Author: Lou Campbell

24 November 2017
resilience • stress •

Reducing Stress and Enhancing Resilience

Stress and anxiety dramatically reduce an individual’s ability to make decisions, to concentrate and be creative. Stress-related mental health problems are on the rise across the UK and indeed across the whole world. Stress also has an impact on our physical wellbeing.

The increasingly blurred boundaries between our work and our private lives, exacerbated by technology, has resulted in an ‘always on’ culture that is having a major impact our personal levels of stress and anxiety.

Here’s some top tips for reducing stress and being more resilient to stress, taken from our most popular workshop for employees, “Reducing Stress and Enhancing Resilience”:

 

Regular Mindfulness

Mindfulness is one of the best tools we have for reducing stress and anxiety. It helps us to process our thoughts and emotions, switches down the stress response system and gives us a chance to be calm. Regular mindfulness meditation increases the ability to plan, to make decisions, to be creative, to concentrate and also enhances the memory. Crucially, it also helps to moderate stressful emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, shame, embarrassment, frustration, irritation, guilt etc.

The Mindfulness UK app is a great companion for learning and practicing mindfulness.

The Introduction to Mindfulness workshop is an experiential session that shows employees how to use mindfulness to improve mental wellbeing. We also offer comprehensive mindfulness courses and mindfulness drop-in sessions in your workplace.

 

Take Regular Breaks

Taking breaks throughout the working day is vital for reducing stress. Take a few minutes every couple of hours to stretch out tension your shoulders, arms, chest and legs, and take a few deep breaths.

Take at least 30 minutes outside the office between the hours of 11am and 2pm and get some daylight. Daylight helps to boost serotonin levels – vital for wellbeing and resilience. Leave your phone behind if you can and make this middle of the day break a calm one. Take some time in a park or natural space to watch the world go by, or go for a lunchtime walk, listening to the “Mindful Walking” recording on the Mindfulness UK app.

Take regular breaks from other people, especially if you’re an introvert! Introverts get energy from being alone and are more resilient to stress if they get daily alone-time. Extraverts get energy from being around others, but also benefit from alone time. If you’re an extravert, try to get a couple of hours of alone-time every weekend, but make sure you socialise on a regular basis. Extraverts can feel low if they have too much alone time.

 

Digital Detox

Take regular breaks away from technology – phones, tablets, laptops, computers, televisions and any other digital screens #digitaldetox

An hour before bedtime, switch off all devices and have some low-light calm time. Once a week, try to leave all your devices at home and go out without them for a few hours. Regular screen-free time can calm the mind and enhance our resilience to stress.

 

Regular Exercise

Physical exercise is great for reducing stress and enhancing resilience to stress. Exercise sets off a whole set of neurotransmitters in the brain which make us feel well and positive. Ideal forms of exercise are brisk walking for 45 minutes, jogging or running for 25-30 minutes, swimming for 20-30 minutes, or cycling for 30-45 minutes. Do these exercises a few times per week. Muscle toning and anaerobic exercise can stimulate feelings of wellbeing and reward. Try a strength building or a series of sprinting runs once a week.  Yoga and stretching exercises are great for reducing anxiety – try a yoga class once or twice a week if you’re anxious.

Book a Yoga, Pilates or Physical Fitness class in your workplace

 

Emotional Support

Recognising our emotions, particularly stress-related emotions, is an important step in the process of reducing stress and anxiety. It’s also important to talk about how we feel on a regular basis. Everyone needs a support network (including men!) to acknowledge and express how we’re feeling. If you have unresolved trauma or stressful experiences in your past, particularly from childhood or adolescence, some sessions with a psychotherapist can help to process the past and move on.

Let us know if you’d like to book some confidential one to one Wellness Sessions in your workplace, with our counselling psychotherapists.

 

Sleep

Sleep deprivation is a fast-growing problem across the west. Sleep deprivation elevates stress levels by up to 45%. Adults aged 18 to 65 years require 8 hours sleep every 24 hours. If you need to be up at 7am, you should be in bed ready to go to sleep at 11pm. If you need to be up by 6am, you should be in bed ready to go to sleep by 10pm.  If you have trouble getting to sleep or sleeping through the night, try the “Preparing For Sleep” meditation on the Mindfulness UK app. It will help you to get to sleep and sleep well through the night.

Our Sleep Clinic workshops teach employees a whole range of tips and techniques to effectively improve the depth and duration of their sleep.

