Team Eames: How do you take care of your mental health?

​​This Mental Health Awareness Week, we interviewed some of our team asking them to share their thoughts on taking care of their mental health, what more employers can do to support their employee's mental health and some ways in which they can encourage staff to walk more and sit less.

The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week this year is nature. Research on the mental health impacts of the pandemic showed going for walks outside was one of our top coping strategies and 45% of us reported being in green spaces had been vital for our mental health.

We asked #TeamEames: How do you take care of your mental health?

• "Talk it out and share more inner thoughts with my close ones. Also, exercise, jogging, heading to the gym, going for long hikes and reading. The concept of Stoicism has helped me greatly in understanding and regulating my emotions." - Charmaine Chiam, Associate Consultant, Singapore

• "I have suffered from bad mental health in the past as many people have and it can take away the vibrancy of living. Good mental health is important for an appreciation of the life you have." - Matthew Jones, Head of L&D, Asia  

• "Routine is key. From having a set time or period you wake up in the morning to making sure you eat breakfast, lunch or dinner by a certain time, not overindulging, lots of walks in green spaces and spending time stimulating the creative side of your brain, be that with music or exercise or something along these lines. Ridiculously hard to do everything I know!" -Glen Roberts, Partner & Director, UK

• "Over the years, I started to learn more about how I recharge and handle stress – everyone is different! While some friends unwind over a fun night out or talking it out, I prefer to read a good book, go for a yoga class, or go for a hike." -Abigail Lee, Principal Consultant, Singapore

• "I make sure I get plenty of exercise, sleep and eat as healthily as I can, also reading and listening to music is relaxing." Arlene Cooper, Credit & Treasury Manager, UK

• "I am very conscious of the things that don’t help my mental health, and I think that avoiding them work even better than doing things. I try my best to avoid negative thoughts and focus on positives (as cliché as it sounds, it works for me!). But overall, I like to have a healthy lifestyle – exercise being a huge part of it, eating balanced meals and having fun as well!" - Rafaela Fakhre, Prinicpal Consultant, UK

• "Predominately exercise, specifically running and weight training. Running gives me an escape where I can clear my mind of all its thoughts and allow it to recover." - Daniel Warwick, Managing Director, Asia

• "I like to exercise and go out for long walks with the family. Setting time aside for me to go to the gym 4 times a week is vital for my mental health and wellbeing." - Robin Muir, Senior Principal Consultant, UK

• "I try to do things that force me to slow down and concentrate for example, baking, which means I can’t get lost in a trail of thoughts. I regularly go for a walk – in peak lockdown, once the kids were in bed, my husband and I would walk around the garden and talk so that we had the illusion of being in a different environment. I think a new environment or any sort of change is helpful when dealing with a problem." - Abigail Moss, Associate Director, UK

• "Running is the best tonic for me – clears the head, gets the endorphins going, gives me time to work through problems or challenges. And, as a working mummy, gives me some time to myself!" - Ruth Foster, Chief People Officer

• "Exercise, have goals in and outside of work as well as ensuring I have plenty to look forward to new the restrictions are lifted." - Liam O'Mahoney, Partner & Associate Director, UK

• "De-stress. Find ways to unwind and switch off from work. I’ll try to have at least 1 hour in the evenings where I leave my phone in a different room. Exercise. I find this is great for de-stressing and of course compounds with the physical health angle too. I try to avoid socialising with people who have negative views / give off negative energy. Talking to friends and family, depending on what it is I’m discussing, but I’ve always found that talking about an issue immediately makes it feel more manageable." - Daniel Navazesh, Partner & Director, UK

• "I have my support network that I know I can always turn to if I need to. For me, it’s my sister and my mum and we all encourage each other to speak honestly about how we are feeling without fear of any judgement." - Sophie Daniel, L&D and HR Consultant, UK

• "Talking about your feelings is the key, but there are many other things such as eating and drinking sensibly as well as keeping in touch with friends, taking breaks from work, keeping active and helping others are good things to do." - Matthew Eames, Founder & CEO

• "I take care of my mental health by taking a breather to rest my mind. Additionally, I like to take a night run on a weekly basis as I feel exercising is one of my key components to keeping fit and maintaining good mental health." - Jasper Ang, Associate Consultant, Singapore

• "Talk about my feelings, ask others for help, care for others and do things that make me feel positive." - Jojo Yeung, Operations Manager, Hong Kong

• "I try to maintain a range of interests, many of which involve sport (which has been a challenge for parts of the last year or so) to enable me to switch off from work and stay active. I’ve also really focused on diet, sensible alcohol consumption and exercise this year through the 2nd lockdown." - Richard Williams, Director of Finance & Operations

• "Having a positive attitude and regular exercise are two ways I take care of my mental health to try and stay stress-free and not let negative situations throughout the day affect me. It is important to switch off and have a good work-life balance." - Nigel Ma, Senior Consultant, Singapore

• "Getting out for a walk, talking to friends and attempting to practice mindfulness are all key components! I try to remind myself to just sit for five minutes and breathe when going into stressful situations or before responding to events that may make me feel anxious or uncomfortable." - Lauren Seal, Partner & Head of HR and Operations

• "Exercising to me massively helps and seeing my friends! I always make sure I have time to go for a walk in the day no matter the weather." - Jessica Hartley, Contracts & Compliance Officer, UK