Tag Archives: Mindfulness

mental health tips for wellness

7 Easy Mental Health Tips Anyone Can Apply

10/02/2023

There is a connection between physical and mental health. Physical health conditions can have a negative impact on mental health, and mental health disorders can increase the risk of developing physical health issues.

Unfortunately, a lot of people often neglect their mental health and wellbeing and develop mental health conditions like anxiety, stress, and depression as a result. You can maintain and enhance your mental health by following these 7 easy tips anyone can apply:

  1. Regular Exercise: Exercise is a proven method for enhancing mental health. In fact, research shows that exercise is as effective or more effective than medication for treating anxiety and mild depression.Regular exercise improves mood, reduces anxiety and depression, and increases self-worth and self-esteem. from the door, placing the printer away from your desk, taking the stairs instead of the lift.
mental health tips for wellness

Include physical activity in your daily routine, such as walking, yoga, or running. If you find that too difficult to start with, try tricking your brain into exercising with simple things like parking the car as far away as possible from the door, placing the printer away from your desk, taking the stairs instead of the lift.

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  1. Reduce cortisol levels: Cortisol levels are damaging to your mental and physical health. When cortisol levels are high, we suffer. The main driver of cortisol levels is stress. Make sure you nip stress in the bud. Exercise and coaching are very effective against stress.
  1. Getting Enough Sleep: Sleep is essential for both physical and mental health. The immune system is weakened by insufficient sleep, which tends to also worsen anxiety and depression. That’s why it’s important to get enough good quality sleep. To ensure you get enough rest, set up a sleep schedule, avoid using screens at least two hours before bed, and make a calm sleeping environment. Start by thinking about what you can do to improve your sleep that you are not doing right now, and then apply what you can.
  1. Balanced Diet: You’ve probably heard the saying, ‘you are what you eat’. To a degree, that’s correct in mental health also. Your mental health is impacted by what you eat. Low energy and unstable moods are consequences of a diet heavy in processed foods, bad fats, and sugar. A diet high in fermented food, rich in probiotics, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, on the other hand, offers crucial nutrients and enhances mental health.
  1. Social Connections: Because people are social creatures, it is essential for mental health to have fulfilling relationships. Feelings of loneliness and isolation can be lessened and general well-being can be increased by spending time with loved ones, giving back to the community, and engaging in social activities.
  1. Limit alcohol and drug consumption: Drugs, including medication, or alcohol can worsen mental health conditions already present. Even medications designed to ameliorate mental health conditions can have the opposite effect in some individuals. Listen to your body and reduce or eliminate the use of any substances that make you feel anxious or unwell.
  1. Practice of mindfulness (or mindful like practices): Mindfulness is a mental state in which one focuses on the right now. Using mindfulness techniques helps people feel calmer, less stressed, and healthier overall. Include mindfulness exercises in your daily routine, such as meditation, deep breathing, or focusing on your surroundings. If mindfulness is not quite your cup of tea, try prayer, or relaxation techniques. What are some relaxation techniques you know and like? You could try things as having a cup of tea, a relaxing bath or shower, walking your dog or even writing a gratitude list.

Download Simple Mental Health Tips infographic.

Keep in mind that a variety of mental health disorders, including stress, depression, and anxiety, can have a negative impact on a person’s quality of life. These mental health conditions may lead to emotional distress, interfere with relationships and employment, and raise the possibility of physical health issues.

You should seek professional help if you’re having ongoing and severe problems with depression or anxiety. A mental health professional can offer assistance, care, and direction to help manage symptoms and enhance general mental health.

The significance of mental health cannot be overstated. For the sake of your physical and mental wellbeing as well as for leading thriving, happy lives, it is vital you maintain good mental health. Now you too can enhance your quality of life and lower your risk of developing mental health disorders by placing a higher priority on your daily practice of these 7 tips.

