I’ve just got back from the New Forest. One of my favourite places in the world with some of my favourite people: my daughter and two grandchildren.

And when you see the beauty of the landscape, and the ponies and cattle grazing in rain or shine; and you get to paddle in the sun on Bournemouth beach, with the waves lapping over your feet…

Well you can just feel the stress disappearing and the blood pressure coming back to normal – even in the presence of two frenetic under-threes. It’s funny really. I went for a routine check at the GP recently.

Blood pressure was high (well of course it was – I have white coat syndrome!) but she wanted me to do some daily BP tests which I obediently did.

So I thought I would do an experiment. I would take my blood pressure first and then do a five-minute breathing or relaxation session from the internet. And in each case the reading was lower in the second case; whether I did a relaxation exercise or just some steady breathing.

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This is amazing to me. I know it probably shouldn’t be but there we are. If you take time to relax it has a physiological effect on your body.

So on Monday, as you read this, I will be a work again. And I can guarantee that as the week proceeds, the thoughts will gather in my brain. Hundreds of them; competing for attention, draining me of a moments quiet.

Now I can’t exactly go to the New Forest in my lunch break. So what can I do?

Well perhaps every now and then in the working day I can take a couple of minutes to breathe… really breath. And to consciously decide to relax.

I know that I’m lucky. I have autonomy over my working day and can take a holiday away once in a while and recharge my batteries.

But I do believe it is possible to keep your batteries charged up even in the sometimes stressful environment of work.

Remembering that we control our thoughts not the other way around.