Stress can be a real challenge, especially in the workplace. Unfortunately, it is not a rare experience, but one that people know all too well. A study by the American Psychological Association showed that 77% of people in a survey felt some form of work-related stress in the past month. That’s more than three-quarters of American workers, and that doesn’t even take into account other nations and their workforces!
Clearly, stress is an issue in the workplace for many individuals, but how do you overcome it? Mindfulness can be a helpful antidote to the challenges of work-related stress, and there are plenty of strategies that you can use to combat this form of stress. Let’s explore some of the impacts of workplace stress, how mindfulness can reduce stress and some of the techniques you can use. With this article, you’ll understand all that you need to so you can begin to take steps to reduce your stress.
The Impact of Workplace Stress
Workplace stress is present everywhere—from physical offices to people sitting behind desks as they work virtually at a distance. For many workers, the stressors are the same: intense workload, interruptions, and even technological challenges, but these issues can become even worse for virtual employees.
Most people face acute stress, episodic acute stress, or chronic stress. Acute stress is a one-time event, while episodic acute can be recurring situations, and chronic stress can be consistent pressures that last multiple months on end. However, they all provide similar impacts for workers:
- Mental Challenges: Workers might find themselves—when stressed—encountering difficulties with coping, disruptions to their mental health, and even productivity concerns.
- Emotional Concerns: Stress can lead some employees to feel as though they are unworthy of the job or not good enough, potentially even leading to depressive symptoms, anxiety, or feelings of sadness and despair.
- Physical Symptoms: Your emotional and mental stress can manifest as physical symptoms, including headaches, back pain, gastrointestinal disturbances, and even repeated illnesses over time (Source: Business Ethics and Leadership).
If left unchecked, workplace stress may lead to feelings of being too busy or overworked and a whole host of problems that limit your physical health. That’s why it is so important to look into solutions like mindfulness, which has a track record of reducing stress and promoting healthier habits and better health.
How Mindfulness Can Reduce Stress
Mindfulness practices are an excellent way to improve your stress responses and limit any lingering stress in your daily life. The reason that mindfulness can be highly beneficial is because it forces you to take a moment and reflect on how you’re feeling. That’s probably why populations like Buddhist monks have used mindfulness meditations for over 2,600 years, as they can take a moment to reflect on how they feel, both emotionally and physically (Source: The Harvard Gazette).
Mindfulness has been proven to help alleviate stress by improving attention, countering stress responses, and even helping relieve chronic pain. Many people also experience enhanced moods, better cognition, and memory. The reason that mindfulness works so well is that these techniques can help your brain focus better and limit distractions. It allows you to focus on what matters so you can avoid what may be causing you delays or extra stress.
But what techniques can you use to encourage mindfulness, and what are the most effective practices? Let’s discuss some of the most trusted mindfulness exercises and why they can help you destress and experience the benefits we have explored thus far.
Mindfulness Techniques You Can Use to Destress
Fortunately, there are so many mindfulness techniques that you can implement in your daily life to help you limit your stressors. From yoga to mindful meditation to other proven methods, you can pick and choose what works best for you. Here’s a look at some of the best mindfulness techniques and what they can offer you on your journey to reducing stress:
- Yoga: Practiced for thousands of years, yoga can be a great way to reduce your stress while being active. One study of adults who used yoga to minimize stress demonstrated that they were able to reduce perceived and actual stress after a period of 12 weeks! Best of all, you merely have to do a few minutes a day to really see these benefits. Even a short 20-minute routine can provide benefits.
- Mindful Hypnotherapy: While many people might not turn to hypnotherapy first, it has the potential to help relieve stress and encourage mindfulness. Participants in one study completed eight 1-hour sessions and listened to audio recordings for self-hypnosis, proving that they experienced a significant decrease in both perceived and actual stress levels (Source: International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis). This was only after eight weeks, showing just how quickly you can experience these results!
- Meditation: Finally, as we explored briefly, meditation can also be used to destress from work. You don’t even need to sit and meditate for an hour, either, as you can experience the same benefits in minutes. Meditation has been proven to help people become more positively engaged in their environment while also leading to stress reduction over time. Just start with five minutes a day and watch as your stress begins to disappear with each and every session.
With these methods, you can start a mindfulness routine as part of your day to help you relax after work. For best results, we highly recommend incorporating this as part of a bedtime routine so you can sleep and rest without interruption!
How Will You Reduce Your Work-Related Stress?
Mindfulness can help greatly when it comes to relieving stress in the workplace. With so many of us struggling with work-related stress, even implementing a five-minute meditation can benefit our overall health. What technique do you want to try for stress reduction? For more articles on sleep health, visit our website today.
