Mindfulness: an emerging tool in the battle against stress

Everyone has different stress triggers, but work stress tops the list according to WebMD.

Today, employers and their employees are discovering a new weapon in the fight against workplace stress. Mindfulness is a practice that is rapidly increasing in popularity, thanks in part to its ability to reduce anxiety, increase resilience to stress, foster innovation and bolster productivity.

Not familiar with mindfulness? Let’s catch you up!

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is having an awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surroundings in the present moment, rather than concerning ourselves with the past or imagining the future.

What are the benefits?

• Re-energise
• Make room for new ideas
• Override habitual thinking
• Foster innovation
• Stay calm and maintain focus
• Gain clarity to solve problems
• Awareness of body
• Improve ability to see the bigger picture
• Arrive with a skillful presence
• Increased stress resilience
• Enhanced communications
• Increased productivity
• Improved ability to sleep soundly
• Improved ability to connect with inner and outer resources
• Live life more fully and less on automatic pilot

How does mindfulness work?

The road to mindfulness

There’s no one ‘right’ way to practice mindfulness, but here’s some popular mindfulness techniques to get you started. 

1.       Find a quiet place  
2.       Switch off distractions
3.       Get comfortable
4.       Count your breaths
5.       Focus on your senses
6.       Do a full body scan
7.       Repeat a silent mantra
8.       Visualise what makes you calm
9.       Try a guided meditation 

Get support

Whether you’re an individual looking to reduce stress with self-care resources, or an organisation taking steps to lower employee burnout by helping your workforce develop resilience, there are programs and resources to help put people on the path to better mental and physical health. 

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