Take a stand to workplace stress

How Standing can help your back and well being.

I wanted to republish this article as it has recently become news again that we are living sedentary lives and sitting can be bad for us.
For many of us, me included, having a bad back is a way of life, we get used to it and the pain becomes normal, we know no different. The following is a slight departure from the normal information we share about our products, but we thought this would resonate with a lot of you.
I spent many years before Wildflowers in the furniture industry designing offices that were ergonomically suited for all the users and working with a Swedish manufacturer who were leaders in this style of furniture really made ergonomics a way of life for me as natural as waking up and breathing.
Starting Wildflowers was a natural transition,as our products were able to help people who had stress and bad backs in their life.
I wanted to share with you a simple method of integrating an ergonomic workstation that can be easily adapted to your office environment and your home.
Sitting for prolonged periods of time at the computer can be so disruptive to our posture and how our muscles work and react to these periods of inactivity, so creating a different work method can help keep muscles active.
I have made a simple stand up workstation in my office where I use my laptop, I also have a normal workstation for my larger computer, where I sit.
Standing helps use different muscle groups and you will also find it helps you be more creative, you think more clearly standing, just think when you take a phone call, most of us pace around while talking, standing uses the same principle.
Throughout the day I will swap between workstations, this gives me a stretch break and the walk (20 paces) also helps keep the muscles active.
The workstation shown in the photo only cost me $29, so it doesn't have to cost and arm and a back.

Stand up work station

Hope this helps you as many of us spend a lot of our waking hours in front of the computer so any way we can make it a more enjoyable experience the better our physical and mental lives will be for it.
Let us know if you would like more information on our simple stand up workstation solution.
Kind Regards
Peter and Patricia

Wildflowers Aromatherapy and Gifts

Stand up to workplace stress

Stress in the workplace

We have identified how working for long uninterrupted periods on the computer can lead to muscle stress and fatigue.

For 30 years I worked as a workspace planner with a European office furniture manufacturer, they were one of the first companies to recognize that the workplace contributed to the major reason people got stressed and sick.

We were one of the first companies to use a stand up workstation; these enabled the user to adjust the surface quickly to their desired height and also allowed them the flexibility of movement while working.

Moving to Canada I still adopted these ideas and with the use of laptops and tablets the large work surface was as dead as the dodo.

Also more people were now working from home so space was a precious commodity, thus the stand-up station was a space saver as well as an ergonomic blessing.

I went to the Home depot and bought myself supplies to make my own stand up surface for under $60.

Stand up work surface

I still had my sit down desk, albeit much smaller, but throughout the day I alternated between the 2 work surface, this gave me the exercise I needed and allowed me to use different muscle sets throughout the day. Resulting in, less fatigue, less stress and a more 

productive day.

Whilst I still have my heat packs for those days my muscles ache, it is not required for stress relief anymore.

So take a stand against workplace stress.

baby gifts

 Workplace stress

Do you suffer from stress in the workplace?
This can be one many causes, the main one is your body and how it reacts to stress.
When you are working on the computer for long periods of time, just take a few seconds to check your body and where your shoulders are in relation to your ears.
You see the more stressed you are the higher your shoulders go up, a quick release is to take a deep breathe and relax, you will suddenly see how far your shoulders drop.
Should you find yourself working at the computer for long periods of time it is important to take stretch breaks, take a walk around the house, make a cup of tea, walk around the office, this will relax the muscles, if you can't find the time to do this make an appointment with your self in your desk top calender say every hour to remind yourself to take a break.
Stress can also be caused by the way you are working, your environment such as how your chair is set, where your monitor is in relation to your eyes, this is another blog I can do to address this as I have spent 30 years in the office furniture business designing ergonomic work spaces.
We have supplied many companies with our shoulder wraps for employees to use to help relax those neck and shoulder muscles.
here is a short release from one BC company - Worksafe BC.

Ultra-shoulder wrap

Worksafe BC incorporated the use of our Ultra Shoulder wraps for their employees to use to relieve stress or tension at work.

• Emma Chritensen their corporate ergonomist found that individuals using the wraps had a more relaxed posture while working at their workstations, their shoulders were lower, not hunched up around the ears and productivity increased.

This all natural stress relief wrap penetrates deep into muscles to dissolve stress and soothe aches, moist heat therapy can even help diminish tension headaches.

Dental anxiety and stress

Also dentists are using our Ultra-shoulder wrap to help relieve dental anxiety with their clients

All of our Warm Buddy products are approved medical devices for the relief of pain and stress relief.