Hammocks can be good for your Mental Health
Today is World Mental Health Awareness day, and it’s something very close to our hearts here at Simply Towers.
Mental Health affects 1 in 4 people in the UK, and with that statistic steadily rising, anything you can do to help yourself has got to be a good idea right?
At Simply HQ, we do all we can to help each other with our mental health. We have astroturf as carpet, hammocks in the office, (great when you need a time out, as hammocks have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety), we have a tuckbox, wall murals, uplifting music playing, plants, plenty of natural light, cosy sofas, and TVs to watch Netflix. We socialise as a team too, it was my 30th birthday last week, and our lovely boss closed the office for a few hours and we had a BBQ to celebrate. All in all, it may be the best place in the world to work, but there is more to it than that…
We understand the importance of talking, recognising if somebody is a little quiet that day, or offering a cupper if one of the team needs 5 minutes. We are really good at that small stuff, but as a company we are really great at the big stuff too!
A key part of our working week are our team meetings. Every Monday morning, we start the day with positivity, setting ourselves up for a happier, and more productive working week. Taking it in turns to lead the team in something that has motivated us. We share this over a cupper, and breakfast, always making time to ask how everyone’s weekend has been. Fridays conclude with an achievement meeting, what we have enjoyed most that week. Bookending the week with positivity is a great start to creating a positive workplace, but it isn’t all that we do.
Daily, at 3pm, when there is a natural lull in the day, we do BOOMTIME. Each member of the team has a designated day, and we all do a 10 minute activity to boost our mood and our mental wellbeing. Yesterday we went for a walk. Monday, we wrote a card to ourselves congratulating the little things we do rather than just concentrating on the big picture. Last week we did Yoga, wrote songs and made paper aeroplanes.
At Simply HQ we are a fairly balanced team of men and women, and all of us deal with our mental health in different ways. ALL of us however, sometimes rely on others to help. This is why we have introduced so many things into our workplace that promote a happier and healthier headspace.
With work being one of the highest contributors to stress and anxiety disorders, it is a responsibility for everyone to do what they can. Richard Branson is an advocate of it at Virgin, so we must be onto something! Today it has been announced that the banking industry, construction industry, and even the BBC are consciously improving help offered for mental health in the workplace. Theresa May has today announced the appointment of designated Health Minister, Jackie Doyle-Price, to focus on mental health and suicide prevention. Talking openly about the issues is a great step towards ending the stigma surrounding mental health. We are all headed in the right direction.
We know we have told you before how great hammocks can be in helping to reduce stress and anxiety, and generally help calm a busy mind. I use the hammock chair in our office all the time when I need to think, create, snooze… you get the idea, and quite honestly, it’s a revolution!
The gentle swaying motion of a hammock chair can trick your body into a deeper relaxation, leaving more space in your head to get creative.
Add to that the ease of pressure on weary joints, as the chair will take your weight evenly, and you are onto something really good!
Think of all the things you could create, just by swaying in a hammock chair; Write that book you have always wanted to. Read that book you have always wanted to for that matter! Think of how to change the World… The opportunities are endless.
Point being, give your head some space, take some time out for yourself, hammock chair or not.
Love Team Simply x
