On Thursday 13th February we held the workshop “Success without stress” in collaboration with Unusual Connections, a member of the Spanish Chamber.
Our Secretary General, Igor Urra, welcomed attendees and then introduced Ms. Pilar Orti, from Unusual Connections, who facilitated the session.
The session was very dynamic from the beginning with attendees introducing themselves and explaining how they felt at that moment. In line with the above, Pilar explained the aim of the session and focused on the point that we cannot let stress be a part of our lives on a daily basis. Even when we have a mountain of things to do both at work and as part of our private lives, it is essential to prioritise and take a moment to reflect on our chores, their deadlines and how to organise them to create the best possible outcome. A good way to get this done is to write down – at any time – anything that crosses our mind regarding tasks we have to complete. We can then have a look at our diary and have a clear idea of the things we need to get done and arrange a time for each of them.
According to Pilar, the problem is that we often do not realise when stress is building up and so we do not do anything to prevent it. Therefore, we carry the stress with us every moment of every day. She pointed out that the ideal solution to this would be to take few minutes every night to relax, empty the mind and forget all about the workload we face in order to start the next day feeling refreshed and more comfortable with the tasks ahead.
As Pilar remarked throughout the workshop, it is very important to know how we feel and how the body reacts to such feelings, as it gives us a clear sign of how to manage situations that can potentially lead to stressful outcomes. For example, if someone does not like speaking in public, it would be a good idea to take two minutes to focus on breathing in order to calm down before going on to the stage.
To put theory into practice, Pilar proposed a couple of similar exercises for participants to take conscience of their bodys’ reactions to different situations. As Pilar went on to explain the body consists of 3 parts: the physical, the emotional and the cognitional; and each part interacts with the other. Therefore any factors that affect any of these body parts in some way will most likely have an impact on our personality and mood.
During the session participants were presented with the diagram of Hans Selye which taught them about the combinations of things that make us work calmly, make us distracted or even make us distraught. Pilar highlighted the importance of having a strategy to easily identify and make clear to ourselves what we need to do and where to start. Furthermore, and in line with the technological era we live in, she discussed with attendees some useful apps that can assist with the above.
As stress is a feeling many of us have to cope with, attendees were sent a copy of the contents covered in the session with useful tips and exercises to put into practice at work and at home to prevent high levels of stress and anxiety.
The attendees were listening attentively and showed great levels of interaction and engagement throughout the session. After the workshop they could exchange their impressions of the event while enjoying some breakfast.
If you want to find out about any other activities that the Spanish Chamber is organising, we encourage you to keep an eye on our UPCOMING EVENTS section on our website. Furthermore, you can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter in order to receive updates on the Chamber and our upcoming events!