 

Nutrition and Healthy Eating

Stress can quickly deplete the body of viamins, minerals and other nutrients in the body, so it’s very important to include really well balanced and nutritious food in your daily routine. Optimal levels of vitamins and minerals and healthy fats are vital for getting and staying mentally and physically healthy.

Eat lots of green leafy vegetables in particular, and a colourful variety of fruits (5 portions of veg and 2 portions of fruit per day is idea). Oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and fresh tuna (not tinned tuna) are great sources of vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Other healthy fats include extra virgin olive oil, eggs, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. If you eat bread, pasta, rice, oats and other grains, make sure they are whole grains rather than white or processed grains.

If you have sleep problems or suffer from migraines, think about using a very high quality Magnesium supplement and take it an hour before bed if you have sleep problems.

Low levels of Vitamin D3 (which we get from the sunshine) can contribute to mental health and physical health problems. Vitamin D3 supplements are very useful, especially for cold winter months. Check the Vitamin D Council website for details about how much you should take.

Zinc, Iron and balanced B vitamins are also essential for mental and physical wellbeing. Think about taking a really good quality multivitamin every morning.

Probiotics – the health of the bacteria in your gut has a big impact on mood, mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. Antibiotics, alcohol, caffeine, aspirin, ibuprofen and other substances can deplete the healthy bacteria in the gut. Replenish your gut with beneficial bacteria by regularly consuming fermented foods such as kimchee, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, unpasteurised goat’s or sheep’s milk yoghurt, or try a daily probiotic with 30 billion bacteria which you can buy from the refrigerated section of a good quality health food store.

Book one of our Nutrition workshops, with our fully qualified nutritional therapists

 

Have Fun and Be Creative

Fun and creativity are important to our mental wellbeing. Try to do something creative at least once a week – drawing, painting, writing, making, playing an instrument, dancing, singing, cooking a special meal or something else creative that you like to do. Achieving small, achievable goals is a great way to fire off the neurotransmitters that make us feel good when we achieve something. Try to achieve a small creative goal once a week.  Having fun is also important – playing or watching sport, going to a concert, gig, show, ceremony, party or other event or fun situation that you enjoy, at least once per week.

 

Please get in touch with [email protected] to discuss our services for improving wellbeing in your workplace.

www.mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

 

22 May 2017
Avoiding Email Overload • email overload • how to avoid email overload • inbox overload •

Avoiding Email Overload

We questioned employees to find out what are the main stressors in the workplace – the things that stress us out the most at work. Number one was “Email Overload”.

Feeling overwhelmed by a fast-growing inbox can leave us in a state of worry, irritation, frustration, panic. When there is seemingly no end to this major stressor, there’s a danger that chronic stress can set in. Chronic stress is prolonged and with no clear ending. This type of stress can cause anxiety, panic, depression, and can lead to reliance on alcohol and other unhealthy coping strategies. Chronic stress can contribute to physical problems too, such as headaches, migraines, teeth grinding, digestive problems, immune system disorders, high blood pressure and more.

Taking control of your email system and making it efficient and manageable is an absolute priority.

Check out this article by Leadership Thoughts which can help you to create an efficient email system which helps rather than hinders your ability to get your work done.

https://www.leadershipthoughts.com/how-to-avoid-email-overload/

 

9 May 2017
employee wellbeing • mental health awareness • mental health first aid • mental health first aid training • mental health training • MHFA •

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally-recognised two day training course, designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

At Wellbeing Partners, we can provide the Mental Health First Aid training course onsite at your workplace, in four sessions over two days, for groups of six to sixteen participants per training course.  Everyone on the course is taught a set of skills which enables them to support anyone who is experiencing mental health issues.

Our fully-qualified and quality-assured Mental Health First Aid instructor delivers the training programme and is accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health.

The training is designed to fit into four manageable chunks of learning:

  • What is mental health?
  • Suicide and depression – recognise the signs, first aid for depression, how to help someone who is suicidal
  • Anxiety, eating disorders and self harm – recognising the signs, first aid, how to help
  • Psychosis – recognising the signs, first aid for psychosis

The course will teach participants a deeper understanding of all the issues that impact on and relate to people’s mental health; teach practical skills that can be used every day, including being able to spot the signs and symptoms of mental health issues.

Course participants will receive a Mental Health First Aid manual and workbook, along with a certificate confirming they are a trained Mental Health First Aider.

