Your Emotional Well-Being is Important
Mental health affects us all in one way or another. We may suffer personally, live with a loved one who is suffering, work with a colleague who suffers and have friends or family who live with this condition on a daily basis. We may also be surrounded by people we know who, unbeknown to us are suffering. The emotional well-being of us all is so very important.
Work Place Stress and Emotional Well-Being
How many of you suffer from work-related stress? I would imagine at some point or another during your working life you have experienced workplace stress. I know I have and it is absolutely awful. Have you been bullied, not acknowledged for the work you do well or not treated as an equal? Have you been spoken to in a constant negative way and been shown no respect? Do you feel unsupported stressed, anxious and overwhelmed? Working in an environment like this can leave you feeling dejected, miserable and unwanted. You might even be left feeling that you can’t do your job properly, that you don’t fit in and even that your managers or colleagues don’t even want you there. The Samaritans state that ‘three out of five people have experienced mental health issues due to work’, with only one in ten people actually telling their managers about how they feel.
In my experience, I felt that I could not talk to a manager about anything and usually, this was because they were not at all approachable. You were rarely able to approach her with work-related queries never mind talking about feelings and emotions. I have had managers who were not remotely interested in their staff as human beings. They felt that they were only there to complete a set of daily tasks and how they felt and what they experienced at work was not important. So much so that even when people took annual leave comments were made and it was frowned upon. Not ideal I know and considering you spend most of your time in the workplace it is so important to create an environment where you can thrive.
For me, another extremely stressful work-related time was when I was made redundant. This was such an upsetting time and I felt like I was a complete failure. The whole redundancy process was challenging and as I didn’t feel confident about the interview I didn’t interview well. After the redundancy was announced I was heartbroken and embarrassed about working with colleagues who I believed must have been better than me. If you have experienced work-related stress and redundancy, how did you cope and in what way did this affect your emotional wellbeing? Many people feel a failure, feel depressed, overwhelmed and that they are not good enough. For me, I found it very difficult moving forward and accepting that I was good enough. It was hard for me to apply for other jobs because I didn’t feel worthy.
In my experience, emotional wellbeing in the workplace is rarely acknowledged. Also when there has been restructuring and redundancies support is very often non-existent.
Although Mental Health is so much more accepted, recognised and understood now there is still such a long way to go to ensure that everyone is supported in one way or another. Better still wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could reduce the numbers of cases so people could lead fabulous stress and anxiety free lives. This is certainly my mission in life I can tell you, the more people I can help the better.
Why do I feel like this?
So what can affect your mental wellbeing? There are so many different things and as individuals, your triggers will be specific to you. You could be having a hard time at work, you could be experiencing relationship problems, have financial worries or have lost someone close. You could be facing unemployment or the threat of unemployment, have housing issues, health concerns or you might feel isolated and so alone and the list goes on. In short, we can all be affected by absolutely anything life throws at us and at any time.
You could be feeling and experiencing:
- Exhausted/tired all the time
- Sleep problems
- Helpless
- Hopeless
- Disconnected
- Stressed
- Anxious
- Unhappy/sad
- Fearful/worried/angry
- Confused
You could also experience physical symptoms such as a backache, stomach ache, headache and a whole range of aches and pains.
What Can I do to help ME?
Ensuring that we have good emotional well-being is fundamental. How can you make sure your emotional well-being is strong? Well, we are all different that’s for sure, so one size does not fit all. One thing is for sure, you don’t deserve to feel this way. It is so easy to slip into the comfy chair, speak to no one and just watch TV, I know, I have been there. I do also know that when you are feeling so low the last thing you can do is pull yourself out of it easily, you need help. However, when I feel like this I just love to do some of the following and they may help you too:
- Talking to someone can really help and it doesn’t have to be a professional. Just share with someone how you are feeling and also your worries, fears and frustrations. Sometimes we actually don’t realise how stressed we are until we start talking to someone. I know it can sometimes be difficult to find someone to talk to because the person who will listen just isn’t there. If that is the case there are so many wonderful therapists out there who are qualified to listen and support you. You can also go to see your GP or even contact Samaritans. Always know there is someone there to listen.
