Cultivating Wellness within the Workplace

By Julie Tomlinson

 

I was recently having a conversation with a few colleagues when we started discussing our own wellness goals, each acknowledging our wellness is an area in our life we rarely focus on. As we explored possibilities the list went on; Hot yoga, Pilates, Orange Theory, meditation, throwing everything we could think of on the wall. Although it was a fun discussion and actually motivated me to join a gym, I realized we were only focusing on one aspect of our lives: Physical Health. What about every other aspect of our lives, specifically work?

All being full time working women, the majority of our time is spent at work and discussing work. Which begs the question, how does our work culture affect our well-being?

Psychology today states “To build your overall well-being, you have to make sure all of these (Emotional, Physical, Social, Societal, Workplace) types of well-being are functioning to an extent. Think of it like this: Imagine you are in a car. Your engine works great, and maybe your transmission works pretty well, too, but your brakes don’t work. Because your brakes don’t work, it doesn’t really matter how well your engine works; you’re still going to have trouble . . .”

This analogy certainly makes it clear that by just focusing on one aspect of my well-being is not going to work and that creating a wellness culture at work is essential for a person’s health, happiness, and success. In person-centered thinking we would say it is important TO and FOR employees.

At H S A, we believe compassion can change how you care for yourself, and others and contribute to creating a workplace culture that fosters well-being and helps people thrive. By making compassion a component of your team and organization’s values each person can contribute to creating an environment where people feel seen, heard, and valued.

So, like going to the gym, we can also play an active role in creating a work culture that nurtures our wellbeing by making compassion for yourself and others a daily practice.

Here are 15 practices that you can begin today.

Try these practices for a month, if you forget, be compassionate with yourself and keep trying. We each have the power to make well-being in the workplace real and a ‘win win’ for everyone.