Lockdown…
Christmas…
Not sure if there are two words in the English language that could possibly evoke more stress than these two do!
And right now, they are combining their powers to make for an interesting end to 2021.
Let’s face it, 2021 did not pan out the way anyone expected.
It was meant to be our fresh start after a rocky 2020.
But, in some awkward twist of fate, it ended up being much worse!
So, the stress is mounting and the overwhelm is building.
What can you do?
Well, we have our 3 best tips for managing stress and sailing into 2022 as fresh as a daisy. Read them here.

Managing Stress as we exit lockdown and approach Christmas
1: Process 2021 and everything it brought
We have already addressed the fact that 2021 was a year that sucked the big one. And if you are feeling a little jaded by the alert level restrictions, the constant pressure of Covid regulations and the nagging feelings of uncertainty, then we can’t blame you.
It is totally fine to feel all the things about 2021. Take the time to sit in those emotions and really process them. It is ok to feel angry, lost, helpless, anxious, or sad about what you have been through.
But, once you have taken the time to process how you are feeling, don’t dwell in that negative space. Instead, look forward to what 2022 might hold. ​

Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by things that were once easy? Perhaps it’s difficult to focus and even harder to be productive. You may feel numb or over-sensitive, restless or exhausted, irritated or angry.
Stress and anxiety are normal responses to difficult situations, and nobody would argue that the last few years have been challenging.
While it’s appropriate to feel apprehensive about the future, prolonged, poorly managed stress can lead to ongoing mental and physical health issues.
That’s why it’s important to develop healthy coping strategies to support your wellbeing.
Below, we share three simple tips on managing stress and anxiety to help you get started...

​​Working from home might seem like a nice idea, but often, the reality doesn’t quite match up with the vision - especially if you’re making do with a temporary home office and sharing your space with other family members!
Instead of feeling relaxed and productive, you may find yourself stressed, overwhelmed, and full of aches and pains from attempting to work at your dining room table or kitchen counter.
However, many of us don’t have an alternative right now, so it’s important to find ways to relieve your discomfort.
Here are our top three tips to help you reduce pain and stress when you work from home. 

How To Work from Home Without Pain or Stress
1. Make Your Workspace Comfortable
How tempting is it to work from your bed or couch when you work from home? There are all those pillows, and you can stay in your PJs all day.
Goodbye productivity and hello RSI!
While this may be fun for a day or two, the novelty quickly wears off. Before too long, your back hurts, your wrists ache, and it’s far too tempting to have an impromptu nap, pick up a book, or switch on the tv.
The most valuable thing you can do to set yourself up for success is to create a dedicated workspace and make it as ergonomic as possible.
That means making sure your body is positioned in a way to reduce discomfort and improve efficiency.
Here are the most important things to consider when setting up a work area:

Why Zoom fatigue happens:
​
Your environment 
A good portion of the time we Zooming from our home environment.  Which means that you might not be in your ideal ‘work’ environment. Some of you might be lucky to have a great home office set up, but plenty of us are perched at the kitchen table, squashed into a small corner of the bedroom or even out in the garage!  
You are also much more likely to have other distractions from your family, flatmates or kids in the background. 
Not to mention a certain level of anxiety about what’s happening with this global pandemic that got so many of us into this new way of working in the first place.  
Some of these factors can be managed or improved, but it is important to acknowledge these environmental aspects all have an impact on our overall level of comfort, tension and ability to concentrate before we even turn our computer on!

Self-view
Zoom adds an extra layer of weirdness to the online experience because having your video broadcast out there heightens your awareness of being seen and appearing “on”.  This vigilance and self-monitoring can be exhausting.  
With having a video call we assume that everyone is paying attention to every move we make. But of course, this isn’t really true. Everyone else on the call is probably also worried about their own self-view (and wondering is what my neck really looks like?!). 
Of course, you can simply turn your camera off so you can’t see yourself or change the view to speaker view (assuming someone else is doing most of the talking).  This can be quite liberating.  However I also found it a little anxiety inducing. Without being able to see myself, I couldn’t monitor whether my expression still read “interested” or how many times I did things like touch my face without realizing.  I also found I wasn’t as engaged in the meeting and tended to start multi-tasking.  

Staying Still
When we have the camera on we tend to keep our heads in the middle of the screen and sit in one position for a long period of time. This fixed posture and gaze also add more tension and strain to our usual sitting posture. 
When I’m on a Zoom call, I notice that I stay VERY still with a wide fixed stare. Almost like a possum caught in headlights.  It doesn’t help that my laptop is old and the camera blurs with any movement from my end.  This means I also often cross my arms to curb my tendency to wave them around. 
And I’ve observed similar posture and fixed gazes in others on my Zoom calls. 
The good news is that there are some things you can do to avoid Zoom fatigue and improve your posture during Zoom meetings, whether the camera is on or camera off.

