Stress Management

I facilitated a workshop today inside of a pharmaceutical company on the topic "Stress Management". There was a health fair going on in the office as well and staff had the opportunity to get chair massages, meet with a rep from a gym, get their eyes tested and learn about shoe fitting.

Stress Management is a becoming more mainstream in companies who really focus on keeping their employees healthy, which impacts the healthcare costs of the company, in a positive way. It doesn't have to be hard to put a process in place in the company giving employees tools, ideas, opportunities to learn more about managing their stress. Just the simple technique of taking deep breaths will lower stress which we did during the workshop. Most importantly, it has to start at the top with leadership who "walk the talk" and see the value of making sure stress is managed in the company environment and they too participate.

Today the staff wasn't interested in talking too much about what stress is, what the signs are, etc. They wanted to know how to manage and control it. From a coaching perspective, it's a very personal thing as we are all wired differently with different life experiences, culture driven habits, physical and emotional make up.  The big challenge most in the room experienced and needed help with was around exercise and how to integrate exercise in their busy lives. This is especially hard for young working mothers who have to juggle children, being a housewife and working. I gave them some ideas but also more importantly wanted them to reflect on what they could manage and implement into their busy lives.

Regarding exercise, if you can't afford to join a gym then maybe taking family walks or walking by yourself sometime during the day may help bringing exercise into your life. Maybe investing in a treadmill or bicycles for the family may be an option. Here in South Florida, we have the beach which is free. People play volleyball, talk walks, go swimming or run. If exercise is important and needs to be in your life, think about what the benefits will be and what needs to change to allow some time for this most important part of   keeping you healthy. I love to ask "what are your options?" "let's get creative and think outside of the box and look at all of your options. If "I don't have time" comes into the conversation, I ask people to monitor how they spend their day for about a week, writing down every little detail without judgment and then look at it and see if there is a pattern of activity or Doing that could be shifted a bit into adding a stress re-leaser or bringing some personal pampering into their life. It's good to have an accountability partner or a coach to help make this shift happen and keep the person on track for change.

I love this work and hope to get more of it. People simply need to slow down, get out of their minds and into their hearts and just enjoy life. Smiles, laughter and gratitude show up more often.  Try it.