A Mindful Break

WHY TAKE "A MINDFUL BREAK":

Taking a break from extended desk-work is essential for maintaining work efficiency. The main idea of this App is to provide an alternative when it comes to break time: a short, practical, and mindful exercise to fit any schedule, plus a one-minute scan of news titles on a topic that may be very popular at the moment.

HOW TO USE THIS APP:

The whole exercise or its 8 movements individually can be learned easily, with tips and precautions for each movement on the side. You can choose a favorite number of repeats for each movement to fit your break schedule and physical condition. Generally, 4 repeats of each movement take about 8 minutes to complete.

At the start of the break, a quick scan of the "most popular news" titles can be done, to have an idea of what's going on in the world, without spending too much time on the internet. If an article sounds very interesting, then perhaps a full read can be done through the link to the news website.

THE EXERCISE:

Based on the traditional Chinese exercise, "Eight-segment Brocade", which officially belongs to the Qi Gong family of exercises. There is a good description of Tai Chi and Qi Gong on a website of the National Institutes of Health (https://nccih.nih.gov/health/taichi/introduction.htm). In this App, 8SET (for 8-SEgmenT) is used as an abbreviation for this exercise. This short program can be completed in 5-15 min depending on how slow or how many repeats one wishes to perform each of the 8 movements (more background on https://wen2eng.herokuapp.com)

Advantages:

-- requires essentially no more space than the room to stand up and stretch a little;

-- may offer an opportunity for a good mind-body conversation;

-- is very gentle and can be suitable for everyone, although it may be most helpful for people working by the desk;

-- may serve as an efficient whole-body exercise for relaxation and flexibility;

-- health benefits can be potentially gained regardless of belief of the "Qi" element.

-- may be helpful for normalizing functions of the gastrointestinal system.

Background of 8SET:

Drawings from archaeological records of more than 800-years old depict moves very similar to modern day 8SET. Due to the nature of its slow and gentle movements, comparison of 8SET to brocade is rather appropriate. In modern day living, however, 8SET may serve as an excellent option for a break from work (or at home) and a mind-body dialogue, when the mind guides gentle movements of the body, leaving stress and tightness behind.

THE 'MOST POPULAR" NEWS TITLES:

The top news titles from 6 news websites are pooled and a "most popular word" (MPW) is chosen. This MPW may represent what is most talked about in the news at the moment. News titles containing this MPW can be scanned within the App in less than a minute. Or, if desired, a particular title can be read in more details through the link provided. News will be updated when this page is reloaded after one hour of disappearance.

The following 6 news websites are used in this App. The last three require a subscription. New York Times allows a limited number of free article access each month.

USA Today,
Associated Press,
BBC News;

Wall Street Journal,
New York Times,
Washington Post.

BACKGROUND OF APP DEVELOPER:

This App developer obtained a PhD degree in biochemistry/molecular biology. He taught some college-level courses in virology, and did research in molecular, viral, and cancer biology for more than 30 years. He is an enthusiast of Tai Chi and other forms of traditional exercises, and has deployed a companion App, "Taichi Expression", in the App Store.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:

This App connects only with the 6 websites listed above, which are all accessible publicly, and does not collect any user information in any format.