In a place as big as London it’s easy to get caught up in the daily hustle and bustle of work life and miss all of the magic happening around us. Even the idea of getting out and seeing it all can be sufficiently daunting and enough to send you sloping off for a restorative nap to recover.

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Here’s a proposal, then: start with the lunch break. Find a slice of happiness in the little pocket of your day so often relegated to inhaling sandwiches and getting sucked into the vortex that is social media. There’s no better time – or city – to do it in.

Move those bones

This fabulous studio in Covent Garden offers lunchtime cycle, HIIT, and yoga classes, so there’s something for everyone. The studios are lush to say the least – and don’t even get us started on the waterfall showers. They also offer delicious smoothies and healthy snacks for a post workout boost.

If you’ve ever taken a cycle class you know how exhausting and rewarding they are. With studios in Canary Wharf and Oxford Circus, Psycle offers a great way for us to feel better during our lunch breaks. So go forth and put your desk eating coworkers to shame with a new Psycle-inspired body.

Like a bit of variety? Don’t know where in London you’ll be from one day to the next? Then Class Pass is just what the doctor ordered. You’ll have access to different gyms and classes all over London. Classes are as varied as your schedule; they range from yoga and barre to martial arts and strength training. The catch: depending on your membership you can only go to the same studio 2-4 times per cycle.

Exercise your mind

UCL offer lectures from 13:15-13:55 and they’re free and open to anyone. Topics range from health and wellbeing to history and politics, from human behaviour to physics and maths. Can’t make it? UCL have got you covered with live transmissions you can watch from your desk or past lectures on their YouTube channel.

The Apple Store. Chances are you’ve been in one. But it’s more than just a temple to the almighty Macintosh. Book yourself in a one hour workshop and learn yourself tech savvy. Workshops are offered for the basics on all of their devices as well as stuff to get creative with like music, drawing, spreadsheets, and videography.

If planting and gardening interests you, Urban Physic Garden has a great lineup of lunchtime talks planned for the summer. They focus on plants and gardens as a way of healing. Located on 100 Union Street in SE1, they’re easy to get to from most Southwark and London Bridge offices. For a lunchtime break that you just can’t beet (yikes - Ed.), take a look at what they have planned.

If you’re interested in something more long term, the Lingua Diversa Group offer weekly Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, French and Brazilian-Portugese lessons from their offices in Holborn. Don’t worry if you’ve missed the current term; courses are ongoing so you can always sign up for the next one and give yourself something to look forward to.

Zone out and calm down

The Royal Opera House hosts regular free lunchtime recitals in the Swiss Church in Endell Street, Covent Garden. Check out their website to see what’s on.

Here’s a great website for secret gardens in London: some, like the conservatory in the Barbican may be more of a ‘best worst-kept secret’ kind of thing, but others, like the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, are a genuine surprise – and delight.

What could be better than learning to be more mindful on your lunch break? We can’t promise it’ll last once you’re back at work but it’s certainly worth a try. The Bishopsgate Institute in Liverpool Street offers a class on the art of meditation and mindfulness conveniently timed for 12:05-12:55 or 1:05-1:55.

Get your hands dirty

If you’re near Liverpool street and can take a long lunch on Fridays, then this is well worth looking into. Sessions run from 11-1pm every Friday and cost £10. As well as being a fun way to improve your technical skills, drawing has been proven to have many health benefits regardless of whether your finished pieces look like they might have come from the pen of Da Vinci or the crayon of a toddler.

Volunteering is a great way of getting out and experiencing things in London you wouldn’t usually. Team London has a handy website where all you need to do is enter your office postcode and you can see all of the nearby opportunities available. Whether you want to do something manual or fancy meeting and talking to new people there will be something for you. There are volunteers needed for just about everything under the sun! Don’t believe us? Have a look for yourself!

Organize your life

Whatever you need doing Taskrabbit will help you find the right person for the job. They connect you with services for any chore you can imagine, from cleaning to building shelves you can book whatever you need from your desk.

Do you really need to sort out your closet clutter? Is the gaggle of kitchen gadgets just becoming too much? Maybe it’s time to say ‘see you later’ to some bits and bobs. By decluttering with Boxman, you can order boxes online, pack them, and send them away until you need them returned – all at the touch of a dashboard button. Ok, you probably won’t actually be able to do more than book a time slot on your lunchtime, but out of tiny acorns and all that…

Planning a night out or weekend away? Doodle makes it easy for you to keep track of everyone all in one place. Appointments can be automatically synced to your calendar and you can send automatic reminders so even your flakiest friend won’t have an excuse.

What have we missed? Any other little-known ways to liven up your lunch hour? Pop over to the Boxman Facebook Page and let us know!