Keeping fit at your desk #OfficeYoga

It often comes as a surprise to people when they learn that blogging is not my full time job and it is infact a hobby.  Outside of the Blogger bubble, I actually have a full time role, not your average 9-5 job but a job that that is demanding, can be long odd hours but gives me the flexibility to come and go as I need to.

I work in an actual office Monday to Friday and like many office workers, I am tied to my desk for most of that day replying to emails, dealing with queries and questions and dealing with people face to face.  Recently in the news, there has been a lot of noise about office workers needing to exercise for an hour a day to avoid an early death and sitting still for 8-9 hours a day is never going to be good for you anyway.  So my colleagues and I have taken on board some of the points made from these reports and as we get a whole hour (and a bit more) for lunch, we decided to go out and explore our local surroundings for that one hour, whether that is to the local park, walking further afield for lunch or, sad as it sounds, going out catching Pokemon.  The fresh air (as fresh as it can be in London anyway) does me a world of good anyway, I always feel much better when I have been outside, especially if it is sunny.

If getting out and about during the working day is something you find hard to do because of work pressures or other issues there are still things you can do.  #OfficeYoga is a term I have heard of more than once over the last few months, a friend of mine recently started up her own business going into offices and going 20 minute slots of yoga with office workers to show them how much a difference it can make to their lives.  Whilst she hasn't yet made it across to my office because we are undergoing a few renovations, she has insisted I have a better office chair than the one I currently have which severely lacks lumber support, so ive noted that point along with remembering to get up and move about.  Feeling good on the outside is just as important as feeling good on the inside and I do try and set myself a goal of getting to the end of a piece of work and then moving around, but if I am alone in the office, which for a few days of the working week I am, then Yoga at my desk, for me, is idea and this is how easy it is:

So if you find you offer suffer with a stiff neck, sore lower back, aching legs and feet, tight hips, sore shoulders and headaches, getting it, shaking it about, moving around and stretching will help minimise the discomfort and help with stress and tension which is a viscous circle of the aches and pains. I know if I am under stress along comes a headache and then the pain radiates down, if I can stop it happening then I am in.

Please do keep a look out for @Furniture_Work's #OfficeYoga campaign video 

coming soon!

*this post is a collaboration but all words are my own.

Mypurrfectgiftbox - Dancing in the moonlight

The August edition of Mypurrfectgiftbox* has arrived and it is aptly titled 'A Day In The Park' which celebrates the end of Summer, warm nights and romance. We now look to longer evenings, shooting stars and even fireworks. Once again, this box has gifts for both you and the furballs in your life.

The First item is an exclusive for the box is fairy lights but not just any fairy lights, they are infact cat face lights and I just absolutely adore them.  Each one of the 20 cat faces appears on Mulberry Paper and has been hand painted and they are battery operated and have a retail price of £18.95 and are also from Etsy.

I am a big fan of prints, especially cat prints so I was really delighted to see this one which depicts three cats sat on the moon with a hanging star, really cute and quirky.  From Etsy designer ACatLikeCuriosity there are many prints to add to the collection.

Sticking with the cat theme still, we have a fun cat vinyl sticker with a romance theme.  It can be used to decorate anything from your iPad, car window, laptop and so on.  Again from an Etsy store and costs just £2.99 and is really cute.

If Jewellery is your thing and you love cats, then this cat bangle will tick all of those boxes. This cute cat in moon bangle is an adjustable stacker and the charms are just delightful, the C stands for Cat and the moonstone charm adds a bit of colour.

Now if the bangle wasn't cute enough, how about this amazing blingy cat ears headband? Now this I absolutely love and whilst Hector thinks it is fun to try and pull it off my head, I think it is so much fun and again quirky.

Now I have got over the excitement of gifts for the humans, there are some treats for my three boys, well Dude managed to commandeer pretty much the whole of the box by sitting on it, so this is what was inside.

The cat treats are always really popular with my three and this time we have Vet's Kitchen little hearts treats.  These have been designed to deliver specific health benefits to cats through natural active ingredients. They are hypollergenic and free from artifical colours or flavours.

When it comes to cat toys, again they are always popular with my three and this time it was Dude who was the first to get his paws on them. The first was a cute handmade wool heart and it also comes with a dried premium catnip herb centre. Priced at £4 from Paw and Gnaw.

The final item in the box is again a toy for the cats and it is a felt bird which has been handmade from an Etsy store called Clasicats.  Filled with catnip and adored with feathers to make a tail, this is one toy which has had all three cats chasing and hunting it around the house.

Once again, this is another amazing Purrfect Box and with something for everyone, we have a very happy household. If you like the look of these products, there is a shop to treat yourself or your little ball of fur right here.

If you have never come across this box before then here is a little background as to how and where the idea came from. Kim and Juan Kniveton the founders of My Purrfect Gift Box are dedicated cat lovers, so much so they moved back from the USA to the Isle of Man to set up and run their own idyllic countryside retreat for cats - Boodee Beg Boarding Cattery, something I dream of doing (if I ever win the lottery). With their onsite gift shop not doing as well as they had hoped, Kim and Juan decided to start My Purffect Box and each month they choose to focus on a different cat charity, rescue centre or shelter and highlight the work they do through their social media sites and through information that comes in each box. They then donate 5% of all our profits from that month's box to that chosen charity of the month.

*this post contains PR samples unless indicated otherwise