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Author: Peter Diaz
Peter Diaz profile

Peter Diaz is the CEO of Workplace Mental Health Institute. He’s an author and accredited mental health social worker with senior management experience. Having recovered from his own experience of bipolar depression, Peter is passionate about assisting organisations to address workplace mental health issues in a compassionate yet results-focussed way. He’s also a Dad, Husband, Trekkie and Thinker.

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This article was first published on The WMHI Global

Mindfulness-at-workplace

How Mindfulness Can Help Corporate Employees

16/10/2018

A Third Of Corporate Employees Are Feeling Stressed, Anxious Or Depressed. How Can Mindfulness Help?

Earlier this year, results from an Australian study of over 3,500 employees across 42 organisations from different industries found that one third of the participants were suffering from some form of mental disorder. Of those, 36% were suffering from depression, 33% from anxiety, and 31% from stress.

The results echo the statistics from other parts of the world. In the UK, the National Centre of Social Research reports that 26% of people have been diagnosed with a mental disorder, and a further 18% experience an undiagnosed mental disorder each year. The USA reports 20% – 32% of adults have a mental health condition each year, depending on the study. Research on prevalence in Canada and New Zealand show similar results.

Staggeringly, 58% of women and 73% of males who met the clinical criteria for depression or anxiety did not know they had a problem. Only 17% of participants in the clinical ranges for depression or anxiety were seeking help. 47% of employees do not feel comfortable discussing a mental health condition with their manager.

The implications for workplaces include increased absenteeism, presenteeism, disability claims, accidents, injuries and illnesses, grievances and complaints, turnover and legal implications.

Globally, mental health problems are estimated to cost workplaces 2.5 trillion US dollars, and that’s expected to rise to 5 trillion by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

What Is Stress? And How Does It Lead To Mental Health Problems?

Everyone feels stressed from time to time. Stress is the biological and physical response to a perceived threat or danger and is often described as a feeling of being overwhelmed or worried. In modern day society, everyday stressors include managing work and family commitments, work deadlines, financial pressures and family issues. Stress can also be caused by sudden negative change, including loss of a loved one or job, or experiencing trauma, such as a major accident or natural disaster.

Not all stress is bad. Stress can be highly motivating at times and can enable us to perform in job interviews, work presentations etc. The majority of people are equipped with the ability to handle short lived periods of stress. However, prolonged periods of stress or excessive stress can lead to significant mental and physical health problems including depression and anxiety.

Everyday stress can be the toughest type of stress to tackle because the source of the problem tends to be more constant, and the body therefore stays in a state of alarm.
Something needs to be done to stop the tide.

Learn more about Stress…

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Why Businesses Should Be Investing In Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training?

A decade ago, one in five employees were living with a mental disorder in a given year and, according to the latest studies around the world, the statistics are worsening. There is still a stigma associated with mental health conditions, and approximately half the time, individuals do not seek help or even know they have a problem. In very real terms this means that management is often operating with half of the information they need to manage their employees.

To tackle this issue, it’s important for HR professionals to offer a wide range of wellbeing initiatives, as one size does not fit all.

Mindfulness based stress reduction training is evidence based education that has proven effective in reducing stress, anxiety and depression, and can be offered in conjunction with other organizational wellbeing initiatives, to improve staff productivity, performance and wellbeing.

According to PWC, organizations that are dedicated to creating a mentally healthy workplace, can expect a positive return on investment (ROI) of 2.3.

If you are interested in running our Mindfulness At Work course for your team, please contact us at admin@wmhi.com.au or give us a call.

Author: Peter Diaz
Peter-Diaz-AuthorPeter Diaz is the CEO of Workplace Mental Health Institute. He’s an author and accredited mental health social worker with senior management experience. Having recovered from his own experience of bipolar depression, Peter is passionate about assisting organisations to address workplace mental health issues in a compassionate yet results-focussed way. He’s also a Dad, Husband, Trekkie and Thinker.

