Over the next few weeks, we are going to be sharing with you a series of topics that relate to well-being in the workplace.

Even though most major restrictions have been lifted for some time now, the COVID-19 virus has not gone away just yet. With the new variant lurking and the requirement of wearing masks coming back into place this week, it may cause people to worry about what is yet to come over the winter. With this in mind, it is more important than ever to look after your own mental well-being.

If your well-being is impacted it can cause stress, anxiety and depression.

According to the report shared by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 51% of all work-related ill health and 55% of all working days lost. The rate of work-related stress, depression and anxiety has increased in recent years and is more prevalent in industries such as health and social care.

As part of this series, we will also be sharing a top tip each week on small changes you can make to help improve your mental well-being. Research shows that how you start your day impacts the rest of your day; your mood, how much you get done and how effectively and sprightly you inch closer to your goals and dreams. So, who doesn’t want a bit more positivity in their day?

This week’s well-being top tip… the Mindfulness Body Scan Activity

Body scanning is a form of meditation that helps you pay attention to all the sensations in your body:

• The activity requires a combination of breathing and focused ‘sensing’, ‘tensing’ and ‘relaxing’. This will be implemented over a four-count inhale and four-count exhale.
• You will begin by sensing your toes for two breaths. How do they feel?
• Next, on the third breath, squeeze and tense your toes.
• On the fourth and final breath, relax the toes.
• Continue this exercise all the way up the body.

Benefits of this activity:

• Mindfulness helps those with increased levels of anxiety because it brings you into the present moment and makes you aware of negative thought patterns.

If you would like to discuss the above, or about how we can collaborate, please let us know. To get in touch, email recruitment@ajrecruitment.com or call us on 03305 552233.

As a specialist, family-run recruitment business, we provide a proactive and consultative approach to recruitment within Social Care. We help organisations to target issues such as continuity of staffing, reducing spend where you have a high volume of agency usage and supporting those who have specific talent requirements or are in hard to fill locations. We can help with any immediate staffing requirements or longer-term recruitment projects to ultimately save you time and money on agency spend.

Our customers tell us that we are their main stream of important information regarding the social care sector. We want to ensure the content we are sharing regularly is relevant and useful, so we would love to hear from you! What topics that you would like us to share next?