By Team Friel
Team Friel always aims to be at the top of their game and ahead of the trends, and today was no exception! Flo and Clare were given the opportunity to try out the latest Chinese workplace trend “Tang Ping” which translates to ‘to lie flat’.
Starting as a lifestyle choice, the people of China turned Tang Ping into a social protest movement due to them feeling overworked. Many people in China live by the ‘996’ work culture, which means they are expected to work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Lying Flat allows people to refresh their mind and body and therefore work more productively during their long shifts, it also allows them to have time in the day just for themselves. Students have also started using Tang Ping in their lives due to the stress they are under in their education; however, the Communist party did not react well to this and labeled the movement as “a threat to stability”.
Flo and Clare were joined by Luke from BBC Radio Suffolk and the three of them took a few minutes out of their day to just ‘lie flat’. After taking part, Flo was asked if will be integrating Tang Ping into her everyday work life.
“I will not be using Tang Ping in my everyday work life due to many factors. One of the reasons for this is my lack of focus when resuming work. When laying down for just 10 minutes, I felt that I was ready to go home rather than continue with work. I feel that an office is not the best place to try and relax as it is a place dedicated to work. On top of this, not everyone would want to take part in this exercise and therefore will continue talking and completing work - meaning the office will not be peaceful. It was also quite unusual just looking up at the ceiling as I felt that I was in a dentist appointment, making me more awake than relaxed. I do however appreciate the meaning behind the movement as many people are extremely overworked which can result in damaging mental health problems.”
From this feedback, it has been decided that Tang Ping will not be a daily occurrence at Friel. We’ll stick to yoga and pilates outside of work to unwind and relax!
