Client Profile: 

York Support Services Network (YSSN), is a community services organization providing assessment and support services to individuals living with a developmental disability and/or mental illness.  Sue Van Elswyk, a YSSN Supervisor, reached out to me last winter.   Her team’s primary responsibility is in assessing individual cases; any further intervention and support is assigned elsewhere.  She was familiar with my overall approach to well-being and knew of my experience teaching restorative yoga.  Sue asked if I might be able to come to a series of team meetings to guide her and her staff through 1 hour sessions, with the key objectives of:

1. facilitating relaxation
2. restoring overall mind-body balance
3. offering simple and effective self-care strategies

Risks of Being in the Caring Profession:

There are lots of work demands that Sue and her team manage on a day-to-day basis and, as is typical in many a caring professional’s work ethic, lunches are often skipped and sick days are not taken when needed.  Along with keeping up with administrative tasks, there is high risk of experiencing Secondary Trauma, Compassion Fatigue and/or Burnout just from continually listening to heartbreaking stories and situations. It can leave one feeling powerless in their ability to enable positive change or make a difference in their client’s experience.

For this YSSN team, any compassion fatigue training they attended only made them feel worse.  While they were able to put a name to their predicament and had tools for self-assessment, concrete strategies for managing and recovering from the burnout were amiss.

Enter Workplace Restorative (Caring Professions Edition):

After introducing just a few sessions in YSSN’s staff meetings, the benefit these case workers experienced was clear in their feedback:

• “My staff all reported back that they really enjoyed the last session and are using some grounding strategies already.”
• “I love the sessions, I find it a positive and supportive (environment) and Michelle’s method of guiding instruction is relaxing and easy to follow.  She provides a variety of positions which seems there is something to benefit everyone.”
• “Please let Michelle know that I really enjoy her restorative yoga.  The sessions have helped me to reintroduce yoga and mindfulness into my daily life.  It is helping me on my continuing journey towards health and making my health a priority.”
• “The sessions have helped us to take time for ourselves and to help us become more aware of our breath, help us manage stress.  Her instructions are gentle and she always makes sure to give modifications to each student as needed.  Many staff have incorporated some of the poses into their daily lives to help manage stress.  It has been a wonderful opportunity for us!”

Overall, participants said the restorative practice felt healing, rather than labeling.  There was a sense of acceptance (a cornerstone in cultivating self-compassion), permission, and a reclaiming of the power to self-direct their own recovery and repair. As a result, there has been a shift happening at YSSN.  Staff are now taking lunches more often, finding opportunities to connect with one another, taking sick days when needed and exploring self-care in different ways that has translated into their work and home lives.

Effective stress-management and work-life balance can become a reality for your staff too! Contact Michelle to discuss design and implementation of a customized wellness program for your office.

The post A Case for Adding Restorative Yoga to Your Workplace Wellness Offerings appeared first on Define Me Wellness.

Create a movement diary and take inventory on a typical workday of the total hours spent sitting, from the moment you get out of bed in the morning until you go to sleep.  This includes time spent at the dining table, watching tv, your commute, etc.

Remember to approach this self-assessment with honest and kind curiosity; no judgment or trying to fix anything.

Step 2: If possible, find a quiet place to reset

If you are at the workplace and are in a cubicle, see if a meeting room is available and setup for some Constructive Rest:

1. Lie down on the floor with knees bent, feet on the floor
2. Support your head and neck with a folded blanket, beach towel or pillow. The head and neck should be supported in such a way that the sides of the neck feel long, yet comfortable, and the chin is drawing down slightly towards the collar-bones
3. Walk your feet out to either side and bring the knees to touch
4. Place your hands on your belly and close down the eyes to help turn your attention inwards
5. Take 2 – 5 minutes to focus on your body’s natural inhale and exhale pattern
6. Play with equal ratio (1:1) breathing, where the inhale and exhale are of the same duration/count (this breath practice helps to balance the nervous system)

Step 3: Reclaim your seat

Once you have spent some time in Constructive Rest, you are ready to return to your desk with a calm mind and relaxed musculature.  Use that body awareness to reclaim your seat with intention:

1. Find your sitting bones, the two bony protrusions on either cheek just above the hamstrings
2. As you bend your knees, shift your hips back and sit on the edge of your chair, on your sitting bones as opposed to sitting on your sacrum
3. Rather than forcing your spine upright, wedge a pillow between the back of your chair and your spine for support or…
4. Shift your hips back until your spine is supported by the back of your chair (you should still be sitting on your sitting bones)

If you are looking for more strategies on creating optimal well-being in and out of the office for yourself, co-workers or staff, consider scheduling a Define Me Workplace Wellness workshop (such as this one) for your next company event or Lunch n Learn.

