Managing your stress through mindfulness

In the final blog of our series for Stress Awareness Month, Ashleigh Halpin, HR and Mindfulness consultant, offers an insight into mindfulness and how it can help with stress.

April brings us Stress Awareness Month and what better topic to discuss than mindfulness and how it can help with stress.

Firstly, stress is not a BAD word. We often attach so many negative connotations to the word stress. Stress is normal and in fact we need stress in our everyday life to get out of bed in the morning and to have "purpose".

Purpose is one of our basic human needs after shelter, water, food and connection. So we need stress in our life to fulfill our purpose, by goal setting and achieving.

When stress tips over the "purpose" threshold and becomes overwhelming, this is when stress is not good for us. Stress can lead to many other mental wellbeing issues, in addition to causing physical illnesses in our body, so it's essential to keep stress at a healthy level to protect our body and mind.

Stress is different for different people, we all have our own threshold and it's up to you to become aware of your own stress signs and triggers.

Take a pause and write down all of the ways you know stress is triggered in you. Where in your body can you feel stress? What happens to you emotionally when you feel stressed? Try journaling on this, the more you can write down the more you will start to understand your own stress levels.

The key to managing stress is to become aware of it and take action before it tips and becomes overwhelming, leading to further issues. One way you can do this is by practicing a 3-step breathing space. What better way to explain this to you than by following my guidance in the video below:

If you would like to learn more about stress and how mindfulness can help you, Ashleigh will be hosting a mindfulness session on 11 May during Mental Health Awareness Week. You can sign up here  

You can also find out more details on mindfulness at work by following Ashleigh on Linkedin