Sound Advice

In this episode, we explore why mental health deserves as much attention at work as physical health, and what changes when people start to understand it. Mental health trainer and wellbeing consultant Jessica Agudelo leads the discussion. She unpacks the "stress container" – how much pressure each of us can hold – and the "stress signature" that shows up when it starts to overflow.

She's joined by Matt Blackwell, People Manager at WSET. Matt shares how mental health awareness training, a team of mental health first aiders and a daily "happy hour" have helped colleagues feel confident talking openly. Jessica also shares a simple personal wellbeing check-in, where you rate yourself from one to five, so you can spot what you need before your stress container overflows.

In this episode, we explore how the way we breathe at work – often without thinking about it – can leave us running on shallow, upper-chest breaths that do little to calm us down. Julie Bristow, an experienced vocal coach, leads this discussion, unpacking the difference between our everyday "passive" breathing and the calming effect of diaphragmatic, or "belly", breathing.

She also demonstrates a simple technique you can use at your desk – breathing in through the nose to a count of four and out to a count of four – along with a quick tension-release exercise, so you can find a moment of calm whenever a stressful moment at work catches you off guard.