Being mindful of our mental health

Unfortunately, work-related stress is widespread among staff in the NHS, more so because of the coronavirus pandemic. Stress can have a significant impact on your mental health. We know it’s a busy world, but we all need to take the time to practice some relaxation techniques.

Mindfulness practices can help us to increase our ability to regulate our emotions and decrease stress and anxiety.  It can also help us to focus our attention, as well as to observe our thoughts and feelings without judgement.

Sometimes we don’t even realise how much our mental health ties in with our physical health. Mindfulness techniques have been shown to help improve physical health in a number of ways including treating heart disease, lowering blood pressure, reducing chronic pain, improving sleep, and alleviating gastrointestinal difficulties.

We encourage you all to use the various mindfulness resources aimed to support staff on our Health and wellbeing support page on AskHUE.

Find further mindfulness resources on the new Herts and West Essex ICS staff health and wellbeing hub.