Follow Office Om on any of these social media channels for more office yoga, mindfulness and wellbeing in 2017, to help you feel at your best.

4. Be kind
Whatever your views on the politics this year, you might have noticed that some commentators have noticed a decrease in compassion. Conversely, being more compassionate has been linked to better mental wellbeing. Try a random act of kindness over Christmas, for example, donating some toys to a local  hospital, giving coffee to a cold person or looking after a parcel for a neighbour. Notice how this makes you feel.  Likewise, it’s important to be kind to ourselves. Try noticing when you say something unkind to yourself and gently challenge these thoughts. Say something kind to yourself instead and notice what happens to your mood.

5. Rest
​Take a break. Rest. Stop everything for a bit and just rest. Find a way of doing this that feels good to you. Perhaps putting your feet up and having a cup of tea, disconnecting from technology and reading a book or just lying like a starfish on your bed for a few minutes. This may feel strange or it may feel great, but actually stopping everything and pausing for a few moments, minutes or hours can help us revive. Notice how you feel once you start ‘doing’ again.

6. Reflect
Winter can be a good time to reflect on the past year. What are you grateful for? What would you like to be different next year? Take time out to appreciate how far you’ve come and how you would like next year to feel.
 
Taking some time out in winter to recharge, refresh and revive can stand us in good stead for next year. What can you do to help you revitalise yourself this winter? Pause for a moment and plan some ways to boost your own wellbeing in the next few weeks. 

Do you find January difficult or would you like some wellbeing stratgeies to help you boost your wellbeing in 2017? Try Office Om's January Wellbeing Workshop in Cardiff, details here .

Wishing you health and happiness this Christmas.

Downdog or Downward Dog, or Adho Mukha Svanasana (to give it its Sanskrit name), is the name of an inverted yoga pose. This blog will tell you why you might like to get down with some downdogs too.  Here are five benefits:

• Self-awareness - like all yoga poses, downdog gives you knowledge about your body. For example, when attempting a yoga pose, you may notice parts of your body feel tight. For downdog, this is typically your hamstrings. You can help tight hamstrings by keeping your knees bent when you first get into the pose, which protects your lower back and allows your spine to lengthen, as well as 'walking' your legs (bending each one in turn) before trying to straighten them. When we understand what's going on in our body, we can do what our body needs it to do to be at its best.

 

• A different perspective – downdog helps you see the world upside down, which can help you see things differently. Different versions may have different effects.  For example, I often call the downdog that you do at the wall ‘bad-day-asana’ as people can find this version soothing. This pose can help calm busy thoughts when things get hectic.

Other benefits have been written about, for example, relieving the symptoms of depression, (see here). 
 
Can you join in the challenge too? If so, you just need to post a picture of yourself doing downdog for 30 days and post your pictures online using the hashtag #mdhdownwarddog. To squeeze in some health and safety, really you should only attempt this if you have already got yoga experience. You should also avoid it if you have wrist problems or high blood pressure and a yoga teacher can give you modifications if these are the case. Ideally you’d prepare by warming up your ankles, legs and stretch your shoulders first too.

Thanks to Michelle Graham for nominating me for the pose, it's been a great incentive to post photos every day, and thanks to everyone else who's got involved too, you rock.
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If you'd like to donate to Martha’s Dancing Heart appeal, please text MDHT99 £1 to 70070 to donate £1 (Or change it to any other amount too).