Photo of Morghan Velez on the floor with her dog (white doodle), which is laying upside down in her lap

Workday Pause Recipe

If you work from home or get to bring your dog with you to your workspace, this recipe is a mutual reward for both of your bodies and minds. This is probably the simplest and easiest recipe we have for you. 

 

  • Set a timer at some interval that makes sense for your work flow.

  • Literally stop what you’re doing and sit on the floor for a few minutes with your dog for cuddles.

  • If you can wing it and have access to an outdoor space, take your dog out for a short walk or for play with toys in a grassy space. 

BACKGROUND INFO

How would I benefit from this “pause”?

Have you heard of oxytocin? The happy chemical? We all need extra shots of oxytocin, for real. In our urban western environments, we spend a significant amount of time pumping our bodies with chemicals of the fight/flight/flee/freezer types, even though we’re just looking at the coworker who we don’t like. Research shows that a few minutes of cuddling our wonderful dogs will increase the oxytocin release in our bodies. These cuddles can walk us back from the edge of too much adrenaline running amok in us.  Also, oxytocin shots will also pump through our dog’s body. Win-win.