The post Reinventing the Afternoon Coffee-Break, Part II appeared first on Define Me Wellness.

What does that do for your body? What does that do for your overall well-being? Here are my Top 3 issues with desk dwelling:

1. Holding any one position for long takes its toll on the body 

Some say “sitting is the new smoking” but I find that to be more fear-mongering than helpful.  Sitting isn’t going to give you COPD or cancer,  so let’s not be so dramatic! The truth is the average desk dweller spends about 14 – 15 hours per day seated.  This mundane and long-held position creates imbalances in the body that can lead to hip dysfunction, low back pain, chronic neck pain and shoulder issues.

2. Breathing is not optimal when the body is hunched over

Your diaphragm, a key muscle in respiration, sits underneath your lungs, housed in your abdominal cavity.  When you are hunched over your desk all day the diaphragm is compressed, limiting your breath from moving into the full capacity of your lungs.  Your system compensates by shortening the breath, which in turn stimulates your sympathetic nervous system (aka: stress response, fight or flight).

If you are working at an office chances are your nervous system is on high alert already with multi-tasking and tight deadlines to try to manage.  You don’t need any more “help” triggering fight or flight!

3. Long bouts of sitting summons the Energy Vampire 

Those rounded shoulders and head jutting forward not only create dysfunction in the physical body but they drain you mentally and emotionally too.  From a psycho-emotional standpoint, our shoulders carry all of our worries and burdens.  Continued sitting and leaning in to our work reinforce the feeling of being dumped on, weighted down with more stuff, which has a way of de-energizing and probably making you less productive.

So what if we tweaked the afternoon routine and sitting for what should actually be a real 15 minute break from work and replace it with a variety of practices and positions that better support our productivity and well-being?

Soon to follow: More on what you can do in my next segment on Reinventing the Afternoon Coffee Break, Part II.

The post Reinventing the Afternoon Coffee-Break, Part I appeared first on Define Me Wellness.

• Decrease stress and anxiety
• Help combat depression
• Improve cognitive function
• Improve self-efficacy
• Illicit a sense of pride and accomplishment

I think we can all agree the above outcomes can only help employee performance, right? But with 46% of Canadians still reported as being inactive, how do we get employees to see those benefits? How do we get more employees to embrace regular physical activity?

I believe the only way to bring about sustainable change is to start by being positive.  Make it so employees are intrinsically motivated to start and continue to be physically active.  Consider the following ideas:

1. Create an environment that allows for time to move away from the cubicle by encouraging associates to take their entitled breaks.  Invite them to book time in their calendar for 15 minutes in the morning, afternoon and an hour lunch.
2. Teach employees the importance of breath.  When we are stressed and/or sitting at our desks for extended periods of time we may experience muscular tension and fatigue.  Tuning into the breath can do wonders!
3. In fact, why not have a 15 minute yoga program created for employees to fit in during a break? That way you get the stress-reduction breath work while also bringing their bodies back into alignment.
4. If you are offering workplace wellness programs, be sure to give options.  Not everyone feels comfortable in a group exercise setting.  Not everyone’s body is capable of certain activities.  Not everyone wants to have a high-intensity, sweat-inducing workout.  Everyone benefits by finding exercise that is comfortable for them and provides a positive experience.
5. Organize Lunch n Learns that allow associates to explore the notion that any kind of movement can produce lasting benefits.  It doesn’t have to be strenuous.  Lifestyle Physical Activities are things that can be incorporated into an individual’s daily routine without taking up too much time.  Parking the car further away from the office’s front entrance, taking the stairs instead of the elevator are just a couple of ideas.
6. Offer private coaching to employees who are uncomfortable engaging in physical activity in front of others so they can work through any barriers that exist for them and develop an individually appropriate plan with the assistance of a professional.

There are lots of opportunities for our workforce to engage in regular physical activity.  We just have to relax the expectations, expand our idea of what constitutes exercise and provide a safe, supportive and enjoyable experience for all.

