Looking after your wellbeing can be easy enough to do from home and in your free time. But how does your wellness routine change when you’re working?
Whether you are working from home, in an office or are on-the-go, making time for wellness can be challenging due to various competing demands on our time. Our wellbeing can seem to take a lower priority when it comes to our professional lives, but there are quick and simple ways you can practise wellness at work.
From updating your meetings to making a cup of tea, prioritise your wellbeing and discover five easy ways to practise wellness at work.
1. Make breathing exercises a part of your day
Checking in on your breathing throughout the day.
Breathing exercises are so accessible – you don’t need any equipment or a new environment, you can simply do these exercises while sat at your desk. Consider taking just a few minutes of your time in between emails, after a meeting or before you sit down to start your working day to practise deep breathing – a simple breathing exercise can help alleviate stress, slow down your heart rate and bring a sense of calm to your day.
2. Introduce mindful meetings
Consider Mindfulness when arranging and participating in meetings by creating a no phone and, where possible, no computer guideline.
Avoid taking your phone with you to meetings and encourage others to do the same. If you’re working virtually, move your phone so you don’t have it to hand during meetings and calls. This will not only help to create a more mindful environment, but you’ll also get more out of the meeting, by engaging in the content rather than keeping one eye on your phone at the same time.
3. Find mindful moments wherever you can
Engaging in meditation or Mindfulness activity doesn’t require hours of your week to be set aside.
If you’re short of time, you can practise meditation throughout your working day by bringing Mindfulness to small tasks. It might be while you’re making a hot drink, washing your hands or eating a mid-morning snack. While you’re engaging in these everyday tasks, consider taking a minute to slow down, breathe deeply and pay attention to the movement, rather than completing them on auto-pilot.
4. Set alerts and reminders to keep you on course
Add reminders in your phone or email calendar to take short breaks away from your desk and the screen.
This can be anywhere between a 5 or 15 minute slot where you stand up away from your desk, take a walk or engage in a short meditation. To encourage you to take these breaks, why not send your calendar invites to your colleagues and engage in the practice together? Whether virtually or in the office, sometimes having others join you can boost motivation.
5. Try mindful movement
Something as simple as a daily walk can be a form of practicing wellness.
Whether you need to walk down or up a few floors to a meeting, across the office to the coffee machine or if you’re working from home, over the road to grab some fresh air - consider engaging in mindful movement. Using simple movement, like walking, and bringing awareness and attention to it, is an easy and effective way to introduce wellness into your day. It encourages you to be present, as opposed to thinking about ticking off your to-do list, and brings your focus to what is happening in the here and now. It’s in these spaces where you can often find that moments of inspiration can come to you, engaging in exercise and focusing your attention on what you are doing minute by minute.
If you’re new to mindful movement, there are plenty of free audio guides available online and you can find out more about the practice here.
Finding your own practice
If you feel as though you struggle to dedicate time towards wellness, especially during the working week, consider the different ways you can bring Mindfulness to your daily tasks.
You needn’t be an expert in meditation to engage in simple breathing exercises or mindful movement. Whichever way you practise wellness, as long as you’re making it a priority to check in with yourself, you’ll feel multiple benefits in no time.
Find out about the benefits of practising mindfulness at work here.