- Walking in nature is such a de-stressing thing to do and a fabulous form of exercise and when done in a mindful way also incorporates mindfulness. Walking in the park or countryside or indeed anywhere green is so therapeutic. Just experiencing what is going on around you and how you are feeling can make a huge difference. Writing what you feel in a journal can be very cathartic so why not give it a try, it doesn’t have to be much. Walking in the countryside, for me, is so good for the soul, it gives me such a boost. I love to walk in nature and of course walking and being mindful is good wherever you are. Some people prefer walking by water or even in the city, so whichever is your place, go for it and make mental notes of what you see and hear. There is a whole world out there to experience so put your phone away and take a really good look.
- Taking some lovely, deep, slow, breaths is fabulous for stress and anxiety.
o Breath in for 5 counts
o Hold your breath for 3 counts
o Breath out for 7 counts
When I am practising my breathing on these counts I also hold a couple of acupressure points. One is the Sea of Tranquillity (CV-17). This point is located at the centre of the breastbone, three to four finger widths up from the bottom of the breastbone. This acupressure point is fabulous for anxiety, nervousness, panic and depression plus a range of other emotions. Together with CV-17 you can hold your right hand just below your navel.
You can also hold these points on your forehead: they are emotional stress release points. So you can hold your forehead and CV17 (as in the picture) or CV 17 and just below your navel whilst taking nice deep breaths.
Another tip which is just brilliant. Place your hand on your forehead or as shown in the picture above, take some deep breaths and think of the thing that stresses you and if you can, create the picture in your mind. Take some slow deep breaths and think of the stress/issue until you can no longer hold onto the thought in your mind.
Another brilliant point to hold is Letting Go (LU 1). You can hold these points to help calm a panic attack, release anxiety, grief, anger, sadness and depression. These points are below your collarbone and near your shoulders. Hold these points with a few finders and you won’t miss them. Press firmly and take some lovely deep breaths.
Are YOU looking after yourself
Looking after yourself is vital and when you are feeling at such a low point this doesn’t seem important or necessary or you just can’t be bothered. IT IS and YOU CAN.
When we live in a constant state of stress our body uses its supply of vitamins and minerals very quickly so we have to ensure that we are keeping them topped up. The important vitamins and minerals are:
Magnesium
B vitamins
Vitamin C
Omega-3 fatty acids
Magnesium is a super relaxing nutrient and wonderful when used in a gorgeous relaxing bath. An Epsom salts bath, which is actually magnesium, is a fabulous way to ease muscle and joint pain and de-stress you. Whilst in the bath the magnesium is absorbed through your skin so helping raise the levels of magnesium in your body. Epsom salts in your bath can also help your skin, aid sleep and calm and relax you, what’s not to love.
Make sure you are eating well and here I mean good healthy foods that feed and nourish the soul, I know this can be difficult when you want to eat the opposite because you feel so low. It really will help boost you.
For help with emotional well-being
Please contact me for a 20-minute free telephone consultation to find out how I can help you with stress and anxiety.
For some more useful information take a look at the Mind Body Green and also Healthline
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13084/10-ways-to-manage-your-stress.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/supplements-for-anxiety
Here are a few supportive sites for you to take a look at:
Mind – https://bit.ly/2ISZfre
Open University – http://www.open.ac.uk/choose/unison/develop/my-understanding/mental-health-awareness
Independent – https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mental-health-awareness-week-first-aid-training-poppy-jaman-england-a8347811.html
Rethink Mental Illness – https://bit.ly/2k75wBx
Samaritans – https://bit.ly/2rTnrzR
This is a fabulous book full of useful acupressure points to hold to support your emotional healing.
Acupressure for Emotional Healing by Michael Reed Gach and Beth Ann Henning – https://amzn.to/2x58dNi