Lunch Break: Get Moving

This article is the first in a series on how real workers use their lunch break for more than checking Facebook or (please, no) catching up on more work.

Looking for a way at lunchtime to get your blood pumping, your back loosened up after a morning sitting in a computer chair, and your mind off of your to-do list? (Oh, yeah, and eat, too, because an empty stomach is no way to start the afternoon.) A craze called Lunch Beat has been sweeping Sweden since 2010, and it is gaining momentum in the United States and other countries.

Here’s how it works: For a fee, workers are admitted to a club for an hour of dancing to pulsating music and eating sandwiches (no liquor). Don’t expect to sit around talking shop; everyone who comes in is expected to be out there boogying. Then, it is back to work – hopefully feeling recharged for the rest of the day.

If dancing in public isn’t your thing, consider yoga. Christine Parizo, currently an independent copywriter, notes that when she worked in an office, she’d take a lunchtime restorative yoga class. “You’d do gentle poses that would relax and energize you without getting you sweaty.”

And then there is old reliable – walking. Take new paths or bring along a friend to keep it interesting (or, if you insist you must do something productive, complete a few errands on foot). Dan Berkovitz, an office manager for Terranova Corporation, sometimes joins the IT manager on his daily one mile walk to Miami Beach to touch the water with his hand before turning back. Bet the thought of doing that at lunch could get many a worker through a long morning of meetings!

Image courtesy of Thinkstock/iStockphoto

Tomorrow, check out Lunch Break: Get Eating