The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Work-Related Stress

Abstract

Stress is both a health risk and an economic risk for our society. Employers search for ways to offer possible stress reducers for their employees. Mindfulness as a stress reducer is a fairly new research area but with a good amount of research papers suggesting that mindfulness programmes over several weeks are successful in reducing subjective perceived stress as well as physiological stress, such as blood pressure and cortisol levels. This study aims to examine whether mindfulness could show positive effects on stress at work, after only one mindfulness session, compared to being on an extended break. Measurements includes the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ), blood pressure and pulse. The results show that engaging in one single mindfulness session does have an effect on lowering blood pressure as well as lowering perceived tension, which is one of four parts of the SMBQ.