Honing healthy habits

Snackable Wellness is squeezing multiple bite-sized activities and stacking your day along with work

With busy and overburdened people experiencing stress in the pandemic, small micro-moments throughout the day have become essential for productivity and emotional well-being. Many have begun to realise that a shift to working from home has made it possible to squeeze bite-sized activities into the day. And so, as an act of self-care, snackable wellness has become popular around the globe.

According to clinical psychologist and author Nupur Paiva, "this concept encourages wellness activities like meditation or yoga, because it is more realistic to take
out 10-15 minutes instead of 30-60 minutes." Adopting such a routine helps reduce anxiety, tension and stress, she says.

Dhruv Kathuria believes that it's about doing something rather than doing everything perfectly; (right) Derek Mathias started reading and meditating as a coping mechanism during the lockdown. Skipping was a way to keep his body moving. But, once things get back to normal, he is unsure if he can follow the routine

For 22-year-old Derek Mathias, these activities do not only offer much-needed respite from work, but also help him manage his time better. "It is important that we don't work for hours at a stretch. One must take breaks to do something else," says Mathias, an aspiring musician, who tries to balance his music career, along with a full-time IT job.

During the day, he takes breaks for a 30-minute yoga session, 20 minutes of skipping, 15-20 minutes of meditating, an hour of playing the piano, and 15 minutes of reading. Now a habit, he feels anxious if he doesn't complete any of the tasks.

Nupur Paiva and Kaushik Bhide

Just like Mathais, 27-year-old Kaushik Bhide, a digital experience designer, mentions how these activities stopped him from overthinking and kept him calm, as well as made him more aware of his surrounding. He has divided his day in a way that he enjoys three different 15-minute workout sessions, instead of doing 45-60 minutes at a stretch. He says, "I needed to dedicate some part of my day to personal development, and so, this is how I have categorised my activities." He also makes sure that he spends some time doing pranayama. Weekends are cheat days and he chooses to not follow this schedule.

Full-time musician Dhruv Kathuria, 25, believes that it's about doing something, rather than doing everything perfectly. "Sometimes, doing just one or two activities, even if for a brief time, boosts serotonin [a hormone which stabilises the mood with feelings of well-being and happiness] and endorphins [a hormone which increases
the feeling of pleasure and well-being]. That is what matters the most."

Mathias feels that snackable wellness is a solution to make the Gen Z more productive. "For instance, reading for 10 minutes daily is a healthy practice. Snackable wellness is helpful to get into habit creation. Once you are used to going something, you will automatically motivate yourself to continue doing it," he adds.

Getting into the rhythm is important. "You start slowly and gradually get into the groove," adds Kathuria, who has been dedicating two hours a day to yoga, meditation, reading, writing, and exercise, all scattered across a period of time before he starts working on his music. Experts say the reason this has seen an uptick in WFH is because workplaces are not conducive to eking out me time. "Offices are not designed for the greater well-being of employees. It is often impossible for employees to take regular breaks since the corporate goal is always to complete maximum tasks by the end of the day," Paiva feels.

Bhide, however, says he manages to do something at his work place. "It might be in the parking lot, a garden, or anywhere I am comfortable. I make sure no one is getting disturbed. In fact, sometimes they also join me in a group activity."