3 mental health exercises you can use right now in the workplace

These three exercises can help improve your mental health in 5 minutes or less.
Deadlines are looming, work is going slower than anticipated, and you feel like you’re getting further and further behind. To make things worse, a sudden negative experience is weighing you down, your body isn’t cooperating, and your mind keeps interrupting your day with intrusive, negative thoughts.

You’re anxious, or stressed, or depressed. Maybe all three. But you don’t have the time to think about that now, because then you’ll get even further behind, which will lead to more stress, which will lead to even more negative thoughts. What can you do? Stop. Breathe. Take a moment to reset.

Practicing positive mental health isn’t just about 1-on-1 counselling or group therapy. Often, it’s about taking a few moments here and there to ease tension, reset our way of thinking, and postpone intrusive thoughts so that we can get on with our day. The best thing? Some take only a minute or two to perform, packing a whole lot of relief in a small amount of time.

Take some time to learn and practice these three proven techniques for improving your mental health. That way, you’ll always have a few fast and effective tools in your mental health toolbox. All the exercises below are available as mobile-friendly downloads so you can save them to your phone and have them handy for the next time you’re feeling the pressure.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Grounding

What you’ll need: Your five senses
Time it takes: 5 minutes or less

Anxiety can at any time, and it can be overwhelming, taking over our thoughts, stressing us out, and burdening us with a variety of physiological symptoms like an increased heart rate, heavy breathing, sweating, trembling. “54321” is a proven self-guided intervention that helps us reset our mind and focus on the present. Simple, memorable, and straightforward, you only need your five senses and a few minutes of your time.

5 – Look around the room and name five things that you can see around you.

4 – Touch four things. Focus on their texture.

3 – Listen to three sounds that you can hear around you. Name those three things softly.

2 – Smell two things around you. Reflect on their scent.

1 – Taste one thing. Feel it on your tongue before eating or drinking it. If you do not have concerns with acidity, choose lemon juice and take a sip of it.

We’ve created a mobile-friendly outline of the 54321 Grounding Technique. Save it to your phone for a fast, convenient refresher on how to perform this simple, yet powerful exercise.

Square Breathing

What you’ll need: Your five senses
Time it takes: 5 minutes or less

Anxious thoughts can make our breathing feel heavy. For those who find anxiety a frequent but not debilitating experience, the following exercises can help to reduce its symptoms. Square breathing helps regulate our heart which can often be out of balance when anxiety is at play.

1 Sit or stand upright.

2 Slowly take in a deep breath for 4 seconds

3 Hold your breath for 4 seconds

4 Breathe out for 4 seconds

5 Hold yourself from breathing in again for 4 seconds

6 Repeat 7 more times

Watch our Square Breathing video to learn more about this exercise. We’ve also created a mobile-friendly outline of the Square Breathing Technique. Save it to your phone for a fast, convenient refresher on how to perform this simple, yet powerful exercise.

Thought Stopping

What you’ll need: Your phone or a notepad
Time it takes: 1-2 minutes throughout the day, plus 30 minutes after work

“Intrusive thoughts” are unwanted involuntary images, ideas, or impulses that can suddenly appear in our mind. They can often be distressing and self-defeating, getting in the way of our daily lives. At first we might be tempted to suppress the thought, but continuously trying to suppress a thought often makes it come back even stronger. Instead we can simply postpone it until a more convenient time, allowing us to take back control of our own heads.

The key is planning. First, set aside 30 minutes of your day to indulge in negative thoughts. Make sure it’s convenient for you—these persistent thoughts will get the attention they demand, but only when you are ready for them. Next, set a timer on your phone to buzz every 45 minutes. This is a reminder to quickly check in with yourself and ensure you’re not getting distracted by negative thoughts outside the time you plan to give them.

When you do find yourself occupied with a negative thought, tell yourself “Stop” and take a sip of water, then write down the thought in a word or two on a piece of paper or in your phone to ensure it gets its time during the 30 minutes you scheduled for later.

When the time comes to give your attention to your negative thoughts, do so. Decide if you want to think about what you wrote earlier in the day, or if that thought has passed. After the 30 minutes are up, go chat with a friend, cook a meal, play a game, or watch a show—whatever you think will improve your mood. Over time, you can slowly reduce the time you devote to dwelling on your negative thoughts. You might find that they pop up less often, and demand less and less of your time.

Watch our Thought Stopping video to learn more about this exercise. We’ve also created a mobile-friendly outline of the Thought Stopping exercise that provides step-by-step instructions for this valuable tool for improving your mental health in the workplace.