The Benefits Of Guided Relaxation On Wellness In The Workplace

When it comes to why you would want to introduce it into your workplace you need only look at the most common health issues found in corporate offices to see where your workplace would benefit from it. Lowering stress, developing coping skills, and just generally feeling more comfortable and confident are things that can help in any situation, especially the workplace. There is a huge range of ways to categorize guided relaxation and meditation but at its core, it is essentially a structured approach to attaining a level of calm and wellbeing.

Plenty of companies are always looking for a more effective and reliable method to improve employee wellness and below we’ll list some of the ways guided relaxation can help you achieve that goal. Guided relaxation and meditation can be carried out in any area that’s calm and quiet. Individuals can access guided meditation audios through mobile apps like Mark Bowden Hypnotherapy, which offer numerous options to help people work through a variety of workplace issues and mental health conditions brought on by stress.

Many experts claim that achieving a level of calm is a must in our modern and hectic world. The proverbial rat race often leaves us running in circles, trying to accomplish everything that is expected of us. Keeping up with all of life’s challenges can be exhausting, both physically and mentally. Career, family, finances, and relationships are just some of the areas that are the biggest sources of both anxiety and stress. Both of them are highly detrimental to our health and the quality of our lives. It often leads to low self-esteem, depression, and a feeling of disconnect. These, in turn, lead to more stress and anxiety and soon we find ourselves spiraling out of control in this circle.

How Does Guided Meditation Work?

Meditation has been praised as one of the best ways to relax for centuries. However, people often shy away from it because it all sounds complicated and they can’t afford the time it takes to learn it properly. That is why guided meditation is so popular. You don’t have to know how to meditate to participate in a guided session and feel the benefits of it. All you have to do is listen.

The sessions are usually guided by an instructor, although that is not a rule. You can use a CD or even make a recording of yourself and play it back. There are plenty of resources on YouTube you can also use in a pinch. A session usually starts with instructions on how to relax specific muscles in your body and be comfortable. After that, a set of visualizations and mental images are introduced that will help you feel relaxed. These are meditation techniques that are used in every form of mediation. Finally, the guide may explain how to incorporate these techniques in everyday life.

Guided meditation can be as simple or as complex as you wish. The duration also can vary, depending on your needs and available time. This flexibility is another reason why it is so popular. A session can consist of several short breathing exercises or it can last a full hour.

Mental Health & Fortitude

By working on a structured regime designed around introspection, a guided relaxation course can help improve employee mindfulness which is associated with a whole range of benefits. People taking part in sustained programs have found that it helps to lower feelings of exhaustion and anxiety by giving them the tools they need to deal with emotional issues or outside influences.

Memory

The links between meditation and memory have been researched thoroughly over the years with the consensus being that the way meditation affects the functions of the brain can help to boost and, in some cases, restore memory function.

Lower stress

The vast majority of employees feel work-related stress at some point in their lives even if they love their job. It is also the main cause of burnout, which is defined as “resulting from chronic workplace stress”. Burnout is one of the fastest-growing workplace health concerns and it can dramatically lower the performance and quality of work that your employees show. Meditation and relaxation have always been considered a great way to relieve some stress and take a quick break from a difficult situation. Even a break as short as 10 or 15 minutes can be enough to have a lasting impact on the mental and physical health of your employees.

Initiative

With relief from stress and tension, your employees will find themselves in a better position to make more effective and rational decisions. The improvements in self-awareness and positivity will help your employees develop the tools they need to become more comfortable with decision making and also how to best implement their decisions most effectively.

Community

Making meditation something that is done by the whole workplace helps you to increase the cohesion of your workforce in a number of ways. The most obvious of these is the shared experience, particularly in a field that employees may not have any previous experience in.

Exploring something new together will foster a sense of togetherness and unity that can sometimes be lacking in teams that work together even if they work well. It also helps each employee understand themselves better which leads to more meaningful interactions going forward between all potential team members.

All the benefits of guided relaxation are expanded on when introduced to the workplace, as it can often be one of the places that produce the most stress in a person’s life. Making it a shared experience removes some of the stigmas that can sometimes be associated and helps to turn the exercise into another great tool for bringing a team together, with employers included. It can be a great team-building exercise and demonstrate the management’s genuine care for its employees. These things translate directly to increased productivity and better performance of everyone included. In both the short and long run, guided mediation sessions are very valuable and affordable options for improving the mental health of your team and building interpersonal relationships in the office.