27.03.2023

April 2023 Stress Awareness Month

According to statistics, 76% of employees report moderate-to-high or high levels of stress and according to 33% high levels of stress affect productivity. Together with mental health and physical health, stress is a challenge to employee wellbeing and businesses.

Stress Awareness Month is an initiative started in 1992, so that every April we can shed some light on the causes and ways to alleviate it and most of all we can promote awareness, starting conversations about stress in the workplace.

What is stress?

Let’s have a look at what stress is. Stress is something that, as humans, is part of our genetic make-up. Dating back to pre-historic times, stress had the potential to be used to our advantage, as it would have been a useful tool to prepare the body in readiness for any danger. In fact, according to the NHS, ‘Low-level stress can even be helpful or motivational,’ and stress is a common occurrence, with it being ‘something everyone feels at times, and there are all kinds of stressful situations that can be a part of daily life.’ (www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/stress/)

According to Rethink.Org, ‘When you are stressed, your body releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol,’ and it is worth noting some of the common physiological symptoms such as ‘headaches or dizziness, muscle tension or pain, or stomach problems. Please refer to the NHS website for more signs and symptoms that indicate that stress is impacting the body, either emotionally or physically.

It is when stress begins to feel unmanageable or constant, that could mean there is a problem or issue that needs to be addressed. It is important to remember though, that stress doesn’t necessarily lead to further, more serious health problems, nor does it mean it cannot become manageable once again, but what is key is recognising when stress is becoming a concern and acting proactively.

Stress in the workplace: what can be done

A comprehensive approach

Stress in the workplace can be caused by several factors among others, such as:

workload
interpersonal relations with colleagues
relations with management
personal mental health issues
financial concerns
personal circumstances outside work
work-life balance
nutrition, exercise and lifestyle

The answer from a company point of view has to look at it in a comprehensive or holistic way: by promoting awareness of stress among the workforce and the organisation and by offering solutions that tackle the whole aspects of employee wellbeing, being physical, mental, social or financial.

The idea is to foster a working environment where employees know that their wellbeing is being cared for and is something that they take seriously. Here are some solutions.

Stress Awareness

Mental Health Awareness For Employees

Mental Health Awareness workshops provide participants with the necessary information to have a better understanding of their own mental health, of the importance of reducing stress daily and with techniques to foster mental wellbeing both in and out of the workplace.

Mental Health Awareness for Employees

Psychology Workshops

Whatever challenges employees face, Joyful Living psychology workshops series offer a range of topics and solutions to many of the modern world’s issues that are weighing on your employees’ minds. Workshops such as Quietening your inner critic, Bereavement, Build Positive Relationships at work, Dealing with Depression and more, can help employees deal with the stress due to circumstances they are experiencing.

Psychology Talks

Mindfulness

With 80% of employees reportedly needing help managing their stress, one of the most effective ways is through the use of mindfulness. By attending one of our mindfulness workshops, you can provide your employees with the skills to use their mind to foster calm, balance and resilience.

Our expert instructors will guide them through a variety of mindfulness workshops and teach them the techniques needed to help them reduce stress, switch off from daily life and gain more focus and mental clarity.

Mindfulness Workshops

Stress Management

With this corporate stress management program, you can teach your employees the best ways to manage stress in their day to day lives, making them happier, more productive and less likely to become ill.

Stress Management

Stress management workshops to equip participants with a thorough understanding of the stress response and with an array of effective proven techniques to reduce stress on a daily basis, hence benefiting employees and businesses.

Stress Management

Resilience Workshops

A Resilience workshop will teach some simple and effective techniques to strengthen your confidence and resilience on a daily basis in the face of challenges. Building resilience has important benefits for stress and anxiety, improving overall team performance and playing a part in supporting employee mental health in the workplace.

Resilience

Relaxation Techniques

Relaxation techniques workshop is an antidote to stress and helps create a healthy workforce. In this workshop participants will look at their everyday work/ personal life balance and see where they can bring in more calm and tranquillity, learning techniques to release mental and physical tension and improve their overall wellbeing at the end of the day.

Relaxation Techniques

Meditation

Meditation classes in the workplace are ideal to reduce employee stress, help relax and find mental clarity. Meditation brings development of calm, clarity, and concentration, an antidote to stress and beneficial for the whole mental wellbeing.

Meditation

Physical Wellbeing

Fitness and Yoga Classes

We can support employees to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing with our fitness and yoga classes, both on-site and online. Exercise classes are an excellent way to engage the workforce. They fit easily into the working day and they are perfect for improving health, relieving tension, recharging batteries and getting employees into a positive mindset

Yoga and Exercise Classes

Nutrition

Nutrition is directly related to wellbeing and stress. With Joyful Living corporate nutrition workshops participants will learn everything they need to improve their lifestyle in a way that will not just boost their productivity and energy levels at work, but will help them enjoy a better quality of life outside of work. We offer a range of nutrition workshops which can help reduce stress, such as:

Nutrition for the Immune System, Nutrition for Stress and Sleep, Nutrition and Hormones

The workshops are delivered both in person and online, for more information on our corporate nutrition workshops click below.

Nutrition

To conclude

Knowing that stress is something that can affect everyone, in many ways, shapes, and forms, this April 2023 Stress Awareness Month can be used as an opportunity to stop and reflect on the issue of stress in society and in the workplace. Employers can take the opportunity this Stress Awareness Month IN APRIL to help raise awareness of the effects of stress, eliminate any stigma that might surround the feelings of stress and individuate ways of managing it, as key factors in working towards good mental health.

This requires a comprehensive approach, to reflect s the multi-faceted causes of stress, and it can be achieved through various solutions, in the form of mental health workshops, stress management activities, nutrition and yoga and exercise classes for physical wellbeing.