Connect with Peter Diaz on:
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How-Mindfulness-Can-Help-Reduce-Stress-In-The-Workplace

How Mindfulness Can Help Reduce Stress In The Workplace

15/10/2018

In mindfulness workshops, most people raise their hand when asked if they have heard of the word before and are able to describe mindfulness as being more present and calm. So it’s safe to say, Mindfulness has become a widely familiar term.

While participants see the value in feeling less stressed and not getting caught up in thoughts about the past or worries about the future, they do not know where to start and crave practical tools and guidance on how to be more present and feel calmer. For those who have tried mindfulness meditation before, some have given up after feeling like they’re ‘not good’ at it.

Participants are surprised to learn that there is no right way of practicing mindfulness; it can be practiced at anytime, anywhere and in a number of different ways. Simply taking a few minutes before going to sleep, or on your commute home and focusing on your five senses, rather than scrolling through social media or responding to emails to exercise your brain, to support your mental health and wellbeing could be the small yet essential change that is needed to help prevent burning out.

Read more on mindfulness and wellbeing….

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Mindfulness has been scientifically proven to improve memory, focus and concentration, improve our immune system functioning and sleep patterns, decrease ruminative thinking, increase self-awareness and our ability to regulate our emotions, empathise and see things from other people’s perspectives. Most importantly – it reduces stress. Practicing mindfulness deactivates the amygdala – (fight or flight response) responsible for stress, anxiety and fear and depression.

How? Through a process called neuroplasticity which is the brain’s ability to change and re-wire itself. Improvements can be seen in as little as a day however structural changes to the brain can be seen on imaging scans after only 8 weeks of practicing mindfulness.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”

– Viktor Frankl

Mindfulness is essentially brain training – the more we practice tuning into the present, the better we become. The more we practice emotional-regulation, the better we become. The more we practice taking a breath before reacting, the better we become.

All good reasons to train your employees to become more mindful, right? If you are interested in running our Mindfulness At Work course for your team, please contact us at admin@wmhi.com.au or give us a call.

Author: Tania Young
Tania Young

Tania is an experienced Mindfulness Facilitator who has delivered training to organisations across Australia. Tania is also a Human Resources professional with almost 10 years experience working for medium to large corporate businesses across different industries in London and Sydney. Tania combines her a wealth of HR knowledge and experience implementing wellbeing initiatives, to support employee wellbeing, drive engagement, performance and productivity.

What-is-Mindfulness

What Is Mindfulness

15/10/2018

Mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as the “process of paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment, non-judgmentally”. But what does this actually mean?

Research from Harvard has shown that we spend almost half of our lives distracted, not living in the present moment, bemoaning the past or catastrophizing the future. We spend very little time living in the present moment.

Mindfulness is a powerful tool that can help people to slow down, and connect with the present moment. Mindfulness not only trains people to experience the world through our five senses and be more open to what life has to offer. Mindfulness also helps people develop greater self-awareness and an opportunity to reflect on their thoughts and feelings objectively. This helps to alter our habitual responses, by taking a pause and choosing how we react to a situation.

Read more on mindfulness and wellbeing….

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Expert insights and tips on how to build resilient and mentally healthy workplace cultures delivered straight to your inbox each month.

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Mindfulness training is evidence-based education that effectively reduces stress, anxiety and depression, and can be offered alongside other organizational leadership and wellbeing initiatives, to improve engagement, creativity, performance and wellbeing.

According to PWC, creating a mentally healthy workplace for your organisation with workshops of this type, can bring you a positive return on investment (ROI) of 2.3.

If you would like to know about our Mindfulness in the Workplace course for your team, please contact us at admin@wmhi.com.au or give us a call.

Author: Tania Young
Tania Young

Tania is an experienced Mindfulness Facilitator who has delivered training to organisations across Australia. Tania is also a Human Resources professional with almost 10 years experience working for medium to large corporate businesses across different industries in London and Sydney. Tania combines her a wealth of HR knowledge and experience implementing wellbeing initiatives, to support employee wellbeing, drive engagement, performance and productivity.