Angel's blog: Take Your Lunchbreak

I had a health scare recently, and when I say scare, lets imagine absolutely petrified.  It started with a squeezing pain in the right of my chest, it would last for one second and go away. Every time it happened, I would add ‘I must call the Doctor’ on my mental list. I never did. I always had another thing to be getting on with. I was busy, I was working, I was being mummy, I was being friend, auntie, daughter, sister and everything under the sun. I was running my children to clubs, cleaning the house, cooking, shopping and more until after a week of squeezy pain my body decided that it had warned me enough and about 6pm on a Saturday evening I found myself in an ambulance.

The pain had gone to the left side, down my arm, up to my jaw. Even when the ambulance was on the way I was telling my husband to start preparing the kids for bed. I figured that if I was dying, I didn’t want them to see me like this. In the ambulance I was making all sorts of bargains with God because I was so so scared and I wanted to live. I wanted to see my children grow up.  If I was spared, I would eat healthier, I would exercise, I would reduce stress. I would slow down.

Now a week later I am trying. I had to take some time off work (I must say they were genuinely worried for me.) I started a 30-day yoga series on YouTube. I am upping the veggies and have even had a couple of smoothies for breakfast, and today, I managed to take a nap!

Having this time has given me a lot of time to think.  I have mused over the past, mused over my future, and thought about what I want the rest of the year to go like.  I realised that I prefer this slower pace and I need to take breaks. 

We can be busy us working parents.  We try to do so much. As I am part time, I often feel that I have to make up my day off. I always come into hundreds of things to do and rarely take a break during the day. When I am not working from the office and I am working from home, I log in so early and log out so late to work flat out until my eyes hurt and my back aches.  This can’t continue for me or for you the reader. If this is you and you don’t take a break during the day, we really have to prioritise them. They force you to clear your mind and come back to work with a fresh perspective. They also help you reduce stress. Some people meditate, some go to the gym, some nap and some just walk around the block. Your break is the time you can use to reduce stress.

So, if you are like me, when you return to work take your lunchbreak – you do have time. Don’t eat at your desk, walk out of your building on sunny days, find a local bench and munch there. If you work from home, make that your back garden, your balcony, a local park. Just make sure you take a break. If you feel you can’t do that every day, try taking 10 minutes break every day and then if you can, just up the time gradually. We all need down time and my body let me know what can happen if you don’t have any. Stay well readers, until next time.

Angel is an Executive Assistant and a busy mum of a Lego mad 6-year-old and a music crazy 3-year-old. She lives with them, her husband and two fish in Hertfordshire and when in the office, works in Holborn.

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• Families