEKLY, this week imagine the soothing sounds of a gentle water fall in the distance or a gentle flowing stream meandering through your office or cubicle.
Yes, today we’re going to talk about taking care of yourself through an office Spa treatment. Ok, maybe not the full treatment with a full body massage after a soak in a mud bath (that just sounds yucky, but I’m a guy so maybe I don’t fully understand) with the gentle sound of wind chimes playing in the background.
Since we’re at the office we can’t get into the full effect of the spa (lowering the lights, turning on the music) but we can take a break and massage a few of the body parts that take lots of abuse during the day.
So let’s start from on our arms:
(From wikiHow.com) To massage your arms, start by making long flowing strokes with the opposite hand all the way up your arm, from your wrists to your shoulder. Continue to make these long strokes until you feel your arms heating up. Then, transition to making smaller little circles all over your forearms and upper-arms.
Switch back and forth between the long-flowing strokes and the smaller circles until your arms feel heated and relaxed.
After completing your arm routine let’s move to your hands, this will help to recover from all of the keyboarding you are doing throughout the day.
Gently squeeze one hand by pressing it between the palm and fingers of your other hand. Then, squeeze each finger and run the thumb from your other hand along the joints of the fingers in a circular motion. Hold the finger at its base and gently pull it up so that you’re stretching the fingers upwards. Use your thumb to stroke the tendons on the back of the hands.
Use your thumb to put pressure on your palms and wrists, moving it in a circular motion.
To complete the massage, stroke your palm gently from your fingers to your wrist. If you’re using oil, rub your hands together to massage the oil further into your hands. You can also complete this motion even if you’re not using oil.
Now, if you are bold you can move to your feet. Who says you have to wait until the day is over to pamper yourself. Go ahead be a little bold (you just may also need to be discreet).
To massage your feet, dig your thumbs in a circular motion into the soles of your feet and the bottoms of your toes. You can also start at your ankle and rub your thumbs outwards across the top of your feet and down the toes. You can support your foot with one hand while working on each toe with the other hand. Squeeze each toe and gently pull it upward. Place your thumb on each of the joints on your toes and move it in a circular motion.
You can try these techniques as well:
- Massage the soles of your feet either by creating circular motions with both of your thumbs, or putting your hand into a fist and running it up and down the soles of your feet.
- Use your fingertips to stroke your ankle up and down.
- Squeeze your Achilles tendon several times.
- Finish the massage by gently stroking your foot.
Now, turn down the music, relax and breathe deep for a few more minutes and then back to work feeling refreshed and ready for the next big task.
Till next week. Remember to stretch, get up and walk, stand up and work. MOVE, MOVE, MOVE during the day. Your body will be happier, your brain more alive and you’ll get more done. But, take a few minutes each day to pamper yourself with a little massage to keep the muscles relaxed and the blood flowing.