Independent research and evaluation shows that taking part in an Mental Health First Aid course:

  • Raises mental health awareness
  • Reduces stigma around mental ill health
  • Boosts knowledge and confidence in dealing with a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue
  • Promotes early intervention which enables recovery

If you’d like to arrange a Mental Health First Aid training course for your workplace, please get in touch with Nick Winfield at [email protected] or call 07773 767248.

 

 

15 February 2017
british mindfulness app • guided mindfulness • mindfulness app • mindfulness recordings • mindfulness UK app •

Our New App – “Mindfulness UK”

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new app – “Mindfulness UK”

The app is available on both App Store and Google Play (links below) and features 8 mindfulness recordings for both beginners to mindfulness and those with experience.

For Android:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mindfullness&hl=en_GB

For iPhone:  https://appsto.re/gb/tRxGgb.i

apphome

Recordings include:

  • Daily Mindfulness – 10 minutes or 20 minutes
  • Reducing Stress – 10 minutes
  • Preparing For Sleep – 19 minutes
  • Be Kind To Yourself – 8 minutes
  • Mindful Listening – 4 minutes
  • Mindful Walking – 10 minutes
  • Exam Stress – 9 minutes
  • Kids Bedtime – 6 minutes

The price of the app is £4.99 for the first four recordings or £8.49 for all eight regordings.

If you’d like to offer Mindfulness UK app to your employees, please let us know and we can arrange that for you.

Contact: [email protected]

www.mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

15 February 2017
long hours working culture •

Long Hours Working Culture – dangers and solutions

Long Hours Working Culture – What is the danger, what is the solution?

Those who choose an extreme long-hours working pattern, regularly if not always putting in 60+ hours per week, forfeit many of the basic tenets of wellbeing that enable humans to thrive.

What is the psychological profile of the extreme long-hours employee? What’s the solution for employers who are concerned about the mental, emotional and physical health of these employees?

Long hours working culture tends to be found in certain industries such as finance, law, professional services, media and medicine.

Some extreme long hours workers are the individuals who work quietly on their own, late into the evening, hours after everyone else has left, most nights if not every night. Then there is the other breed of extreme long-hours workers, often staying extremely late alongside and competing with their peers, night after night. These teams of men and women are often encouraged by more senior staff to push out 12-15 hour days, rarely taking a lunch break away from their desk, missing out on the wellbeing initiatives provided by increasingly concerned HR teams.

It can be helpful to understand the possible psychologies behind the type of people who choose the extreme long-hours working pattern, and to know about possible solutions for supporting and providing a duty of care to these individuals.

Possible Psychology of the Extreme Long-Hours Worker:

In order to thrive as human beings, we need meaningful relationships, adequate daylight and fresh air, regular nutrition and hydration, adequate restful sleep, physical exercise and adequate relaxation.

When people deprive themselves of many, if not all, of these basic human needs due to working 12+ hours per day plus commute time on a regular basis, over time they suffer emotionally, mentally and physically. This is the reality of the men and women in extreme long-hours working patterns.

So what might be driving those who put their basic needs aside for the long hours working culture?

For the late-night lurkers, those individuals who tend to quietly stay extremely late, night after night, the issue might not just be “too much work to do” or “I get more done when there’s no one else in the office”. Often the underlying reason is a desire to avoid relationships at home, perhaps loneliness, or having to go back to an empty home. The workaholic is often someone who wants to be away from difficulties in their personal relationships or is avoiding emotional intimacy with their partner, wife, husband, children or others. Emotional intimacy is often a struggle for people who grew up with little or no emotional intimacy from their own parents or carers. These people often find solace in long working hours, but are likely to be neglecting their own wellbeing.

For those who choose to work in teams and in roles which are notorious for their extreme long-hours working patterns, it is often not just the sky-high salaries and career goals which draw them to the culture and keep them hooked in. Issues around perfectionism, low self-esteem, addictive behaviour, being raised in a household with very high expectations, high stress and anxiety, trauma, alcoholic or emotionally unavailable parents or carers can often lead to a person choosing the extreme long-hours working pattern.

Mental ill health flourishes in high-pressure workplaces where demanding hours and a high workload are the norm. Despite appearing to be highly functioning, driven and fiercely independent individuals, people who fit these patterns are often susceptible to stress-related mental health problems, and rarely seek out emotional support for their vulnerabilities. They are at a significantly high risk for alcohol and drug dependency, sleep disorders, food control issues, anxiety and depression, self harm and other anxiety-related disorders.

