New photo Music to our ears! Work choirs can ease job stress and loneliness

TV choirmaster Gareth Malone’s attempts to teach employees how to sing were a primetime hit on the BBC

Throw away the stress ball and turn off the soothing forest sounds.

The best way to feel better in a stressful job might be to join a workplace choir.

A study has found 96 per cent of people in singing groups feel less stressed by the demands of work. 

Joining a workplace choir also helps combat loneliness in the office as 86 per cent feel less socially isolated.

TV choirmaster Gareth Malone’s attempts to teach employees how to sing were a primetime hit on the BBC, with his NHS choir reaching the Christmas No1 spot in 2015.

University of Leicester researchers interviewed 58 members of workplace choirs to see if group singing could relieve stress. 

They found people got more emotional support from choir members than from immediate work colleagues.

Study author Joanna Foster said: ‘Gareth Malone brought group singing into the public eye, moving it away from the fuddy-duddy, hymn-singing, sheet-reading image associated with choirs in the past.

‘Our study has now found evidence that it can reduce workplace stress and feelings of isolation. Organisations should seriously consider encouraging staff to regularly participate in singing groups to improve wellbeing, engagement and potentially job performance.’

Previous studies have found almost a third of employees find their work unmanageable and more than 12million days a year are lost as staff go off sick with work-related stress, depression or anxiety. The study covered 58 people in workplace choirs in Hampshire and Dorset on salaries ranging from less than £15,000 to over £65,000 a year.

University of Leicester researchers interviewed 58 members of workplace choirs to see if group singing could relieve stress (pictured: Singers from office choirs after opening the London Stock Exchange with a song in 2014)

One in six were under high strain from their job. But the vast majority felt less stressed and isolated after attending a choir session. Singing has been found to improve breathing and posture, while releasing similar feel-good endorphins to exercise which could help colleagues bond more quickly.

Most choir members in the study were women, but researchers said men could potentially benefit more as they face greater risk of work-related stress. There are more than 4,000 choirs in Britain.

Celia Johns, of the National Association of Choirs, said singing had been shown to regulate heartbeat and breathing – and release endorphins ‘which make you feel happy’.

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News Pictures Music to our ears! Work choirs can ease job stress and loneliness

You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!

TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st

To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.

Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”

Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”

kim cattrall

Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb

SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.

Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
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