There's a lot of good advice, but I can't recommend this enough:
> Stretch.
Programming and using computers is both sedentary and physically taxing. You accumulate stress in muscles. Office culture often ignores the needs of body.
Shrug your shoulders as high as they'll go, then slowly lower them for 15 seconds. Release your neck. Feel your back extend, and the energy move through your arms. Don't let the constrained use of a keyboard dominate these neuromuscular pathways. Take breaks, and find gentle stretches that feel good. Stress in the body can be just as detrimental to thought as a preconceived notion in your mind.
Hey, cool. I was 19 when that song hit the charts and I understand a lot of those things a lot better now. It all seemed quite sensible, but I remember that time recent enough to know there's just no way a healthy young adult can use that advice--at all.
And I always wondered about the sunscreen. I bet it depends on your geographic location a lot. Sure, if you get powerful direct sunlight on your skin it's important, but here (NL) that's just a few weeks per year, if we're lucky :-) -- And yes, that's when I wear sunscreen, it's just that considering scientifically proven benefits, I don't understand why "wear sunscreen" is stressed so much vs "eat many fresh vegetables" or "do something that really raises your heart frequency once per day, even just shortly" sound so much more universal (including boosting your immune system and thereby preventing cancer and wrinkly skin!)
Find the original article here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-su...
There's a lot of good advice, but I can't recommend this enough:
> Stretch.
Programming and using computers is both sedentary and physically taxing. You accumulate stress in muscles. Office culture often ignores the needs of body.
Shrug your shoulders as high as they'll go, then slowly lower them for 15 seconds. Release your neck. Feel your back extend, and the energy move through your arms. Don't let the constrained use of a keyboard dominate these neuromuscular pathways. Take breaks, and find gentle stretches that feel good. Stress in the body can be just as detrimental to thought as a preconceived notion in your mind.