HR'kofi: Conscious Breathing for Better Stress Management
How can we help employees manage stress and support their well-being? At our September HR'kofi gathering, we explored one simple and accessible approach – conscious breathing.
HR professionals can use breathing techniques themselves and also introduce them to employees as a practical tool for reducing stress and building resilience to burnout.
Supporting employee well-being and creating a healthy work environment are becoming increasingly important aspects of the HR function. And it is not only large-scale programmes and initiatives that matter. Simple tools that employees can incorporate into their everyday lives can also make a difference.
Learning to manage the thoughts that accompany us throughout the day is an important step towards better stress management, greater inner stability and more effective functioning. Only by consciously taking care of ourselves can we give our best to those around us.
At this HR'kofi gathering, Diham, torej sem (I Breathe, Therefore I Am), Mateja Žurbi, a long-standing HR manager at the international company Kamnik-Schlenk, as well as a certified coach and breathing techniques instructor, showed us how conscious breathing can help manage stress and contribute to better physical and mental well-being.
Through her personal and professional story, Mateja shared how her career in HR led her to explore breathing techniques. We learned how breathing is connected to the body's response to stress, sleep and mental well-being, and why conscious breathing can also be a useful tool in the workplace.
We then put theory into practice. During the workshop, we tried different breathing techniques that can be used in stressful and demanding situations to help us calm down and manage everyday pressures more effectively. Most importantly, we gained practical ideas on how to bring this knowledge into our own workplaces and use it to support our colleagues.
Breathing techniques, of course, cannot eliminate the causes of stress within an organisation. They can, however, provide employees with an additional, simple and readily accessible tool to help them manage stressful situations and take better care of their well-being.
Thank you to Mateja for a practical and insightful session, and to everyone who joined us and helped make our September HR'kofi gathering such a great experience.
