April is Stress Awareness Month so Health & Protection spoke to professionals across the health and protection sectors to find out what their go-to exercises are for reducing stress.
We have had a rich and varied response with hitting eight bells out of a punch bag, ‘slinging some tin,’ hitting the gym and just walking the dog ranking among the more popular stress-busting techniques cited.
Hitting the punch bag
“I don’t get stressed. I get angry,” Alan Lakey, director of CIExpert and Highclere Financial Services, tells Health & Protection.
“I’m not aware of being stressed, which doesn’t mean I’m not, but I’m not aware of it,” Lakey continues.
“But it’s fair to say that I go into my home office and I’ve got this punch bag there and I knock eight bells out of it.
“And I feel better for that because to some extent increasing your adrenaline level probably does reduce stress.”
Slinging some tin
Kristian Breeze, director of healthcare at Ascend Health, meanwhile, prefers to ‘sling some tin’.
“I lift heavy weights – chest and shoulders only,” Breeze reveals.
“No legs. No back. Just chest and shoulders. Every day is international chest and shoulders day.
“If you look good, you feel good, right?”
HITT training
Phil Jeynes, head of individual protection at MetLife UK, is another who prefers to hit the gym.
“If I need to clear my head or up my energy, a high intensity interval training class is my go-to,” Jeynes says.
“My gym has some great instructors who push me harder than I’d go under my own steam and it’s over and done within 45 minutes.”
Stress walking
For others in the sector, walking is a particular potent means of reducing stress – particularly with a canine companion.
Jo Pawson, head of protection at New Leaf Distribution, tells Health & Protection: ”I have two dogs and getting out with them first thing in the morning is a great way to set myself up for the day.
“But I also try to get out at lunchtime for a bit of a brisker walk as I like to take a break from the laptop.
“Usually I will kill two birds with one stone and listen to a podcast while I am walking – like the New Leaf distribution podcast.”
Self-confessed metal head, Justin Harper, chief marketing officer at LifeSearch, also likes to head out with the dog.
“I don’t think supporting KISS is a stress reliever either,” Harper explains. “The music is good but bloody hell they make a mess of any promo, and it’s particularly stressful trying to get any decent box set or vinyl exclusives off them.”
“But he added one great stress reducer is his four-legged friend Ernie.
“Every early morning [when I’m at home] we go for a walk along Hengistbury Head and the beach,” Harper continues. “No matter what the weather – sunshine, wind, rain, hail, storms or calm mirror-like waters. Watching him run around like a loon chasing pebbles and dodging the waves is just an absolute dream. And a true stress reliever.
“It always helps relieve stress, getting a bit of sunshine [although sometimes I’m up too early for that] a brisk walk, [very] fresh air. stone throwing and watching the joys of an animal enjoy the simple things in life – nothing gets better.”
Emma Wood, director of healthcare at Broadway Insurance, is also a fan of walking her sprocker.
“It gets me out and about,” Wood says. “She loves it and I feel it’s been beneficial because she’s had a good walk and I’ve been out in the sunshine, or whatever the weather, and cleared my head.”
Fitbit obsession
And finally, Protection Distributors Group board member Roy McLoughlin admits to having a fitbit obsession.
“My way of destressing is walking,” McLoughlin says.
“I have a fitbit obsession and need to do my 10,000 steps a day.”
