Workplace Wellness Whisperer – Weekly Tips (Jan 31)

Hello Wellness Seeker,

The pandemic laid bare the fact that we have a broken care infrastructure, support for mental health is insufficient, and many of us are entangled in demanding and inflexible workplace cultures that create burnout. But thankfully, many organizations are responding.

Today, more than 9 in 10 organizations across the globe offer employees at least one kind of wellness benefit, and more than 3 in 5 have dedicated “wellness budgets,” which are expected to expand by 7.8{1e16acf445973e61fdbd53de1c132af7e84fd195cf15d57956db2b0426c8fa60} in the coming years.

I invite you to explore my 5 practical workplace wellness tips that I share with you every week. Watch the videos on my YouTube channel here and hit the SUBSCRIBE button, so you don’t miss any future videos.

Tip #1: It’s Not the Stress That Kills Us – It’s Our Reaction To It

It is an undeniable fact that excess cortisol – which is the hormone that is released during a stressful situation can cause weight gain, particularly abdominal fat. How does it do this? Chronic cortisol release, increases insulin levels, which in turn can lead to extra pounds. What are you doing to help relieve your stress? Have you tried these time-tested stress-relief techniques such as; mindfulness meditation, conscious breathing, yoga, massage therapy, and exercise. I invite you to give this variation of a HeartMath technique a try when you’re feeling stressed.

1.Acknowledge your feelings as soon as you sense stress.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Tip #2: 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.

Tip #3: Mindful Heart-Focused Breathing

This Mindful Heart-Focused Breathing allows you to take a “time-out” where you can step back and helps to neutralize your depleting emotions.

I invite you to deeply integrate this mindful breathing technique anytime you want to: stop the impact of stress on your body, eliminate the energy drain, and help neutralize emotional reactions in the moment.

Tip #4: What to Eat to Live to 100?

Do you want to live passed 100? Then eat like this.

About 95{1e16acf445973e61fdbd53de1c132af7e84fd195cf15d57956db2b0426c8fa60} plant-based and 5{1e16acf445973e61fdbd53de1c132af7e84fd195cf15d57956db2b0426c8fa60} animal-based. A typical centenarian plant-based diet from the famous Blue Zones is made up of beans, and legumes including fava, black, kidney, chickpeas and lentils, complex carbs like garden vegetables and ancient grains, and accented with meat. Meat is largely reserved for Sundays and special occasions. 

Of course I always recommend starting with fibre first, so have a salad – the bitter the better – like arugula or spinach to get the enzymes going and prepare your body to digest your food.

Going plant-based can sound like a daunting task if you’re a meat lover, but you can begin with just a few meals a week and ensuring that you always have something GREEN on your plate. Check out my podcast #28 with Grace Van Berkum where she gives you simple and practical tips.

Tip #5: How do you UNPLUG ON VACATION?

When you go on vacation are you going to unplug completely or check messages just once or twice a day?

Establish boundaries before leaving for vacation. No matter what you decide, make sure to communicate those boundaries clearly, even following up with automatic reminders to those who text or email. You should also determine what constitutes an emergency and discuss what colleagues should do when urgent matters arise.

Successful transition back to work is just as important, so spending the first day after a vacation in relative isolation is highly recommended if possible of course.

Responding to emails, returning phone calls, and determining a to-do list for the rest of the week can make returning to a normal schedule more pleasant and less dreaded. And make you look forward to your next vacation.

Get started with your workplace wellness strategy with my Workplace Wellness Calendar here.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start and want an accountability partner contact me to help you today. Book your FREE workplace wellness introductory call here.

References:

https://hbr.org/2019/08/what-wellness-programs-dont-do-for-workers