During 2020, collectively we’ve rightly praised the NHS, teachers, delivery drivers, supermarket staff, scientists and other professions that have gone above and beyond to help us through this difficult time. One set of people that I would like to single out for...

Keep up to date with the latest news and views from Shine and read our insights and best practice advice on all things workplace wellbeing. Click the buttons below to visit a particular section, or stay on this page to view all our recent posts across each category.
Catherine: What I do to look after my own wellbeing
What is wellbeing?Wellbeing refers to feeling comfortable, healthy and satisfied. Although there are core recommendations for how to look after your wellbeing, everyone is different and therefore approaches looking after their wellbeing in their own way. For me,...
Working from home – five tips to boost your wellbeing
Working from home was a novelty at first, but it looks like it’s certainly going nowhere for the time being for many workers based in the UK. Considering this, are you doing your best to boost your wellbeing whilst working from home? Here are five suggestions to...
How we can all support the NHS through workplace wellbeing
During the height of the pandemic and lockdown, I spent a large amount of time in hospitals. It wasn’t Covid-19 related or through choice, but I was having chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in December.To some extent it was a welcome...
Why Mental Health First Aid may not be right for your workplace
The past few years have seen a huge increase in mental health conversations in the public sphere, both good and bad. On the one hand, cultivating awareness of the social landscape and how poor mental health or mental illness has impacted this can only be seen as a...
Smartphone detox – how it improved my wellbeing
For the whole of August, I embarked on a smartphone detox. There were a few reasons as to why, but the most prevalent was a worry around burnout. For the past 18 months I’d be working hard setting up and growing Shine Workplace Wellbeing, while also ensuring I was...
Yoga at work – should it be part of a wellbeing programme?
For what was once associated with spiritual followers and Hollywood celebrities, yoga has seen a significant shift in demographics in the last decade.
Financial wellbeing – should employers be doing more?
Financial wellbeing is the sense of security and control regarding one’s finances. This includes the confidence to respond to unexpected expense, meeting financial goals and having a sense of financial freedom to make choices that allow us to enjoy life, without worry...
Sleep and workplace wellbeing
Sleep. A basic need, yet a huge area of neglect in so many lives. Many of us are not prioritising sleep, but putting everything else first: work deadlines, socialising, household chores, are all being chosen over a key factor that enables us to do these things to our...
Mental health in advertising
There's little doubt that the conversation around mental health has entered in to the mainstream over the past couple of years. With more well known figures openly discussing their mental health struggles, more reporting around mental health and wellbeing in the...
Mindfulness in the workplace – useful for some but not for all
I recently came across a debate raging on LinkedIn regarding mindfulness in the workplace and meditation apps, and whether such practices and techniques can genuinely help employees.With almost 800 comments on the discussion thread, a range of pros and cons of such...
Corporate gym membership alternatives – physical activity allowance
Employees who exercise for at least 30 minutes, three times a week, are 15 percent more likely to perform better at work, based on research from the Health Enhancement Research Organization. Additionally, absenteeism is 27 percent lower for workers who exercise...
Low cost workplace wellbeing: maintaining momentum
Employee wellbeing schemes often start strongly with a lot of enthusiasm from various parties, but they can tail off after a few months if they are not well maintained. Particularly if you’re implementing a low-cost workplace wellbeing scheme. For a small to medium...
Should you provide an employee wellbeing scheme to your staff?
I was recently interviewed about whether firms should have an employee wellbeing scheme for a London business magazine. Here is the article:Employee health and wellbeing schemes are perhaps thought to only exist in large corporations with an extensive HR...