Recess is Back!

… and I’m all for it!

If you’re like me, confined to an office cube, constantly on call and online and multitasking while trying to multitask, you probably are in need of a much deserved break. KEEN, the manufacturer of hybrid footwear, socks and bags, inspired by President Obama’s plans to develop a 21st-century conservation and recreation agenda, is encouraging folks to improve their health by enabling them to take daily outdoor “recess” breaks every day of the week.

This image was originally posted to Flickr by Drpoulette at http://flickr.com/photos/51035604389@N01/1528958. It was reviewed on 10:52, 18 April 2007 (UTC) by the FlickreviewR robot and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

“We want to liberate the masses from indoors and make recess as common as casual Friday,” said James Curleigh, CEO and chief recess officer of KEEN. “In the time when screens are off and phones are silenced, people are happier. If we start small, with just 15 minutes a day, the world may become a better place one recess at a time.”

The benefits of physical activity are numerous and well-documented. National organizations such as the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition; the National Recreation and Park Association; and the Partnership for a Healthier America are active partners in the campaign for physical activity to help improve health.

Recent workplace studies conducted by Toni Yancey (author of Instant Recess and co-director of the Center for Health Equity and professor of health services at UCLA) and her colleagues show that taking short activity breaks during the workday, the time KEEN refers to as recess, is great for an individual’s health and well-being.

“Short bouts of physical activity can lead to an entire range of health benefits from lifting mood, helping prevent or control depression, to improving productivity, partly through changes to our cognitive processing,” Yancey said. “It helps prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It helps to control our weight. Really, there almost nothing that it doesn’t improve.”

Recent studies have shown that brief intervals of activity in the outdoors can produce improvements in work performance, revitalization, positive engagement and clinical disease outcomes.

KEEN has embraced this recommendation and substantiating research and is promoting a two-pronged approach to bring recess back. The first avenue will be to provide a set of tools that inspire and enable individuals to get outside daily. The second includes outreach to companies, encouraging them to embrace and instate recess for their employees.

Starting close to home in Portland, Oregon, KEEN has reworked its workplace to put the recess theory to the test. “At the KEEN headquarters, we’ve created an open door policy, meaning we open the doors and encourage everyone to get outside for a 15-minute break,” said Kate Lee, global director of human resources at KEEN.

The company is creating a Recess Center to encourage play during the day which includes a recess tracker to show time in minutes, hours, days and months spent at recess, a detailed map of nearby recess spots, a place to let employees share their tips for taking recess and favorite recess activities, and recess items such as Frisbees, yoga mats, and bikes. There will be a Recess Team to rally other employees to play, and managers will be equipped with whistles and recess passes to encourage employees to get outside.

This spring, KEEN and its Recess Team are approaching other companies to bring recess back. Come summer, KEEN will introduce the Recess Revolution to cities around the U.S., including the San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis, Denver, and Washington D.C., through a series of events and promotions. The summer’s recess activities include taking over sidewalks in Denver for a chalk art exhibitions and installing adult-friendly tire swings throughout Minneapolis.