The Energise team shares their practices on Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week is another great opportunity to reflect on our wellbeing and offer each other some much-needed support. We know a strong and positive state of mind has a lot of benefits, including helping us experience gratitude, focusing on growth, and feeling comfortable turning to others for support when we need it.
However, that will not always come naturally, hence, at Energise, we encourage our team to feel comfortable expressing themselves and bringing their whole selves to work, including any struggles they may be experiencing outside of it. Talking about mental health in our team meetings and 1:1s has become common practice, and this week was no different.
We asked the team to share some of their go-to practices for turning a poor mental health day or week around and here is what they said:
  • Get crafty: Arts and crafts can be a great way to relieve pressure and stress, especially if your job is technical or requires a hefty dose of numeric literacy. Even though the research on the effectiveness of using craft activities to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness is quite young, using craft activities such as basketry, pottery, or woodwork within occupational therapy has been around since the late 19th century. With loneliness being the major theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, crafts such as knitting and painting can be a good way to meet other people.
  • Use nature as your ally: Being in nature can be another helpful way to destress and focus on the Nature has a unique way of helping us stay grounded, Whether our activity takes the form of a walk, sitting down to enjoy the sunshine, or taking a dive. This is just one of the most important reasons why we need to be intentional about healing and preserving our planet.
  • Connect to your inner peace: Meditation is becoming a well-known practice for wellness. During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress’ (see Mayo Clinic for more). Meditation is a very simple practice to incorporate into your day, all you need is a quiet place and dedicated time. There are plenty of great meditation apps to help you get started if you are new to it.
  • Take time off: Even doing something you absolutely love can still be draining on the mind over time, so plan some time off to recharge and refresh your mind. One of the things we love at Energise is our unlimited leave policy, which comes with the requirement for employees to take at least 5 days off per quarter. We find it to be a great enabler for people to connect with loved ones and make time to nurture and build relationships outside of work.
If you need support, there are many organisations in the UK, such as Mind and Young Minds, as well as 24/7 helplines like the NHS Urgent Care or the Samaritans volunteer network, that offer help and specialist guidance, so please reach out to somebody you can talk to.
Written By    Energise

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