“As we prepared the girls ‘office’ to get ready for this ‘school year’ some things came to mind.”

The world is a little nuttier than normal and everyone’s stress level is ramped up a bit even if everything is ‘fine’. Stress and how we process stress causes changes in the body that build and cause injury and disease. Many of you have heard me say that stress is more than just a bran muffin, 2 cups of coffee, and the 3 left lanes of 95 closed down. These days you could say that stress is more than getting chastised for going down the up aisle at Wegmans, or being stuck in the house during a TP shortage, or your 3 kids going beyond stir crazy and trying to teach them geometry when you probably slept through the difference of perpendicular and parallel (and don’t get me started on social media).

People often only think of stress as an emotional issue however stress manifests in the body on a physical and chemical level.  And they are all out of control.  Kitchen tables are made for eating, not 6 months of 60-hour week office work. Laptops are erroneously named. They’re not made for laps outside 20 minutes at the gate before a flight. Diet and drinking? Fuggedaboutit!

We’ve been seeing an uptick in ergonomic based generated pain these days because not only have our lives been turned upside down, so has our body mechanics. We’ve all been hit with a double whammy. Stress and poor ergonomics and dynamics. A triple whammy even for those of us motivated enough to hurt themselves getting to those DIY projects we’ve been putting off till now.

Life ain’t normal right now. Not sure when it will be. But we need to act like it is where we can. Get up at your pre-COVID time, get dressed, set up a real desk, a useable workspace, and a real chair. Exercise. Eat well. Keep the booze to 1 or 2 NORMAL sized servings a day 5 days a week. And remember to make your appointments! We follow all CDC and Maryland DOH guidelines for safety and sanitation.