Let’s Talk: Stress

April is Stress Awareness Month and this year’s theme is community. Community is all about having a sense of belonging and connection to others around you — it’s more important than ever that we re-establish social bonds with others, and recover from the isolation and loneliness that the pandemic inflicted on many.

Below some of our colleagues have shared how they manage stress in their daily lives.

I really wanted to share with everyone something that has had a profoundly significant impact on my life, and I heavily rely on for stress management.

During the first lockdown, the Madhyamaka Mediation Centre posted  they were going to host online meditation sessions via zoom. The session came at a time when  I was feeling lost and overwhelmed; it was just the life raft I needed at the time. I didn’t know what to expect, and by the end of the class, I felt like the Buddhist monk had personally handed me this bright, white light of calm that I could return to whenever I needed during the day.

After that first class, I was hooked! It sounds dramatic (me?!) but it truly was a life-changing experience. I was unhappy at the time and I thought meditating would give me some perspective and calm. It did this, and  provided so much more. Meditating made me look internally and really see myself and the life I wanted, which in turn inspired me to make the changes I needed to live in this truth.

Meditation for me is self-care, especially facing the demands of everyday life and a stressful job. The best way to describe how it feels is being in a little boat. Sometimes the waves are calm and sometimes they are choppy – these waves are invasive thoughts, pressures, and worries – but when you are anchored in your little boat, these waves of emotion just float on by…

Netflix have their Headspace Guide to Meditation series, which is great as a simple introduction to the benefits of meditating, with a new technique to try at the end of each short episode. I can’t recommend meditation enough, just 10 minutes a day dedicated to quiet introspection and deep breathing, and I hope you feel the benefits.

My stress reliever is diving.

I discovered diving in 2013 while on holiday in Thailand. I didn’t realise what an impact it would have on my mental health when I first grabbed my fins.

Taking my first breath under the water was the most wonderful experience, looking around at a world I felt privilege to see. The warm water and sound of my breathing offered such a calm feeling it was difficult not to relax. When I cuba dive, I feel free and at ease. Diving allows me to stop the busy life I lead, and take time to reset and recharge.

Nine years later I’m still in love with diving and thankful I took a leap into a new skill which  changed my life. I now teach students the first steps in becoming divers, and hope they experience the underwater wonders of our planet.

Growing up, I was always a competent runner, but pretty much stopped when I went to university in my 20’s. In May 2020, like many people across the UK, I went on furlough for a time. I found myself struggling mentally and physically and I thought to myself, what am I going to do about this?

I decided to attempt to run, and managed to persuade my then seven-year-old daughter to accompany me on my journey. We went on a slow jog along the river to Hammersmith Bridge and back, and it has snowballed from there. I found that running regularly has helped me drop some weight, which then gives me the excuse to eat and drink what I want!

Mentally, it helps me forget any woes that I have and forget about the rigours of a busy life. For the hour or so when I am running, I don’t think about any external problems and listen to my breathing and just run! It’s my excuse to listen to a whole album back to back, I had forgotten how much I love Oasis and U2! I’m lucky that there are lots of great running routes around Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common, and along the River Thames. I often fall asleep dreaming of the routes I will run the following day!

Since May 2020, I have run around 2,500 miles, completed three marathons (with my fourth coming up next month), at least fifteen solo half-marathons, and numerous 10k races. I’ll admit I’m a little obsessed, but if you’re feeling a little jaded or down, I cannot recommend running enough!

My love of running has also spilled out into the Marks Sattin London office! In January 2022, I launched the Marks Sattin Running Club. Everyone in the office is welcome to come for a run every Thursday lunchtime. We have a regular bunch now with a mixture of abilities and levels of fitness.