A week or so ago, I attended a (virtual) webinar about a funtastic initiative started out on the Left Coast called Instant Recess. The goal of the initiative is to "get America moving ten minutes at a time." In a nutshell, instead of taking a quick break during the workday to have a smoke or a candy bar, Instant Recess gets people up and away from their desks or workspaces, spending ten minutes doing simple (and I mean super-simple!!) dance steps, stretches, movements to music.
In the webinar, it's explained that libraries (as a center of information and community interaction) are the perfect place to launch an Instant Recess program. In some settings, one staff member leads the whole shebang each week; in other settings, different staff members rotate the duties (keeping the step repetoire and the musical selections fresh!). Basically, they pick a time each day (say, three o'clock), make an announcement to staff and patrons inviting them to join the leader in the designated place (the meeting room, in front of the circ desk, out on the sidewalk), and spend the next ten minutes getting heart-healthy, burning calories and having fun!
I recently demonstrated Instant Recess to management colleagues at our monthly meeting and also shared it with my own staff, utilizing the African Dance Lift-Off IR found here. It's amazing how many smiles sprung up during the sessions, even from those people who grudgingly said they don't "like to exercise" or "can't do the steps." Point is, by getting up and moving you'll see how much fun getting healthy can be...and isn't that the whole point of why we're doing these things?
(As an added bonus, if you're like me and you wear your pedometer constantly, you'll be thrilled to know that the average Instant Recess session will "use" over 500 steps. Wow!)
To learn more about Instant Recess, visit http://www.toniyancey.com/IR_Book.html.
To view the archived webinar, check out www.infopeople.olrg/training/instant_recess.
For more Instant Recess session ideas, type "Instant Recess" into your search engine or YouTube.
Give IR a try at your next staff meeting or long get-together. We'd love to hear about your ideas and sessions here, as well!
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