tactics for maintaining mental fitness during the …...2020/07/14 · tactics for maintaining...
TRANSCRIPT
Tactics for maintaining Mental Fitness during the COVID-19 Pandemic:
Progressive Relaxation
Dr. Bill Howatt
President, Howatt HR
Chief Research Workforce Productivity,
Conference Board of Canada
Jesse Adams, MSc
Chief Learning Officer, Howatt HR
Please note that once registered for one webinar, you will be automatically registered for future webinars in our weekly series.
Agenda
1 Refresher: Charging our Battery
2 Micro-skill of the Day: Fueling up with nutrition
3 Actions for today
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1 Refresher: Charging our Battery
2 Micro-skill of the Day: Progressive Relaxation
3 Actions for today
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Recall, we are like batteries and each day we may start at a different level of charge
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Charged
Charging
Half-full
Drained
Empty
=
Resilience is built through joint responsibility
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Feel safe
Trust in direct manager
Sense of pride in work
Feelings of appreciation
Positive peer interactions
Positive customerinteractions
Absent of workplace conflict
Clear role
Understand priorities
Managingworkload
Employee ActionsEmployer Actions +
Job satisfaction
Mental fitness
Physical activity
Nutrition
Passion
Sleep
Social connections
Relaxation
Lifestyle choices
Work-life blending
Maintaining Mental Fitness: Micro-skills
• Micro-skills are small behaviours or cognitive skills you can add to your life to support mental fitness
• They are skills that can be applied to all areas of your life:
– Physical
– Mental health
– Personal life
– Work experience
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Progressive relaxation
Journaling
Flipping the switch
Mindful Hydration
Anchoring your why
Fueling up with nutrition
Prioritizing sleep
Mental Fitness Toolbox
1 Refresher: Charging our Battery
2 Micro-skill of the Day: Progressive Relaxation
3 Actions for today
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Stress and your body
• 45% of people with chronic headaches result from stress
• 29% of adults attribute neck and back pain to stress
• 72% of studies exploring impact of stress on digestion found a link between stress and digestive issues
• Almost 50% of people with chronic migraines have anxiety
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Jaw
Neck
Back
Hips
ChestStomach
Headaches
Battery chargeStructural and physiological alterations
Increase in muscle tension
Changes to physical posture
Reduced activity due to pain
Increased stress hormones
How does stress cause muscle pain?
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Constant perceived stressors
What is progressive relaxation
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• A process where you intentionally relax specific muscles one at a time
• This can be beneficial in releasing stress that is being held in a particular area of
your body (e.g., neck, back)
• This brings down your physiology stimulation to help in processing your emotions.
Releasing of tension and anxious feeling
Short circuiting of pain / stress cycle
How does progressive relaxation work?
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Focused muscle tension
What are the benefits of progressive relaxation
• Progressive relaxation can have many benefits on our lives, however research has indicated three most common impacts as
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Daily stress1.
Anxiety2.
Muscle and joint tension and pain3.
1 Refresher: Charging our Battery
2 Micro-skill of the Day: Progressive Relaxation
3 Actions for today
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How to focus on each muscle groups
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Muscle Group What to do
Forehead • Wrinkle into a deep frown
Around the eyes and nose • Close eyes as tightly as you can
Checks and jaws• Smile as widely as possible
• Clench teeth slightly
Around mouth• Press your lips as close together as
possible
Back of neck • Press your head against floor or chair
Front of neck • Touch your chin to your chest
(Try not to create tension in your neck and head)
1.2.3/4
5/6
How to focus on each muscle groups
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Muscle Group What to do
Hands • Clench fist
Wrists and forearms • Extend and bend your hands at the wrist
Biceps(front of arm)
• Clench hands into fist
• Bend your arms at elbow
• Flex biceps
Triceps (back of arm)
• Straighten arm
• Clench hand
• Flex back of arm
Shoulders • Shrug them towards your ears
Chest • Squeeze your arms into your sides
• Flex your pectoralis (chest muscles)
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2
3/4
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How to focus on each muscle groups
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Muscle Group What to do
Back• Flex your back up and away from the floor or chair
Stomach • Suck stomach into a tight not
• Flex abdominals
Hips and buttocks • Press buttock together as tightly as possible
Quads(front of upper leg)
• Straighten leg
• Clench thigh muscle hard them hard
Hamstring(back of upper leg)
• Bend knee or press heal into the ground
• Clench thigh muscle hard
Front of lower leg
• Point toes to the sky
• And lift foot off the ground
Calf (back of lower leg)
• Curl toes and foot towards the ground
• Squeeze calf
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2
4 5
6 7
Lets try it out
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Preparation Create Tension RepeatRelease
Lets try it out
Step 1: Preparation
• Take a slow deep breath and hold for about 5 seconds.
• Repeat 3 times
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Preparation Create Tension RepeatRelease
Lets try it out
Step 2: Create Tension
• Apply tension to the muscle group you would like to focus on (e.g., squeeze your hand)
• Take a slow deep breath and hold for about 5 seconds.
• Really focus on the feeling and applying tension to the area
• You should never feel too tense or shooting pain.
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Preparation Create Tension RepeatRelease
Lets try it out
Step 3: Release
• Quickly release the tension in the focused area(s).
• While releasing the tension exhale a slow as you can and try to keep in line with the release
of your muscles.
• After about 5 seconds all of the tension should be released from the area.
• Remain completely relaxed or about 15 seconds. 20
Preparation Create Tension Release Repeat
Lets try it out
Step 4: Repeat for the same muscle group or move on to the next
• Redo steps 2 and 3 on the same muscle group another 1 to 2 times
• If you feel the tension has dissipated, move to the next nearby muscle groups
• You can do each muscle group in your whole body or stop after working through a targeted
muscle
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Preparation Create Tension RepeatRelease
Next Weeks Webinar
• When: Tuesday July 21, 2020
• What time: 12 pm est
• How to find it: www.maintainingmentalfitness.com
• Micro-skill: Journaling
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Question Periodwww.maintainingmentalfitness.com
Please note that once registered for one webinar, you will be automatically registered for future webinars in our weekly series.