When is stress awareness month?
Stress Awareness Month is celebrated in April of each year. It may seem a bit strange that this "celebration" aims to highlight the negative effects of stress on the body and mind. However, that's not the only reason Stress Awareness Month exists.
This month is geared toward helping people recognize the signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety. It's also meant to provide them with information about how to reach out for healthy strategies they can use on their own to reduce stress.
National Stress Awareness Month also aims to help people see that healthy habits are about more than just exercising or watching your diet. Managing stress is an important part of building a healthy lifestyle. Learning how to keep stress to a minimum can help employees keep health issues at bay and improve their mental and physical stamina.
How does stress impact mental and physical health?
Every employee will deal with stress at some point throughout their workday. However, chronic stress (where an employee seems to always be stressed out) can cause serious mental and physical wear and tear. This, unfortunately, leads to many negative impacts on employees' well-being, including:
- Constantly taut muscles that can lead to migraines and chronic pain in various areas of the body
- Breathing and heart issues such as shortness of breath, high blood pressure, and heart disease
- Intestinal problems like heartburn, nausea, digestion issues, and changes in appetite
- Mental fatigue and exhaustion, which can eventually lead to insomnia, feelings of sadness, and burnout
- Feelings of anxiety, which can often make it hard to concentrate and focus
For these reasons, helping employees identify stress management techniques is vital. Some techniques are designed to work over the long term. Others can work right away to manage stress. Consistently helping employees use stress management exercises can have the following benefits:
- Decreased frequency and severity of physical health problems
- Better sleep, which can help employees concentrate, stay productive, and improve their performance
- Increased morale, which can lead to better engagement and more productive collaboration
- Increased levels of innovation due to employees feeling safer to share their creative ideas with the team
- Decreased monetary spending on medical costs, lost opportunities, lost productivity, and high turnover
Stressors are all around you in the workplace. As an HR manager or team leader, there's no way to block out every source of stress your employees may face. However, you can take on the task of helping them deal with what comes their way.
You may wonder how you can assist your employees in avoiding the negative impact of stress. You may also want them to experience the physical and mental health benefits of managing it. The good news is that the answer is easier than you think. While you can't take all the stress away, you can introduce your team to stress awareness activities to help them get a handle on it.
Try these stress awareness activities to improve mental health and employee well-being:
1. Laughter Yoga
Most of your employees would associate laughter with positivity. What you may not know is that it has very specific health benefits for your brain. In some circles, laughter is considered a form of non-pharmacological therapy. It can decrease the stress hormones found in the blood, including cortisol. As a result, it can help reverse your body's stress responses. It can also increase dopamine and serotonin. These are neurotransmitters that can boost your mood and make you happy.
Knowing this, it may come as no surprise that laughter yoga would be on a list of stress-relief activities to do with your staff. Let a certified laughter yoga teacher walk you through deep breathing warm-up exercises. They'll also offer some guided interactive activities. Though it may seem quirky, it's sure to help your employees relax and uplift the mood around your virtual office.
How to get started 👉 Encourage employees to have some fun with a playful Laughter Yoga session.
2. Aromatherapy and Oils Class
Aromatherapy uses essential oils extracted from plants to impact a person's well-being. In some cases, people believe it helps them heal physical ailments such as skin injuries or symptoms of the common cold. In other cases, it can help relieve the side effects of stress that affect your mental health.
For example, essential oils like lavender have been shown to have a relaxing effect on the body. These oils can reduce nervous system activity and help you feel more calm. In turn, you may experience better sleep, increased clarity, and increased productivity at work.
Fortunately, an aromatherapy and oils class is easy to put together for your remote workforce. We'll ship an essential oils kit to each one of your employees. During the class, an expert instructor will talk about the benefits of essential oils and introduce your team to the oils in their kit. Then, they'll show them how to make their own blends to maximize the potential health benefits. This is one activity that your employees can use both at work and in their personal lives.
How to get started 👉 Book a unique Aromatherapy & Oils Class and give your team the gift of natural stress relief.
3. Stress Management Workshop
Your employees likely know that stress management is important for their health. However, they need to realize that it's critical to their professional development as well. Stress at work can lead to chronic absenteeism, lost productivity, and decreased performance. All of these things can affect an employee's ability to advance in their career.
A stress management workshop is the perfect gift to help employees avoid the negative effects of chronic stress. This workshop will explain to your employees what high-stress levels do to them physiologically. It will also guide them in identifying their stressors, symptoms, and typical responses. They'll get mental health awareness tips to help with their stress response. Finally, they'll walk away with insight into their own lives and goals for changing how they handle their emotions.
How to get started 👉 Give your employees a toolbox for handling tough situations by booking our Stress Management Workshop.
4. Bootcamp Class
According to health authorities like the CDC, exercising has so many physical and mental health benefits. It can help strengthen the heart and reduce cardiovascular disease risks. It can also make bones and muscles stronger, prevent falls, and make it easier to complete daily activities. When it comes to mental health, exercise can sharpen the brain. It improves cognition and judgment. In some cases, it can even help relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Why not help your employees experience these benefits firsthand with a bootcamp class? This class is chock full of high-intensity movements like squats, burpees, and planks. To help your employees ease into it, the class is bookended by a warm-up and cool-down session. Best of all, no equipment is required — all your employees need to bring is themselves and a willingness to get out of their comfort zone.
How to get started 👉 Work out your body and your emotions with a stress-relieving Bootcamp Class.
5. Mindfulness Class
Is your team looking for something a little calmer to help ease the stress they've been feeling at work? Perhaps a mindfulness class will be more their speed. They'll get to learn some of the science behind the importance of work breaks and developing work-life balance. They'll experience the immediate benefits with a 10-minute guided exercise. Finally, they'll learn tips and techniques they can use at home and work to increase their mindfulness.
Sometimes work gets overwhelming. When this happens, the mind and body exercises from this class can help your team refocus. This can carry so many benefits for your team. These include helping them stay engaged, improving project outcomes, and even avoiding burnout.
How to get started 👉 Book a Mindfulness Class and help your team learn to thrive in stressful situations.
Reduce stress and champion mental well-being 🎊
Reducing stress in the workplace should be a serious goal for HR professionals. It has untold benefits for employees, as it helps them maintain mental and physical health. However, you mustn't minimize the business benefits. It can not only lead to less money spent on health costs but also stop you from wasting resources on high turnover. It can also lead to better productivity and business performance.
Fortunately, helping employees reduce their stress isn't hard. Building a culture of positivity through stress awareness activities can go a long way in helping you meet that goal. From mindfulness classes to boot camps to laughter yoga, your employees will love having tools to help them de-stress at work.
These activities can help them improve productivity and stop burnout in its tracks. In turn, you'll be rewarded with happy employees who stand ready to help the company conquer its strategic mission and goals.
Browse the Confetti Health & Wellness Calendar to plan stress awareness activities all year long!
