PUSH November Newsletter

Hello and welcome to another dose of workplace wellness from the?PUSH family.?This month’s newsletter is about providing an antidote to the great office suppression (have?you?felt it?) in the?PUSH POV, and giving you?tools to help you ease the crazy pressure we’re all under. It’s time to?get it all out.

.As well as an amazing body scan meditation (and breaaaathe), I’ll be getting down and deep with businesswoman and health warrior Davinia Taylor in our latest Safe Spaces interview. We chatted about everything from her personal coping strategies to why she burns her journals (and thinks you should too). It's really not to be missed.??

We’re also gifting you some helpful takeaways in the shape of PUSH Ups and PUSH Back to empower you to take some time for yourself. We feel like Santa (without the giant white beard) and it’s not even Christmas yet.

As ever, we’d love to know what you think.?

Cate x

PUSH Pause for Thought

Having a shit day/feeling about as cheerful as someone who got given a Cliff Richard autobiography for their birthday? It's not just you. Brenda from two desks down may be grinning like a maniac but it's entirely possible she's dying inside as well.?

The great news is that it’s okay to be miserable because. apparently, embracing negative emotions can benefit your mental health long-term. Rather than PUSHing your feelings down, accept that’s just where you are right now and listen to what those emotions are trying to tell you. Remember, what you resist persists, so moan away. It’s good for you.?

If you’re wrestling with a bad mood and can’t make peace with it, heed self-help guru Masood Boomgaard’s wise words. I love him because no matter how grumpy I feel, he still makes me smile.

PUSH Up

Frazzled to the max? Suffering from ‘office chair back’? Or feeling the need to release trauma you instinctively know is stored in your body? (You can read more about that in the PUSH POV). Body scans can help with all of those things, and so much more.?

Our PUSH meditation expert has put together an incredible ten-minute offering that will help your whole system relax and release. No lycra, yoga mats or joss sticks are needed, so there’s no excuse not to feel better.?

PUSH Point of View: The Great Suppression

Suppressed trauma is causing elevated stress and unhappiness in the workplace, and it’s a problem that’s not going away anytime soon. So why is it being ignored by so many major companies? We need action, and we need it now. Here’s why.

I admit it, I said the 'C' word in a meeting the other day. A few people were horrified because, apparently, we're not supposed to talk about Covid anymore.?

We’ve closed the door on the pandemic, swept it under the proverbial carpet and bid it a (non) fond farewell, less than a year after the final lockdown,?

Toilet roll famines and homemade banana bread are long-forgotten now we’ve decided it’s time to focus on ‘getting back to normal’. But what the hell even is normal? And are we truly dealing with what happened to us all on a deep enough level??

The fact of the matter is, the pandemic has resulted in a trauma that is so widespread and multi-layered, many people don’t even realise they are still suffering the fallout.?

Trauma isn't about the event itself; it's about the effect it has on our bodies long-term. Therefore, we've got to be conscious that it's still going to have a deep influence on us physically as well as mentally.

This is how we’re going to mitigate it.

Read the full piece here

Safe Space interview

This month I chatted with biohacking business owner and number one Sunday Times Bestselling author Davinia Taylor. The incredibly open mum-of-four talks about the importance of sharing, the AA learnings that have become a part of her everyday life and how great connections can boost your feel-good hormones.

Watch the full interview here

PUSH Back

Taking time out for yourself is non-negotiable if you want a healthy work/life balance. Here are two great ways to do that this month.?

Read

Have you been feeling out of place in your work space? You’re not alone. As this article explains, employee-disconnection from fellow staff members has become a huge issue in the post-Covid business world. Feelings of separation have led to a massive spike in staff turnover, which it’s estimated will cost the UK 340 billion in 2022. Yes, you did read that right.?

This brilliant piece talks about how we’ve ended up in such a desperate situation and what can be done to help.*

*Spoiler alert: It’s not office sports days.

Listen

I can’t get enough of Gabor Mate’s new book, The Myth of Normal. If you don’t feel like you don’t have the headspace to read a book right now, the audio version, narrated by Gabor’s son Daniel, is a must. Gabor takes technical and complicated subjects and makes them simple to understand, therefore making them highly relatable and current. I guarantee you'll get to the end of the book and think 'how the hell did I not know this before?'

Learn

Calling all HR managers and people leaders! PUSH are hosting a Make Work Better in 2023 webinar on Wednesday 14th?December, where we’ll be sharing valuable insights about our extensive research into mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.?

Additionally, we’ll be discussing planning, trends, growth and strategies to enable organisations to make positive, actionable changes as we head into a new year.

Tickets are available here

PUSH Person

Coach of the month: Shereen Hoban

Shereen is a transformational executive, business and life coach who helps her clients with everything from leadership skills and building resilience, to navigating big career and life changes. One of Shereen's most impressive superpowers is her ability to simplify complex issues and enable clients to move forward by creating healthy shifts. It's no wonder she's just been signed up as one of the coaches for Steven Bartlett's new project, The Diary.

See you next month!