Providing support to these valuable, hardworking employees is vital for their own mental and emotional wellbeing. Short and long-term sickness absence, performance management issues, burnout, mental breakdowns and physical health issues all come at a cost to the individual.

It is also crucial for employers to provide the sort of duty of care that will protect the company or firm from the financial risks of stress-related absenteeism, presenteeism and potential litigation.

A solution:

Our company provides confidential, one-to-one Wellness Sessions in the workplace for extreme long-hours workers, and for other potentially vulnerable individuals. Our Wellness Sessions specialists are highly qualified and experienced counselling psychotherapists with training in workplace stress management. We provide these sessions in the workplace in order to effectively meet the needs of extreme long-hours workers who will almost never take time out of the workplace to seek emotional support.

The confidential one-to-one Wellness Sessions take place in a quiet meeting room or office in your workplace, and run for 50 minutes each, usually on a fortnightly or monthly basis.

Many of our clients in finance, law, media, advertising and medicine will make these sessions compulsory for employees who work 60+ hours per week, or for those who are known to be struggling with anxiety, depression or who are returning from stress-related illness.

The Wellness Sessions are a chance for employees to offload to a trustworthy, impartial professional in a completely confidential session. Issues discussed may include self-esteem and perfectionism tendencies, relationship issues inside or outside the workplace, anger, loneliness, stress, anxiety or panic issues (including practical stress management techniques) obsessive compulsive tendencies, alcohol and drug dependency, eating issues, self-care and general emotional support.

Our Wellness Sessions are completely confidential for the employees and also for the companies that hire us to deliver the services. We do not disclose our client list for Wellness Sessions due to the strict interpretation of confidentiality by our governing body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. All our counselling psychotherapists are BACP registered members and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Please get in touch if you’d like to have a conversation around our confidential one-to-one Wellness Sessions in your workplace and to tackle the dangers of extreme long hours working culture.

[email protected]

http://mindfulnessintheworkplace.org/our-services/employee-mental-health/

9 October 2016
company meditation • company mindfulness • corporate mindfulness • introduction to mindfulness • mindfulness workshops • regular mindfulness sessions •

Company Mindfulness

We are the leading providers of company mindfulness services for all types of businesses, all over the UK. We deliver mindfulness workshops and regular mindfulness meditation sessions to working people, onsite in their workplaces.

Mindfulness is a mental state where the individual is fully focused on what is happening in the present moment, rather than being preoccupied or “lost” in thoughts, concerns, memories or plans. If you consider the four states of mind are the past, the future, the present and some other abstract place such as daydreaming, then mindfulness is definitely being immersed in the present, without judging that present moment as good or bad, but just being curious, interested and fully involved in that moment.

Immersing yourself in the present moment, whether that’s walking down the street and fully engaging with your environment, being “present” whilst playing with your kids, or sitting and practising a mindfulness meditation, the benefits of being present-focused and mindful are immense.

First, our stress response system switches down, and so our stress and the resulting anxiety reduces. This gives us a chance to be calm and more relaxed.

Second, when we regularly practice being focused on the present moment in a mindful, non-judgemental way, our concentration levels improve, our creativity is enhanced and we have better complex decision-making abilities.

Another superb benefit of regular mindfulness is that it gives us the enhanced capability to observe and acknowledge our emotions without feeling overwhelmed by them. For example, regular mindfulness practice can extend the “short fuse” of someone who is quick to anger, frustration or worry.

All of these elements are hugely powerful in terms of empowering employees and the subsequent benefit to organisations. Company mindfulness can transform the workplace.

Wellbeing Partners provides a wide range of mindfulness services to companies all over the UK – the 60-minute Introduction to Mindfulness workshop is how we usually introduce mindfulness to companies, and we also provide regular mindfulness meditation sessions to groups of employees in their workplaces on a weekly, twice weekly, or daily basis.

Our mindfulness workshops and sessions focus on reducing stress and anxiety, and enhancing brain power – increasing decision-making capabilities, developing creativity and improving concentration – elements of mindfulness which can give your business an advantage over its competitors.

Please email [email protected] or call Nick Winfield on 07773 767248 to find out how your workplace can benefit from the transformational powers of company mindfulness.

Wellbeing Partners also provides Stress & Anxiety Workshops, In-house Counselling and Psychotherapy Services, Men’s Health Programmes, Wellness Week Workshops and comprehensive ongoing Wellbeing Programmes including Fitness, Nutrition, Physio, Pilates, Yoga, Massage, Mindfulness and Counselling.

