Why Your Company Needs a Wellness Month
When companies care about their employees’ well being, both parties benefit. Employees feel appreciated, valued, and empowered to work harder for their employer. Hosting a company Wellness Month is a fantastic way to promote the healthy habits that lead to healthy lifestyles.
Encourage your people to get outside and get moving! Find a free, local fun run and have your whole team participate. At PayLease, we found a race called the Hoppy Trails 5K, which was held at a hiking trail not far from our HQ. After the strenuous 3 mile trail run, everyone gathered at a local brewery for a celebratory cold one. I know, I know, beer isn’t particularly healthy, but it’s a great motivator to get people off the couch and exercising.
If running is out of the question, a “Hike to Happy Hour” might be a more slow-paced and enjoyable option for your crew. A bunch of PayLeasers recently hiked to an incredible view of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, which was an awesome way to avoid traffic after work. It was so awesome in fact, that other group hikes have been organized post-wellness month! (Most ending at a local brewery, of course).
After all that running and hiking, you’ll need to treat your team to some R&R. Take care of your employees by hiring a massage therapist to come to the office for a day or two. Allow employees to sign up for 10 minute head, neck and shoulder massages to help relieve stress. This wellness activity is a PayLease favorite, I wonder why?
There are a few fun Wellness Month challenges you can keep in play all month long. For instance, initiate a “Take the Stairs” challenge to encourage folks to give up the ease and comfort of the elevator, and climb the stairs instead. Those little bursts of exercise sprinkled throughout the day add up over time. Hide $10 Amazon gift cards in your stairwell three times a week for a few lucky stair climbers to find and win!
Another fun activity to encourage health, and interdepartmental mingling is “Wellness Shot Friday.” Every Friday during your Wellness Month, set out mini cups with samples of popular health drinks that most people haven’t had the chance to try before. One week, we set out samples of Bulletproof Coffee, which is basically just hot coffee blended with grass-fed butter or coconut oil. Another “shot” we poured was a delicious fresh pressed green, ginger and lemon juice. But the most exciting and well received samples were definitely the BoochCraft, a local brand of alcoholic kombucha!
Sending out company-wide weekly wellness tips via email is an easy and effective way to remind your team to stay healthy. Here are 5 of our favorite health tips:
1. Drink Water When You Wake Up
Drinking water is essential to hydrating your body after a night-long fast, and helps wake you up in the morning. Remember, your body contains (and needs) more water than most of us realize. Be sure you’re giving it enough, starting first thing in the morning — even before coffee!
2. Consider the “Fork Trick” to Prevent Overeating
Use your non-dominant hand when you eat. It naturally slows you down because you have to try and steady your food to get it to your mouth. And eat until you’re comfortably full. In other words, stop eating at the start of feeling full.
3. Go for Four
If you’re finding it hard to exercise every day, don’t worry. Exercising just four days a week can be more beneficial than a daily workout. Four weekly workouts, divided into two weight-training days and two cardio-endurance days, can help you be just as fit and strong as if you worked out six days a week.
4. Love Yourself
How can you love yourself more starting today? List your positive attributes and reflect on them daily. This can be difficult for someone who habitually thinks negatively of themselves, but try to find one positive thing about yourself to add to the list once a week. At the end of each day, reflect on your entire list. If you have had a significant accomplishment, celebrate it with a dinner at your favorite restaurant. Think of all of the hard work you do every day, and find a reason to reward yourself with something nice. Repeat positive affirmations daily. This may seem awkward or cheesy at first, but the habit will cause the positive thoughts to sink in, and you will begin to believe them. A good mantra to repeat to yourself is: “I am a whole, worthy individual, and I respect, trust, and love myself.”
5. Be an Energy Source Always
No matter what stresses we have in our lives, one of the most important things we can all do is bring good energy, instead of stealing it. This means maintaining a positive outlook, even if things aren’t going your way. This is important for your health, along with the sanity of others around you. People who have a positive spirit can make a huge impact. If everyone decided to be an energy source all the time, the world would be a much happier place. Right after you finish reading this, make the conscious decision to make a positive impact on those around you.
We hope your Wellness Month is a hit, and that those who participate take home a few health tips and tricks they can use in their daily lives. A happy, healthy lifestyle is achieved by one small positive change after another. Be well!