Discovering your inner calm by Office Om

At Office Om, we've loved working with Creditsafe in the past. We thought we'd send some words and resources in case helpful.

As everyone is saying, we're in unprecedented times. Whilst we're all in different emotional places with what's going on, it's important that we all do our best to look after ourselves. As part of this, we might want to remain as grounded as possible. Self-awareness is even more important, for example, noticing if we're thinking about something in a helpful way and processing something troubling, or just needlessly worrying about something that might never happen.

There are so many mindset tricks that can help us feel calmer in the middle of the current situation. One that's been shared a lot on the socials, is focusing on what we can control. All too often when we're anxious or worried, we start focusing on everything that's outside of our control. We can't control what the people on the TV are doing, but we can control how we respond. We can't control Boris's choice in ties, but we can control when we get up and what we do to help our wellbeing.

Meditation can help find space to focus on the here and now, and give our minds a break from all the video calls and notifications. Here are a few apps we usually recommend:

Meditation apps: Calm, Insight Timer, 'Stop, Breathe Think', Headspace (try the free versions to see what formats you like).

Another important aspect of this is our self-care. We might not be able to go to the gym or whatever you usually do to look after ourselves, but there are ways to look after ourselves in a lockdown. This could be an online workout, being creative, taking a long bath or quiet cup of tea looking out of the window. Finding new ways we can help ourselves to feel as good as we can in the middle of all this.

There are lots of free online classes and guides to support whatever activity takes your fancy. For example, Yoga Girl is currently doing 30 days of free yoga: https://www.yogagirl.com/practice

Positive psychology also has huge benefits. We can spend some time each day or each week finding something to be grateful for: the money we're saving on petrol, the ability to wear whatever we want from the waist down without anyone knowing and the lack of rushing getting out of the house, or whatever bits of good stuff you're finding.

There are some great gratitude journals to help support positive thinking, such as "The Five Minute Journal" which is available on Amazon.

There are also mental health apps that can provide benefit, e.g. Pacifica, Big White Wall, Sleepio, SAM (an anxiety app).

We've also got a few things on offer at Office Om. We're currently moving our business offerings online. For individuals, how about joining our new Facebook Group here.

If you fancy it, we'd love you to join us on our 5-Week Wellbeing Programme - five weeks of mindfulness, movement, relaxation and mindset strategies, that can keep you at the top of your game, in 5 minute chunks - you can do one each day: https://buyonlineprogramme1.officeom.com/

Wishing you all the best through all of this

Let us know if you'd like to know more: info@officeom.com