8 October 2016
male employees • male health • male mental health • males in the workplace • men at work • men in the workplace • Men's health • men's health at work • men's health in the workplace •

Men’s Health In The Workplace

The statistics around men’s health are very worrying indeed. Men have far, far higher levels of physical and mental health problems than women, and yet men’s understanding of health issues and levels of access to health services are astonishingly low.

Some of the incredible statistics around men’s health include:

  • Men are nearly 3 times more likely than women to become alcohol dependent
  • Men report significantly lower life satisfaction than women
  • Men have measurably lower access to the social support of friends, relatives and community
  • Men are far less likely to access health services
  • Men are more likely to be obese
  • Men are more likely to have complex physical health problems
  • Only one third of NHS psychological therapies users are men
  • Less than 20% of private counselling and psychotherapy clients are men
  • The peak age for stress-related mental health issues in men is 45-54 – far higher than other age groups
  • Over three quarters of people who kill themselves are men
  • Suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35
  • Men are more likely to use illegal drugs and die from them
  • Boys are performing less well than girls at all levels of education

As most men spend a majority of their time in the workplace, it is clear that more awareness of men’s health issues should be raised in the workplace, and that men’s health services should be made more available at work.

Men’s Health in the Workplace is our programme of physical and mental health awareness, prevention and remedy services for men’s health issues, delivered with knowledge, care and sensitivity to men of all ages and stages, in their workplace.

Our Men’s Health Awareness Workshop is the perfect way to introduce awareness and discussion of mental and physical health to the men in your workplace.  The workshop is presented by our Men’s Health Specialist, Peter Baker, who has over 20 years experience in training, public speaking, policy, strategy and service development, advocacy and lobbying, research and analysis, social marketing, equality and diversity.

As well as our Men’s Health Awareness Workshops for the men in your workplace, we can also provide men’s MOT health checks, improving mental health and resilience workshops, confidential one-to-one counselling sessions, nutrition workshops and individual sessions, physiotherapy workshops and individual sessions, yoga and pilates classes, and massage – all in your workplace.

If you’d like to start a conversation around men’s health in your workplace, or to book a Men’s Health Awareness Workshop or any other of our wellbeing services, please contact Nick Winfield at [email protected] or call 07773 767248.

www.mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

 

 

 

 

27 June 2016
mental health awareness • when is world mental health day • World Mental Health Day • world mental health day 2016 •

World Mental Health Day 2016

This year, World Mental Health Day takes place on Monday 10th October, 2016.

World Mental Health Day was created by the World Federation For Mental Health to occur on the 10th October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health. It is a day for mental health education, awareness and advocacy, all across the globe.

Stress-related mental health issues are rising at an unprecedented pace. By 2020, the World Health Organisation predicts stress-related mental health issues will be second only to heart disease in the causes of disabilities worldwide.

As workplace stress is a key contributor to these rising levels, it is vital that companies and organisations address workplace stress in a way that supports, educates and empowers employees to care for their own mental health, and to feel able to reach out when there is a problem. In the UK, 70 million days are lost from work each year due to mental ill health, making it the leading cause of sickness absence (Department of Health 2015).

The three central tenets for providing a duty of care to the mental health of employees are:

Awareness for all employees of stress-related mental health issues, the symptoms and underlying causes, and how to self-care;

Prevention of stress-related mental health issues through regular, effective workplace stress management and mindfulness programmes, accessible to all employees;

Remedy of mental health issues for employees who are struggling with workplace stress or personal problems – through accessible, on-site, confidential support services provided by fully qualified professionals.

How can your company use World Mental Health Day as a springboard for providing employees with a more mentally-healthy workplace?

Please get in touch if you’d like some ideas or to start a conversation around employee mental health in your workplace:

[email protected]

or visit our website at www.mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

14 June 2016
International Women's Network • IWN Advisory Board • Lou Campbell •

Lou Campbell MBACP joins the Advisory Board of International Women’s Network

Lou Campbell, Programmes Director at Wellbeing Partners Ltd has joined the advisory board of the International Women’s Network to provide information and advice on stress and associated disorders such as anxiety, panic, depression, alcohol and drug misuse, eating disorders, self-harm and trauma.

Lou is a fully qualified and experienced counselling psychotherapist, stress management specialist and mindfulness tutor. She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP.

http://www.intlwomensnetwork.com/advisory-board/

www.mindfulnessintheworkplace.org

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