Steven Mercer

How would you like your lifestyle to look? Now could be your time to think about it. During the days I was working every hour in the day all I could think about was what I could do if only I had more time. I would read novels, go out to dinner with my friends, go for a pint with a mate, start cycling etc etc etc. Ring any bells? So, now we are in strange times and you have been handed on a plate that time you craved, but… you have huge restrictions as to how you can use it?! For example, looking back at my list, the novels are all I could really start doing. However, this time could be a wonderful time to reflect, an exciting time to get to grips with what is important to you. I’ve already talked about work/life balance. It should be a given, but it is still something we must fight for. This time gives you the time to think about… How would a social life look for you? The things you dream of when you’re in the middle of service. Dinner with friends? Time and energy to ride a bike? What makes you feel good? What you want to fight for? This reflection is important, I think. I burnt out from such a job that gave me no balance about 7 years ago. I didn’t think about what was happening and I suffered a lot of anxiety from having all this extra time and no idea what to do with it. In essence, I craved going back to that life. That’s not balance. But it takes work to make such a huge lifestyle change. Those friends you used to hang out with on a Friday night have no doubt moved on. You wouldn’t fall straight back in. But over time I have found what a life balance is for me. It's taken to this day. I enjoy slowing down. I enjoy running, I enjoy practicing and studying yoga. I enjoy cooking, eating, and drinking with loved ones. Why you want to fight for it? This is so important and for you needs to come before what. For me I knew that a life so far out of balance was simply unsustainable. I had myself in my 40’s or 50’s doing the same thing. I also knew there had to be more to life. I knew I needed change. For you it could be any number of reasons. Your family? Your mental and physical health? How you are going to fight for it? Here’ s the big one. It is going take some serious courage to see these changes. As I said above, I struggled, I really struggled. Firstly. The first step is to commit to the change. Mean it. Secondly. What do you need from your work life to make this happen? Can your current job accommodate your dreams? Can you speak with managers or whoever is going to make this happen? Thirdly. You’ve done it. You’ve made the change. Be ready to know that it's not going to be as easy as you thought. More space means more time to think. It's so important to take things slowly, be non-judgemental or yourself. As ever, I don’t have the answers for you. I do however have a lot of experience of thinking about these questions. I still am. I have never found the balance of having a healthy social life. So, we are all in this together. Thinking and improving our lives together. Namaste.

How is your balance? April 2020. What a time to write about Work/Life balance. The kitchens are closed. We are at home. We are out of balance. Balance to me is the most important concept to consider when trying to improve wellbeing. It's human nature to require balance. Traditionally bad balance. Before these unprecedented times we all at one time or another experienced a lifestyle out of balance the other way. Not all of us, I have read remarkable stories about kitchens that are finding ways to find better work/life balance, but it is still the case across the world that chefs are being asked to work long, inconsistent hours. One aspect of the problem is the expectation of the hospitality industry. Traditionally work/life balanced hasn’t been managed well and at the heart of the aims of the chefs union are to tackle these issues varying from split shifts, long/anti-social hours, not having any fixed hours or being given no notice to make any plans. Stick with us to find out more. This will change. Perhaps as soon as when we go back to work. We will fight for these rights. I want you to have a think about what your work/life balance would look like If you were in full control of it. Like you should be. I am a big believer in taking control of our own wellbeing. During the time of my career when I had the worst work/life balance I made it worse by having a couple of pints at the end of each shift. I started to run. A lot. For me I found it gave me something that was away from work and I could easily fit it around the anti-social hours I had. On a simple level I started taking time for myself and sat in cafe’s and drank coffee. It was also a cue to me to move on. I did. I found a better work/life balance. The Benefits to business’ that looks after this balance. high morale leading to increased productivity. less fatigue related mistakes. being a responsible employer will attract the best chefs. staff retention becomes easier. How could work/life balance look like? No Chef should have to miss weddings and family occasions simply because they are a chef. Having the options to do things in your life that isn’t work. Evening and weekend time off to spend with friends and family that aren’t in the hospitality industry. Consistent and advanced notice for time off. To build a routine and make plans. As ever, I simply hope this gives you something to think about. Talk to us if you are looking to improve your work/life balance. We are here for you.

