Put your mind at rest
WORKERS increasingly are turning to wellness courses in a bid to reduce workplace stress and anxiety.
Acting classes also are proving popular as a means of increasing self-confidence and feeling more empowered at work.
By Catchlove owner Elise Catchlove teaches meditation to an increasing number of workers, and says incorporating wellness techniques into the workplace has significant benefits.
“It gives you better clarity, it makes you make better decisions … your productivity just shoots through the roof,’’ Catchlove says. “There’s so many CEOs and business executives that are meditating now — the stigma around meditation is definitely shifting.’’
Catchlove, who turned to Vedic meditation to help manage stress in her previous work as a fashion designer, says it induces a state of restfulness that is up to five times deeper than sleep and can be practised in any workspace. “You don’t need a lot of room, you don’t need a mat, there’s no chanting or humming,” she says.
“You can be really kind of incognito. You can meditate in the boardroom, at your desk, on public transport on your way to work — that’s the beauty of it. Workplace stress, and the technological stimulation we are now exposed to, are not going to vanish out of our lives so we’ve got to learn to manage it.’’
NIDA Corporate acting head Lauren Stuart says the acting school is seeing an
increased number of enrolments from people with “absolutely no interest’’ in acting but see the benefits in learning techniques to improve their confidence at work. She says acting classes can teach breathing methods to calm nerves, project voice levels, and how to better use eye contact and gestures.
“When applied effectively, acting techniques can empower people at any point of the career ladder with the realisation that they can take control over how they’re perceived and that they can alter their ‘presence’ to suit various situations and audiences,’’ Stuart says.
“Anyone who has ever felt that the best version of themselves was out of reach — the version that confidently makes connections at a networking event or makes a strong presentation to an auditorium full of their peers or even just expresses themselves clearly and confidently in a meeting — can benefit from learning acting techniques.’’
Alex Chipman has only recently embraced meditation but has noticed increased energy levels at work.
“My stress levels with work are still there but I notice that I can deal with situations with greater ease since meditating,’’ the co-founder of jewellery label Natasha Schweitzer says.
“Initially I thought meditating was just for stress and anxiety but it really helps me stay focused at work and makes the day-to-day stuff really easy to deal with.’’