Moving against daily stress

Moving is very important to me. My job is very demanding and it sometimes requires sitting for hours staring at the computer screen with my fingers on the keyboard. This often results in pains in the neck, the lumbar spine, and sometimes in the hands, too. This is why any kind of physical activity is good. I have chosen regular movement and stretching as a way to shake up, relax, and clear my mind after a hard day.

My boss once asked me how I relax, adding with a smile that I most probably do what most people do – stay at home and spend time watching television. It does happen sometimes, but I have managed to overcome my ‘laziness’ and nowadays, even when I am most exhausted, what makes me happiest are my trainers, for fast walking or an easy walk, depending on the mood.

About five years ago, I decided to change something with regard to my own health. Although I had used to practice Pilates on quite a regular basis, I could not attend all the training sessions so regularly later, due to various commitments. And so, one evening as everyone was preparing to go to bed, I put on my trainers, went out and started to run.

For several years, I used to run for five kilometres twice a week and I would go for long walks in the Vršac Mountains at weekends. I felt good. Then I wanted to ‘go official’ as a recreational runner by doing something special. So, I applied for the Belgrade half marathon. However, the pandemics broke out and it postponed the achievement of my goal. I did not give up. I continued practicing and extending the distance I was able to run. I ran my first half marathon one year later.

I do not count my races. I simply enjoy the beauty of movement, and the exchange of energy with the nature. I remember the tears of joy that overwhelmed me as I was passing the finish line at one of my first races. This tiny moment of happiness when you beat yourself is priceless, as well as the self-confidence which is additionally boosted.

I was delighted with the company ‘Health Challenge’ because it motivated us additionally to be in motion. My team, which we named ‘Steps as Light as Clouds’, consisted of passionate walking afficionados and fans of Bajaga i instruktori band. Owing to the ‘Health Challenge’, I raised my physical fitness to a higher level throughout that period, when we were competing against our colleagues from all over the world. I managed to compete in several races, out of which two half marathons were my favourite: the first – the local trail in Deliblatska Peščara, in memory of which I have a third-place podium photo, and the Ljubljana half marathon, where I broke my personal record.

In addition to the good feeling for doing something for my own health, running also means that I started to eat regularly. Although it seems to be easy, to have regular meals is actually an undertaking because with all the commitments at home and at work, regular meals call for certain degree of discipline and devotion.

If you have not decided to set yourself in motion yet, I would love if my experience motivated you to do so. Move for at least 30 minutes every day (walking slowly or fast) and enjoy life, because the exchange of energy through movement is the best remedy for the stress we are exposed to on a daily basis.

As the writer Haruki Murakami put it: ‘I just run. I run in void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void’.

Author: Mirjana Poštin, Supply Chain Head PSCOE Cluster, Hemofarm Group

Source: Hemofarm Foundation - MOVING AGAINST DAILY STRESS (fondacijahemofarm.org.rs)