Brian of The National Chefs Union asked me to talk about the ongoing risk of depression in the kitchen. I drafted articles about the state of the industry and how it compares to what I wrote about mental health in the kitchen in 2017 but then realised that what was going on in my own head was very different. The uncertainty of the future. It made me wonder if this is what is going through anyone else’s mind? There is a real uncertainly in our future and that’s what I want to talk about. How do we manage that in term of our mental health? In the present we can only be our best selves, right? That’s forever the case. Once we learn our limitations then we take control of a situation. Do everything we can to take control of what is in our control. The rest will just happen. Be open with our employers. Do our best. I understand that. But the future is something none of us can foresee. The future has always been something that causes me huge amounts of anxiety. Not necessarily worrying about what is coming because I know I can’t control that but worrying about what I should be doing today to give myself the best chance in the future. Does anybody else suffer this anxiety? It can cause me to freeze. Panic. Have all these pages and pages of to-do lists all of which could be affecting the path I’m on and my chances of future happiness! I feel like some days I am on top of this anxiety. I can do one thing on my to-do list that will take me towards my goals and is true to me. But it only works to an extent. How does anybody else deal with this anxiety? Who doesn’t suffer this anxiety and how and why don’t you?

What the hell does that mean? How do I write this inclusively of all? I’m not sure I can. I’m writing it as me. An approaching Middle-Aged man who has been a chef and now a yoga teacher. I’ve never been overly physically strong; I’ve suffered mental health issues and I’ve run a marathon and I love a nice hot bubble bath. Am I manly? Am a masculine? I’ve had days when be felt really unmanly, girly, feminine, to then voice that to someone and hear them respond with “but I see you as very manly”, not “it’s ok to not be manly you know” which was what I expected. Why does it even matter? Well, it shouldn’t but it does seem to be a bother to me. If you tell yourself something doesn’t matter but clearly it is bothering you, it can only make things worse. So clearly it does matter to me. Was I brought up in a time where being tough and being strong is very important? Sure. I’ve felt weak at various points of my life so it’s only natural that it would affect me. Being aware of the thought process calms me down massively. At times that connection is what I need to take control of it and work my head around it. Where does this fit into the well-being of chefs? Well, it’s simple, there's a huge amount of pressure of chefs to be strong. Even today in a kitchen I would find it almost impossible to express any weakness. The pressure that puts on you Isn’t healthy. It simply can’t be. During our new COVID-19 normal I’m reading increased stories of chefs having to work harder, longer and under more pressure. It’s a pressure cooker in the mind. Is standing up to not being ok manly or not? Being manly is having the strength to talk about how things aren’t ok. That you don’t feel ok. I’m sure of it. Just about. I still need to tell myself sometimes. Stay safe everyone Steve.

Wellbeing could mean safety. It could mean calm. It could mean community. It could be internal to you. It could be in the environment. In my first post I wanted to put that thought out there and to talk about what it means to me and what its meant to me in the past. When do you feel well? For me, in the kitchen, a feeling of wellbeing is there when I feel like I am being my best self. When I feel safe in myself and safe in the environment that I am in. For some I know it is in the midst of service. When adrenaline is flowing and they feel part of the team. The brigade. With a feeling of being in that moment. It used to be the case for me. Not anymore. For me I enjoy a calmer, more balanced environment. Which are you? It can be a rhetorical question or one we talk about, but its invaluable to know. To know yourself. To know what wellbeing feels like. To know what you need in your life to feel it. The Chefs Wellbeing program and the Chefs Union as a whole are here to say that this DOES matter. The days of the hospitality industry being stoic and tough and putting up with a life without wellbeing are OVER. Your wellbeing MATTERS. And the wellbeing of your friends and colleagues matters. Its in our hands. Have a think. I just want to leave this here. Namaste Steve.

