Workplace Wellness Whisperer – (October 1)
Hello Workplace Wellness Seeker,
Happy Saturday!
I’ve been coming across a lot of information on self-image and self-confidence lately and how empowering it is to be comfortable in your own skin. Developing your self-confidence starts with how we relate to ourselves. Check out my post on my Instagram or Facebook.
Gratitude and appreciation are core positive psychology practices that have been
shown to boost physical, mental, and emotional health.
🙏Gratitude Practice🙏
Who is one colleague that you’re grateful for?
🌸===🌸
Are you interested in improving the overall health and wellbeing of your workforce?
A wellness program is any kind of organized activity in the workplace designed to improve and support the health and fitness of employees. Wellness programs could include fitness programs, health screenings and preventative care and include activities like:
- Stress management education
- Smoking cessation programs
- Exercise programs
- Weight loss competitions
- Wellness assessments
- Yoga and Breathwork
My Workplace Wellness Calendar can guide you with some ideas for implementing your wellness strategy.
By helping your employees develop healthy habits, you help them avoid health complications that can lead to chronic disease. Wellness programs encourage employees to eat healthy foods and exercise, reducing the risk of long-term health problems and helping them feel more energized and happier throughout their work days. A wellness program can have a positive impact on your team’s mental health as well. Many companies encourage employees to adopt healthy eating habits and provide nutritious food on site in order to encourage this behaviour. Research shows that eating a nutritious diet not only provides sustained energy levels, but can also reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. Wellness programs are now regularly part of a company benefits package.
I invite you to visit my YouTube channel for regular amazing and practical workplace wellness tips here.
Here’s a summary of this week’s 5 tips that can help you personally and professionally.
Read, Listen and Share!
Tip #1. STOP Watching Stressful News
Can watching the news be bad news for your mental health? YES! And the research backs it up. Watching stressful news causes acute stress (feelings of anxiousness, nervousness, aggression), depression, sleep issues, and many other serious lasting consequences. Is it worth it? Of course not, but most of us have a natural negative bias that makes us respond quicker to negative words and viewing traumatic media coverage attractive. My suggestions to reducing news-related stress for better mental health:
✅Limit your time – set a frequency and stick to it – preferably once a day.
✅Consider whether the piece of news is worth your precious valuable time consuming it (most often it’s not).
✅Get the news second hand from someone else.
✅Take time off from watching, reading or listening to the news.
✅Find a replacement activity such as reading a book, going for walks, taking a bath, talking to a loved one, exercise, meditate, journal, etc.
✅Make an effort to balance watching negative news with some positive form of journalism.
So dear wellness seekers stay away from the stressful news at home & the workplace. Follow me for more stress-busting tips.
Listen to the Self-Care Goddess Podcast Episode #24 “The Ultimate Guide to Optimize Your Wellness Today”.
Tip #2. SMILE 🙂 For Optimal Wellbeing
Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. Difficult? Isn’t it?
Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, other natural painkillers, and serotonin. Together, these brain chemicals make us feel good from head to toe. Not only do they elevate your mood, but they also relax your body and mind. Smiling is a natural drug. When you smile, immune function improves because you are more relaxed and it releases certain neurotransmitters. Laugh out aloud or laughter therapy are popular meditation strategies. We are naturally drawn to people who smile. Smile and begin your day to unleash the universal power of positivity that sends the message “Life is good!” to your brain.
Check out my amazing delicious ‘Beet Root Hummus’ recipe.
Tip #3. Breathe In Ease For Stress Busting
Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed?
I invite you to give this variation of a HeartMath technique a try when you’re feeling stressed.
1️⃣ Acknowledge your feelings as soon as you sense stress.
2️⃣ Pause what you’re doing, focus on your heart, and breathe in the attitude of ease. Imagine with each breath that you are drawing in feelings of calm.
3️⃣ Once you activate your ease and regain your energetic poise, breathe this feeling for a while longer to help anchor it in. After doing this exercise for a day or two, your intuition will start to automatically cue you up when stress persists.
🌸 Subscribe to my YouTube channel for guided meditations to help you destress.
Tip #4. Move Your Body Naturally
Time Out in Nature, Physical Activity, Brain Fitness, Optimizing Sleep, Managing Stress, and Living with Purpose & Gratitude are just a few of the common denominators that help you live a long, healthy life according to the hotspots of longevity around the world. One of my favourite ones is to Move Naturally. The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons, or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving. They grow gardens, walk everywhere, and most certainly don’t sit in front of a computer all day. So here are some tips to incorporate movement in your daily routine for busy professionals:
✅ Park further from the entrance of your building
✅Ditch the elevator & take the stairs
✅ Take a short moving break throughout the day (every 30mins) ideally outside to get some natural light
✅Walk before you start your day in the morning
✅Skip the Netflix binge watching & take a walk after dinner
How can you incorporate more movement into your daily workplace routine? I urge you to include natural movement throughout the day everyday, make it a habit.
Download my FREE Morning Routine and learn how to: 1. Increase Energy 2. Improve Sleep & 3. Decrease Mood Swings.
Tip #5. Myth: Fasting is like reducing your calories!
Fasting is like reducing your calories? Wrong! You may have heard about calorie restriction and fasting diets and wondered why they’re getting so much attention in the news. Aren’t they just another way of dieting to lose weight? No, they’re not.
Calorie restriction means reducing average daily caloric intake below what is typical or habitual, without malnutrition or deprivation of essential nutrients. But let me be clear here, Calorie reduction does not give you the same benefits as fasting, especially the hormonal changes. During fasting, unlike caloric reduction, your metabolism stabilizes or even goes up to maintain normal energy levels. Hormones like adrenaline and growth hormone increase to maintain energy and muscle mass. Blood sugar and insulin levels go down as the body changes from burning sugar to burning FAT! You may be tempted to try one of these eating patterns. It’s important to make sure that whatever you try provides you with a safe level of nutrition.
If you’re ready to begin your fasting journey, contact me and I can guide you on the benefits and risks before making any significant changes to your eating patterns. Book Your FREE Wellness Call here.