Workplace mistreatment

Workplace mistreatment is in the news at the moment. First we had Chelsea’s first team doctor saying she had been a victim of discrimination, verbal disparagement and sexual explicit comments from colleagues. And then we had Mike Ashley being accused of running a company where verbal, psychological abuse and humiliation were – and probably still are – commonplace. Hopefully, as more of these types of cases come to light, more employers will become aware of the need to cultivate a culture that is free of abusive behaviour. “Working in an environment where there is a persistent pattern of mistreatment can cause deep psychological harm”, says Ivor Murray of MeditationsUK. “And although cases as blatant as the ones that have made the headlines recently are comparatively rare, nevertheless there are a great number of people who wake up worrying about going to work because they know they are likely to face stressful situations”. Not all stress is harmful – and it’s unavoidable that many jobs will have a certain level of stress associated with them. “The problems come when the level of stress becomes excessive and the employee is unable  to cope with the demands made upon him or her”, explains Murray. It’s well known that stress can lead to illness and significant levels of sickness absence from work. “As well as trying to reduce the amount of stress at work, it can also be very useful for people to help themselves by managing their stress levels and becoming more resilient to workplace pressure”, says Murray. “And that’s where relaxation systems like our MindSpa come into play”. There is medical evidence to show that spending some time each day in deep relaxation can reduce the secretion of stress hormones in our bodies in addition to having many other physical and psychological benefits. The MindSpa system uses special patterns of light and sound that have been found to have a deeply relaxing effect on mind and body. The special light-glasses produce amazing visual effects, including the illusion of complex, shifting  geometrical imagery. This imagery, in combination with soothing, flowing sounds, helps to clear your mind and eases you into the deep states of relaxation. The MindSpa is available from MeditationsUK at www.meditationsuk.com