When I say your voice, I mean a lot more than the words you say. Your voice is your connection to your true self. A term I really like. That state where you are being true to yourself at its core and you are not being directed by external stresses. Yoga philosophy sees our voice being affected by the fifth chakra. The throat chakra, the Vishuddha. A blue energy. We are looking to have each chakra in balance. In particular to us chefs I am interested in how this means we communicate. Balancing your voice Deficient- timid, not sticking up for yourself, leads to be being walked all over in the kitchen. Being blamed for things you haven’t done, working too many hours as you don’t say no! In excess- self-important, arrogant, not prepared to listen to the ideas and feelings of others in the kitchen. A great chef is a chef that has managed to balance this energy. Which one are you? Can you see a lack of balance in yourself? Your personality and body composition will of course emphasize this. Too much fire in your system will likely put you into excess whilst too much water will likely make your voice deficient. This is yoga philosophy at its best. Helping you to understand what you could be doing to feel more in balance and therefore calmer. How what we eat could help? In excess, try cooling foods such as coconut or deficient then try a bit of chilli or garlic to stoke your inner fire. In general, ripe fruits are known to help balance the energy in your throat chakra. They symbolize authenticity as they only fall from the tree at the right time. Also, anything blue to nourish the energy. Purple Sprouting broccoli or blueberries perhaps. The movement or Yoga Asana and how this can help. Balance is the key here. Deficiency of your voice can be helped along by opening the chest, shoulders, and throat. Asana’s such as fish, ideally supported fish, or melting heart. In excess means you need to try to close down that area. Forward folds of almost any kind will be beneficial. You should understand as well, this asana has the added benefit of the calming and cooling effect of the inversion. Balance as ever is the key, doing a combination of both is often the key. It’s not easy to start getting the benefits this way from yoga asana, it takes time and practice, but it really is worth sticking with. If you have any questions or would like some guidance, I would love to hear from you, There are always other activities you can do to help balance your voice. Activities that stoke your inner fire will also help. Sport for example? To calm your voice, you Could do something as simple as take 5 deep breaths when you feel yourself at melting point. If you’re interested, get in touch 🙂 You know yourself, trust it. That’s so important to remember. Namaste

For #mentalhealthawarenessweek this year I’m thinking about Yoga and how my yoga practice has helped me bring awareness to my own mental health. So, a bit of a spin but stay with me. I believe that I can use my yoga practice to bring awareness to my own mental health. For example, I may feel anxious as I practice certain poses or get angry and frustrated during poses I struggle with on certain days but on others could feel calm with the difficulty. Some more examples: If you can’t sit quietly in meditation, then perhaps your mind is racing during day-to-day life at the moment. If you judge yourself for how you are practicing your yoga, are you judging yourself in other areas of your life? If you are frustrated or angered by the teacher or yourself, do you do this with others in your life? I see the process of a yoga practice in a similar way to life itself. Yoga can bring joy but can also make you feel terrible. It's not usually on the teacher's websites mind. There are certain poses that you will find suit you and certain poses you will find easier than the others around you. I’ve always found this hard, but in learning to deal with it in a yoga class you can learn to do it in the workplace and in life generally. Does this help me? Well, sometimes it doesn’t help at all. Sometimes my practice will simply tell me what I already knew. But it can bring me aware or how I am feeling. Other times my practice can slow me down. My brain may be in overdrive with positivity and ideas but just waiting to crash. The awareness then brings me back into control. I can make my next move. I believe in practicing yoga calmly, without judgement, knowing how far and when to push my body, by practicing with balance. Perhaps the way to practice life… If you are interested in seeing how Yoga could help you. Keep an eye out for one of my online practices or drop me a message for a chat.

How can yoga help wellbeing? Yoga is a science which came from India and is a union of the body, mind, and true self. A Holistic approach to wellbeing from how we behave, breathe, move and be still. “Yoga is a search of the self, based on an inner practice and detachment”- Himalaya Yoga Valley Centre Physically stretching the body. Asana practice can help balance posture issues that cause neck and back pain as well as ease the pain of repetitive actions and helps the effects of being on your feet for long hours. Simply great physical exercise for strength, mobility, and cardio. Helps blood circulation, digestion and moves energy around the body. Mentally Stress and anxiety management With better, more controlled breathing happier chemicals can be released and we can spend less time living in fight or flight mode. Allows you to find space to be yourself, with yourself. On a Community level. Encourages you to feel more at one with others encourages compassion and non-judgement the potential of a yoga ripple effect is massive for the wellbeing of whole communities. Why be interested? I am passionate about the words above because it worked for me. I have lived it. From one summer of practicing yoga whilst running one of Ireland’s top kitchens I found… I suffered almost no back or neck pain compared to before. yoga gave me the physical release I needed that I usually got from running but without causing further burnout. by simply practicing breathing exercises daily I found myself reacting calmer to instances of extreme stress. helped me be less judgemental of the others around me. helped me step back from being so hard on myself. gave me a break from that 24/7 feeling I get from running a kitchen. With both Cooking in Mind and the Chefs Union I am hoping to achieve the following over the coming months. Have the conversation about yoga. What do we need from yoga? Finding ways to give us all the opportunity to practice yoga. Connect Yoga teachers with those that need it. Talk about how yoga philosophy and practice has helped me and could help you. Namaste to all