In the last few months I have been using the Breakthru app on Microsoft Teams. You can set reminders for micro breaks during the day and select to do some movement, breathwork or just move away from the computer. When I have a busy day of meetings and targets, I often don’t take breaks, even though I should know better. What I have found is that if I take these 2-minute breaks 4 or 5 time during the day I finish my day feeling less tense and tired.

We already know what helps

Most of us know what we need to do to stop us feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

· Taking a break

· Gentle exercise

· Taking a short walk

· Slowing down

· Practising mindfulness

· Going out with friends

But when we are busy and feel we have a hundred and one things to get done these are often the first things we drop.

Why big resets aren’t enough

It’s easy to rely on the bigger moments. A weekly yoga class, a spa day, a retreat. These are all wonderful, and they absolutely help us relax, reset and reconnect. But their impact can be short-lived if the rest of our week is spent rushing, pushing through, and ignoring what our body is asking for.

Think about it like brushing your teeth. You wouldn't brush intensively once a week and expect your dental health to hold up. Yet we often treat our nervous system the same way — cramming all our "wellness" into a Saturday yoga class or a once-a-year retreat, then wondering why we're back to feeling frazzled by Tuesday.

Stress builds in small moments

The truth is, stress doesn't build up once a week. It builds up in small doses, all day long — in the gap between meetings, the inbox that never empties, the notification that pulls your attention away just as you were finding focus. If stress accumulates in small doses, doesn't it make sense that recovery should too?

This isn’t about relaxation as a treat. It’s about helping your body stay calm and balanced throughout the day.

Even a 2-minute pause — a few slower breaths, a stretch, stepping outside — can help your body shift out of that tense, “on edge” state and back into a calmer place. Do that once a week and it helps for a while. Do it several times a day and you stop stress from building up in the first place.

You're keeping your baseline stress lower throughout your day and never let it build to boiling point in the first place.

What do I mean by Integration?

This is where integration comes in

Integration simply means bringing those same practices into our everyday lives, in small and manageable ways. It’s not about adding more to an already full schedule. It’s about weaving in moments of pause, breath and awareness into the day you already have.

Because the real benefit comes from consistency.

What this looks like in real life

· Taking three conscious breaths before opening your laptop in the morning

· A two-minute stretch between calls

· Eating lunch away from your screen, even just once

· A short walk to end your workday

These moments might seem too small to matter, but they are exactly what help us feel calmer, clearer and more in control. They stop stress from building up and give the body a chance to reset regularly, rather than waiting until we feel completely exhausted.

Small shifts, big impact

None of these take a significant chunk of time. But done consistently, they change the shape of your day — and over weeks, the shape of your life. But when we integrate these practices into daily life, something shifts.

My experiment with the Breakthru app taught me something simple but important: it's not the length of the break that matters most, it's the frequency. Consistency beats intensity when it comes to regulating how we feel.

We don’t just feel better occasionally – we start to feel better more of the time.

A Simple Practice to Take Forward

So instead of asking, “When can I next relax?” the question becomes, “How can I bring a little more ease into my day today?”

Because it’s not the big, occasional resets that create lasting change.

It’s the small, consistent moments of care we give ourselves daily.

What micro-breaks taught me