Stress: Are We Coping?

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Women in Banking and Finance and the Bank Workers Charity, collaborated to run a session on how to cope with stress. The session was delivered by Tara Zutshi who is a regional board member for WIBF and also the Co-Founder of Corporate Soul Consulting an organisation whose mission it is to “To Awaken Enlightened Leaders who seek to make the world a better place, bringing inspiration, transformation, and fulfilment to the business world”

The event was generously hosted by Pinsent Masons, we had attendees from all over the city of Birmingham, including RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Bank, PWC, EY and Pinsent Masons themselves.

Tara shared her own journey with stress and working in corporate life and how she found that Meditation & Relaxation helped her heal from MS. The long-term effects of stress can be physical as well as causing anxiety and depression. It is vitally important that we all learn to build our resilience to stress and have tools and techniques to use when those stressful moments occur. She also shared a 3-minute video produced by the Bank Workers Charity on the type of support they offer for people working in the banking industry.

Stress is thought, uninitiated thought, arising from fear. It is caused by our reaction to situations that happen to us in day to day life. Often, we cannot change or influence the things happening around us, but we can choose a different reaction to them.

Our thoughts are our mental health, so if our thoughts are positive and healthy then we will have a positive outlook on life, however if we are constantly comparing ourselves to others and judging ourselves as not worthy, this can be damaging for our feelings of self-esteem and self-worth, which can spiral into anxiety and depression. Dealing with stress which often triggers these unhealthy thoughts, can vastly improve your outlook on life.

Tara shared the difference between Meditation and Mindfulness and how a lot of people are now seeking more than just the secular, non-spiritual approach that mindfulness offers. True meditation goes beyond the practice of calming the conscious, finite mind and takes the individual to the infinite unconscious mind, where the soul resides. This is where we can access true peace, bliss, harmony and inspiration.

During the session Tara shared two techniques, a meditation for letting go of unhelpful thoughts about ourselves and a breathing practice for changing habits. This can be really helpful when we are trying to give up a repetitive behaviour like constantly checking our phones, over eating or smoking.

The last practice that Tara shared was a relaxation meditation, which everyone found very calming. In our busy 24/7 lives it is often hard to find time to let our brains and bodies truly relax. This overstimulation is partly what is driving the high levels of anxiety. When we relax and unwind, and connect with inner selves, we start to notice the beautiful things around us, the blossom on the trees, the birdsong, feeling the sun on our skin. Being grateful for and appreciating the simple things in life is a natural mood enhancer and reconnects us with the soul, our inner sense of harmony, peace and purpose.

For free advice and help, if you work for a bank then call the BWC helpline on 0800 0234 834 or email at [email protected].

If you would like to know more about Meditation and Enlightened Leaders, then the website is www.corporatesoulconsutling.com.