On taking breaks

Can you think of the last time you took a break during the work day?

I don't know about you, but for the longest time, I don't take breaks during my work days. Even if I'm taking lunch breaks or coffee breaks, I may still be talking to people, watching TV, or worse, browsing the web.

In fact, that's not a real break for your mind, you're just taking a break from what you have been doing and replacing it with some other activities. Your mind is still taking in information and processing it.

Since last year, I started doing Yoga, meditation and pranayama during my work breaks as a daily routine. These breaks are 30 to 40 minutes combine with light yoga, stretches and pranayama. I feel that after my BREAK, my mind is clearer, and I feel more awake and creative. My mind off-loaded a bunch of information, and I was ready to take in more. The need for coffee to stay focused is significantly reduced.

There are days when I can't afford to take those breaks, and I can feel a big difference. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and restless at night. Other times there are less impact but still I feel stressed out at the end of the day.

So doing a daily yoga practice, even a short on greatly improves my productivity, and is becoming a high priority for me.