Stress in the Workplace

Nowadays workplace stress receives significantly more attention and resources than it did say ten years ago. Still, most offices remain demanding, fast-paced, and ever-changing. They’re filled with literal and figurative noise as well as measurable and subtle energy that is often challenging if not downright negative. In this kind of environment, it’s hard for staff to stay grounded, centered, and clear. Thus, they get stressed. In sum, it’s hard, if not impossible, to be at their best to address their responsibilities and workplace issues. Increasingly, managers and human resources staff wonder how to best help staff deal with stress on the spot.

Rather than ignore stress-inducing issues or simply power through them, staff can learn simple, in-the-moment techniques to self-assess and self-regulate. Oftentimes, greater self-awareness combined with immediate remediation will mitigate or even prevent a stress response in the first place. Appropriate and effective tools and techniques taught to staff quickly and inexpensively can be part of the solution.

Fortunately, we humans have a powerful reset button right within our own biopsychology. It’s our breath: prana or life-force energy. And we can access it 24/7 anywhere at any time. As such, breath can serve as one in-the-moment stress management technique. Know-how and practice are all that’s needed.

How to Deal With Stress On the Spot

Breathwork and Stress Relief

Put simply, stress is simply the body’s way of signaling that something in the environment changed and the body needs to make an appropriate adjustment. For thousands of years, yogis and yoga practitioners have used Pranayama techniques to manipulate their pattern of breathing in order to move, alter, and/or elevate life force energy. This shifting of energy was and still is part of rebalancing the body’s internal systems and restoring homeostasis.

More recently, research has uncovered a great deal about how biological systems within the body utilize the breath (i.e., its pattern, composition, and other qualities) as a barometer and rebalancing catalysts. For example, short shallow breaths can initiate the autonomic nervous system (ANS) fight/flight/freeze stress response. Similarly, a different pattern of breathing can tone the vagus nerve and encourage rebalance.

Practicing a particular breath technique for just a few minutes, it’s possible to clear the mind, ground, and, center. This vantage point is less reactive and habitual than that of the activated ANS. It’s greater flexibility and ease. From here, a staff member can consciously choose a preferred and more effective response.

Brainwaves, Stress Relief, Presence, and Creativity

Breathing meditations allow your staff to shift from a cluttered or highly active brain state into a more centered and clear one.

Breath can move from a person from an active, focused, and analytical brain state (Beta) into a relaxed, more expansive, and creative Alpha state. This is the brain state of flow.

These are natural brain states. Everyone moves back and forth between them throughout the day. Although, sometimes they may rest in one state for a prolonged period depending on intention and need.

In addition to promoting relaxation, being in an Alpha mind state opens a person’s perspective. It encourages attention to turn inward toward the embodied mind or body-mind. Thus, the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, allowing greater access to more creativity, intuition, and original thinking.

One Variation On Breathing Meditation

For more an example of this type of breathwork, see my FREE Relax, Ground, Center, and Clear the Mind guided meditation. Your staff can download it themselves. It’s simple. After listening to the meditation a few times, they should be able to self-direct the process.

For more information on helping staff deal with stress on the spot, see:

My related blog post:

• 3 Ways Clearing Your Energy Can Shift Your Mood
• How to Empower Your Staff to Be More Stress Resilient
• Related Starchaser Mind-Body-Spirit blog posts using this “Empowering Your Staff” category link, or use the blog dropdown in the main navigation menu.
• Virtual and in-person Staff Development Workshop such as Stress Resilience in the Workplace
• Workplace Coaching sessions
• About me