Say bye burnout, hello mindfulness
As Mental Health Awareness Week comes to a close, key is to establishing healthy habits to see you through the rest of the year and beyond. Dr Simoné Laubscher PhD, WelleCo formulator and a world-leading nutritionist, naturopath and wellness expert, has shared her top tips with YOMU on using mindfulness to help combat stress and burnout.
“When experienced at the right level, stress has a vital function for focus, attention and energy,” says Dr Simoné. “However, under chronic stress, which is what many of us experience in this current era, our brain and body suffer tremendously. Stress is said to be the cause of almost 70% of doctor’s visits and 85% of serious illnesses, and the first victim of stress is typically the mind, with stress often impacting your emotions, your relationships, mental flexibility, reasoning, openness, creativity and problem-solving ability.
“Mindfulness is vital to build mental resilience, which is a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her potential, can cope with the everyday stresses of life, work productively, and contribute to her or his community. However, achieving this can be easier said than done and requires constant effort and commitment every day. These are some simple and effective tips that I recommend to clients to establish positive habits of mindfulness.”
1. Keep a gratitude journal and try to make a few entries every day before you go to sleep. It boosts mood and helps you feel more connected to those around you.
2. Try to perform one random act of kindness each day. It will make you happier and healthier.
3. Talk to people! Make time to be social and build relationships with others.
4. Try meditation. It will benefit your focus, brain health, emotion regulation and immune system.
5. Exercise. It will lift your mood, reduce anxiety and keep your brain healthy, so that your performance and creativity is high.
6. Consider supplementation to support you through the stresses of everyday life – two Elixirs that I formulated for WelleCo have been created specifically to activate clarity and calm. The Calm Elixir helps to relieve symptoms of mild anxiety, while supporting a healthy mood balance and a healthy stress response within the body; while The Clarity Elixir resets and energises, offering a mental refresh and helping to maintain brain function and health.
7. Practice becoming immersed in a single task, otherwise known as ‘flow’. Some easy ways to start are with colouring books or mindful sun salutations.
8. Practice healthy device habits. Put away your phone at mealtime, turn email notifications off when you leave work, turn off devices 90 minutes before bed and spend some time without your device on the weekends.
9. Set aside time every day to focus on yourself and don’t feel guilty about it.
10. Invest in experiences rather than material objects or temporal pleasures such as food and alcohol.
“Use these tips to help you practice happiness-inducing activities each day,” says Dr Simoné. “Not only does happiness help to combat stress and its negative consequences, but happy individuals also have greater coping abilities, improved heart health, are less susceptible to illness and typically live longer too. Intentional effort can increase 40% of our happiness (the other 60% is fixed and influenced by genetics and life circumstances) – so implementing simple activities such as these can really make a difference.”
For more information please visit welleco.co.uk
