Finding inner peace on Youtube

Youtube is a valuable addition to the office biscuit break – 2 minute bursts of shows like Inbetweeners or Mitchell&Webb or otters holding hands do wonders for your mood and productivity, in my opinion.

I’ve recently diversified my biscuit-break watching habits to include Buddhist relaxation videos, well, one or two. More effective than a grimy little stress ball this stuff is actually quite good at making you relax despite the office setting.

In videos such as the one below, they play that zen-ny relaxing music, show you pictures of flowers and ask you to make circles with your thumb and each finger in turn. It goes on for five minutes: long for a youtube video, yes, but fine for a biscuit break.

The pros: – It clears your mind
– It’s relaxing for eyes, shoulders and arms
– You get to listen to peacebells, the echoey ding-like sounds that make up a lot of the soundtrack to these things

The cons: – You can’t eat biscuits while maintaning the correct Quidong position.
– You look a bit silly.
– Depending on the office context, your boss might object to this sort of hippyish behaviour. Not ideal in client-facing roles.

Video for Five-Finger Quidong below (not rude, I promise). Check where your boss is, then have a go.

Anna Leach