A Balanced Glass
Professionals working in the wine and beverage industry can tap into resources for health and wellness on A Balanced Glass, a forum launched in 2014, which focuses on providing guidance, access to networks and connections within the sector. They also have a list of helpful resources online.
James Beard Foundation - Mental Health Resources (US)
The James Beard Foundation lists dozens of organisations, groups, and resources that are working widely as well as specifically within the food community on issues around sobriety and mental health.
Hospitality Action (UK)
UK based Hospitality Action offers assistance to everyone working within the hospitality industry in the UK, and who find themselves in crisis. They have a number of helpful resources available online, from coping with uncertainty to encouraging better sleep patterns.
Paul Sorgule's Tips for Managing Stress
Seasoned kitchen veteran Paul Sorgule offers up 14 easy and free practical tips on how to better manage stress on We Are Chefs. It's all the more poignant when the advice comes directly from someone who's spent years working in a professional kitchen.
Free Online Resources/Learning/Apps
Fair Kitchens - online training videos
The #FairKitchens code is supported by training videos, advice and tips, by chefs for chefs, and short guides on topics including improving communication and supporting team members experiencing a personal crisis.
Pilot Light Campaign - UK
Pilot Light was set up by chefs Andrew Clarke and Doug Sanham in 2016. They draw on their own experiences to help open up the dialogue about mental health within the industry, and they offer an online 'Personal Resilience Course' for £30.
Personal Mise en Place
Hospitality veteran Paul Finn has developed a personal mise en place method as a daily system of tracking his own behaviour and routines. He says: "By taking an honest look at your own daily rituals, you can learn to identify patterns, allowing you to clear out non-productive items that are in your mise and replace them with more efficient and productive routines." Here's the form to get started on our personal mise en place.
Healthy Pour
Healthy Pour is an organisation that provides consultation and education to bars, restaurants, hotels, brands, non-profit organisations, and mental health therapists regarding the mental health and support of individuals working in and around the hospitality industry. They have a wealth of free online courses for hospitality workers to pick and choose from.
Healthy Hospo
This not-for-profit community created by industry professionals provides hospitality workers with information, advice, support, and training on mental and physical health. They have a free app designed to help hospitality professionals lead a happier, healthier life.
Free Chef Courses
Continuous learning is also a pillars of happiness, so why not try expanding your skill kit? Take a look at our list of free online courses for chefs.
Inspiration
Mad Talks
Listen to other chefs and industry professionals and hear their inspiring stories and challenges in Mad's eclectic selection of inspiring voices. From Danish chef Christian Puglisi talking about how he re-evaluated the high cost of producing food, to chef Alanna Sapwell on how to lead an in a no-ego kitchen, you can listen to a diverse range of voices and topics.
Ted Talks
If you're lacking motivation, tap into the vast ocean of Ted Talks and be inspired by a huge cross-section of speakers and topics, which take you out of the everyday, and offer a new angle or point of view. From Gaston Acurio's talk 'Can Home Cooking Change the World?' to Dan Barber on 'Falling in Love with Fish', and José Andrés explaining 'How a Team of Chefs Fed Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria,' there's plenty of food for thought.
Podcasts
Communal Table Podcast
Food & Wine Pro’s Communal Table podcast offers chefs and restaurant workers a little TLC when Kat Kinsman sits down with hospitality pros to learn more about how they manage their 'business, brain, and body for the long haul'. A must listen is 'Sean Brock on Recovery'.
Meditation Apps
Headspace
Headspace offers free meditation content both via the app and online, including the mindfulness of cooking.
Insight Timer
Insight Timer provides thousands of guided and non-guided meditations to pick and choose between depending on what you want to focus on. Also, listen to Australian based chef Darren Robertson's 'Regenerative journey'.
Physical Fitness
Fitness
Whether you decide to pay a personal trainer, join an online class, download a free exercise app (like the NHS's couch to 5k running plan for beginners), count your steps or take up a more ambitious sport, there are plenty of exercise resources to choose from. Here's Gordon Ramsay talking about how he went from fat chef to a fit chef when he incorporated exercise into his daily life.
Yoga for Chefs and Hospitality Workers
Free Virtual Yoga Class
The London-based caterer Social Pantry team have decided to start a free weekly virtual yoga class for those that work in the hospitality, every Monday until the end of February.
There are 100 spaces allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. To register your interest, please email [email protected] and you will be sent the details.
Free 'Yoga for Chefs' Session
If your body is feeling the strain why not try 18 minutes of yoga? This video tutorial has been designed with chefs in mind, to help to ease tightness in the body and centre the mind.
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