Define Me is now offering a unique and comprehensive Workplace Wellness program for companies looking to make a difference in their organization’s overall health.  If you know of an organization that is looking for a workplace wellness solution, a program that engages employees and improves productivity, have them CONTACT US today.

The post CHWM Series Week 2: Exercise as an Rx for Good Mental Health appeared first on Define Me Wellness.

“…provide an opportunity to identify those work-related hazards and risks that influence psychological health and safety in the workplace; ensuring a preventative approach to psychological harm or mental injury (i.e., from work-related stress or fatigue, or workplace harassment, including bullying and discrimination).”

Here is an issue that isn’t normally addressed in the workplace that can be an obstacle to an individual achieving good mental health – size acceptance and body image.

Remember in a recent post, I wrote about size bias being the last socially acceptable form of discrimination? It’s evident in education, healthcare and in the workplace too! I believe creating a psychologically safe work environment addresses weight bias.  If a workplace implements zero-tolerance policies for discrimination, harassment and bullying based on size, than it makes for a more comfortable place to work for people of all sizes.  And a more accepting work environment makes it easier for individuals to think more positive thoughts about their bodies, which only adds to good mental health.

Examples of policies that embrace a more size accepting approach:

1. Opting out of company-wide weight loss programs such as “Biggest Loser” challenges.  There are weight-neutral alternatives that can still have an impact on employee health and productivity without resorting to ineffective dieting strategies.
2. Ensure your organizations diversity practices and training include a component for size diversity too.
3. Provide office furniture that accommodates a variety of shapes and sizes (i.e.: sturdy, armless chairs with firm seat cushions).
4. Decorate the office walls, waiting areas and meeting rooms with pictures and artwork showing workers of all sizes that exemplify your organization’s mission statement and core values.
5. Create equal hiring and promotion opportunities for every BODY (instead of feeding into the cultural bias that larger people are lazy and unmotivated).

Final thought

Creating a safe workplace and helping employees be the best they can be in body and mind starts with establishing a culture of respect and acceptance for ALL.

Define Me is now offering a unique and comprehensive Workplace Wellness program for companies looking to make a difference in their organization’s overall health.  If you know of an organization that is looking for a workplace wellness solution, a program that engages employees and improves productivity, have them CONTACT US today.

The post CHWM Series Week One: Psychological Safety in the Workplace appeared first on Define Me Wellness.

Today kicks-off a month long initiative for bringing improved health into the Canadian workplace.  Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month (CHWM), managed by Excellence Canada, seeks to:

” (I)ncrease awareness of a comprehensive approach to workplace health in Canada that involves… health and lifestyle practices, workplace culture and a supportive environment, physical environment and occupational health and safety”

A healthy workforce is something that every corporation should be investing in.  Human Resources and Skills Development Canada reports the average worker clocks 36.6 hours per week (which is nearly 25% of our available time).  That might not seem like a lot but when you factor in additional time spent outside of work hours (such as commuting, work-related thinking/stress and planning personal commitments around the work schedule), we spend a large portion of our waking hours “clocked-in”.  And let’s face it, with modern day technology and work from home options, it’s hard for us to just unplug or disconnect from the work environment.  We take work home with us and we bring our home lives into the workplace; the two are interconnected.  Therefore, it is essential that workplaces invest in the health and wellness of their employees in positive ways to reduce burnout and stress, increase employee energy and enthusiasm and bring a sense of balance and peace to work-personal life.

A healthy workforce creates an engaged workforce creates a productive workforce which in turn creates a business that thrives! 

And let’s talk about what health really is for a moment.  I can tell you it’s more than just the physical body and it’s not just your nutritional choices or how/how much you exercise.  It’s more than that.  Organizations that are progressive in the workplace wellness arena are starting to realize that too.

This year’s over-arching theme of CHWM is Mental Health at Work where each week the following topics will be addressed:

1. Safe Workplaces
2. Healthy Bodies
3. Supportive Workplace Cultures
4. Fun at Home and Work

Stay tuned for the coming weeks as I provide some additional perspective and strategies as we look for ways Canadian workplaces and those they employ can realize improved health.

Define Me is now offering a unique and comprehensive Workplace Wellness program for companies looking to make a difference in their organization’s overall health.  If you know of an organization that is looking for a workplace wellness solution, a program that engages employees and improves productivity, have them CONTACT US today.

The post CHWM Series Kick-Off: Why Wellness Programs At Work Are Needed appeared first on Define Me Wellness.