Here’s my top 5 solutions for avoiding Zoom Fatigue:​

To say that 2020 has changed the world and brought some challenging times is somewhat of an understatement!
Almost every business owner and employee has had to rapidly adapt to working in different ways and from different places. In fact, Covid19 may have transformed the way businesses work indefinitely, with a massive increase in flexible and remote working opportunities.
While we are all doing our best, change and uncertainty are draining, and it is vital to take steps to manage stress.
Here are three of the best ways for you to do just that....

​1. Reconnect with FUN
When was the last time you did something purely just for fun? And no, zoning out in front of Netflix or mindlessly scrolling social media does not count! 

You are not alone! 
The World Health Organization called job stress a World Wide Epidemic.
Stress in the work place is one of the most common areas of stress in our lives.
Even if we love our jobs, stress is an inevitable part of day-to-day performance and impacts both employers and employees alike. Everyone is susceptible because stress is an individual’s perception of the load they carry, no matter your role in your workplace. Stress is good like that, in that it doesn’t discriminate. 

And the stress isn’t just physiological, it is physical as well.  Hours spent in front of a computer screen starts playing havoc with your posture. Muscles starts to fatigue and causing pain, which is the nervous system reacting to the way you sit. Trigger points (taught band of muscle that can refer pain to various parts of the body) starts to form, headaches become more frequent and intense and pain starts to spread to different areas of the body. 

In New Zealand, OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) defines workplace stress as: The result of the interaction between a person and their work environment. 
According to research, one-third of workers report high levels of stress, and one quarter regards their job as the number one factor of stress in their lives.

Finances is a constant worry, office politics is another as is the actual workload along with constant deadlines.  According to a survey by Bill Wilkerson (CEO of the Global Business and Economics Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health) the Number One stressor in the workplace is: Lack of Control – having no control over the participation or the outcome of the work. 
​Stress in the workplace is costly as well...

This blog was originally written with​ Mental Health Awareness Week in mind, which I thought was a good time to examine the effects massage can have on your mental health.
However, as our lives have changed drastically this year with a global Pandemic, an Alert Level 4 lock down (in NZ), and basically most the country shutting down apart from essential services, we have seen stress and changes like never before. And we were not quite ready for it.
As our Alert levels drop, people are transitioning back to their workplaces again, which is why I thought this article might be a good thing to bring to light again, about how massage can help with mental health.
​
Did you find a way to cope as your life changed? And what is this 'new normal' people are talking about? 
We are not our of the woods yet. There are still so many things to sort out, to try and re-arrange our pieces back into some sort of normality.

Stress can have a huge impact on both aspects of our wellbeing, and the workplace is, for most people, the most stressful part of our lives (usually). Right now, the anxiety of transitioning back into workplaces are at an all time high as we leave our 'safe' places and change back into a different environment.

The link between physical and mental health is well-known. After all, it is impossible to have one without the other. Finding healthy coping strategies for dealing with stress can help us deal with both physical and mental issues. While most of us know that massage is fantastic for a broad range of physical problems, science also proves that regular massage has impressive effects on our mental health.

Scheduling a regular workplace massage into your workday is one way to help transform your mind and body help increase coping mechanisms. Here’s why...

For many people, massages are all about candle-lit rooms, relaxing, meditative music, and the chance to completely zone out.
While this is certainly the most commonplace kind of massage in many western cultures - and a fantastic way to relax - many other massage forms are available. Each of these approaches has slightly different approaches and benefits.
Chair massage is becoming increasingly popular, particularly for workplaces. There are key differences that make it a convenient, no-fuss therapy that can be done almost anywhere, at any time.
Let’s explore what they are...


​Targets the Back, Arms, Neck and Shoulders
Table massages are ideal for targeting any area of the body, as the therapist has easy access to any muscle group from head to toe.
Chair massages, on the other hand, are focused on releasing tension in the upper body. This is ideal for workplace massage, as these tend to be the most stress-prone areas. Chair massage focuses largely on the back, arms, neck and shoulders.

​When we talk about workplace hazards, most people immediately think about working at heights, using chemicals, heavy machinery, or dangerous tools.
But not all hazards are quite so obvious.
Ergonomic hazards such as bad posture, poorly designed workstations and repetitive movements may not seem as dramatic as a fall from height, but the long-term effects can be just as devastating.
So what are some of these potential hazards?
Read on to identify some of the potential health hazards in your work environment and learn how to avoid injury with some simple changes.

Have you ever found yourself at work reading the same paragraph over and over again but not remembering a single word of it?
Or perhaps you forget simple things, blank out on people's names, or spend an hour on a task that would usually take ten minutes?
Don’t panic, you’re not alone. The dreaded brain fog strikes everyone from time to time.
It can be frustrating and downright stressful trying to battle through mental fuzziness when you need to be productive and efficient.
If you often find your brain lagging behind at work, read on to learn what might be causing it, and what you can do to clear out the cobwebs and get your mojo back.

What Causes Brain Fog?
That mental sluggishness that creeps in and robs you of your focus and efficiency is likely to be a case of good old mental fatigue. Just like the rest of your body, your brain can get overworked and needs time and space to recharge. Here are some of the likely culprits that may be slowing you down: