With Mental Health Awareness Week fast approaching, here are a few Activities you could easily implement in your office even if at short notice.
- Host a Stress Management Workshop:
Stress hormones activate the body’s “fight or flight” response, which can lead to long-term physical and emotional problems if left untreated. Stress can cause a variety of health problems, including headaches, heartburn, sleeplessness, and irritability. This month, have your benefits director hold a stress-relieving activity workshop. Knowing that there are healthy alternatives will help your employees to better deal with their stressors. - Random Acts of Kindness: According to research, doing a good deed for another person is good for one’s mental health. Both the person doing the act of kindness as well as the person receiving will benefit from this. Kindness can improve positive feelings, confidence, and happiness, whether it’s by assisting with a project or opening a door for someone. It could also have a cascading effect. It may also have a cascading effect, encouraging others to pay it forward.
- Get Active:
Invite a fitness instructor to come to your location for a day or provide online workout sessions. . Allow the instructor to provide small lessons for individuals and/or group classes throughout the day. Physical activities can help employees gain confidence and strength while also introducing them to a new training regime. - Go Outside: Outdoor green areas have been shown to be beneficial to mental health in studies. People who spend time outside have less stress, anxiety, and depression. Consider having a special event, such as an outdoor field day, on a Friday. Set up a range of team-building games to get people laughing and moving, such as hula hoop contests, egg races, and water balloon tosses.
- Host a Well-Being Day: Organise a day of activities and discovery centred on well-being. With a light breakfast and an equally light workday deliver simple talks throughout the day around wellbeing. . Alternatively, put up a range of well-being stations for your employees. A fruit-infused water hydration station, a colouring book station, a silent meditation room, and a stretching or meditation space are all basic yet effective suggestions for a relaxing environment.
- Host a Lunch ‘n Learn: Invite a mental health advocate to join you for a Lunch ‘n Learn session. Host a healthy lunch (or breakfast) for your employees and ask them to hear from a local mental health consultant. They can hold a question-and-answer session about stress, anxiety, or any other mental health topic. Alternatively, request that a specific topic is discussed, such as stress management techniques or anxiety-relieving activities.
- Gratitude Challenge: It’s been proven that practising thankfulness gratitude on a regular basis boosts positivity and improves mood. Those who do it on a regular basis report feeling better in general. Request that your staff participate in a gratitude challenge. This can be as basic as writing down three things they’re grateful for each evening before they go to bed. You could even set up a virtual or in-person bulletin board where people can anonymously post notes of what they’re grateful for.
So go on! What will you be implementing in your office this Mental Health Awareness Week?
