“A large body of research has established that having a regular meditation practice produces tangible benefits for mental and physical health.”
— Deepak Chopra
While we’re waiting on the official start to the New Year, let’s write three things:
Example:
What do I want?
I want to be more productive. (Too broad. Start again.) I want to spend two hours of focused, uninterrupted time each Monday morning writing my book.
Why do I want this?
I enjoy writing. Writing brings me a sense of relief and accomplishment. I want readers to derive pleasure from what I write.
We’re all subjected to the same expectations of urgency and cheer during The Season, whether we celebrate the holidays or not. Both can be stressful if you’re not in the flow. So, what can you do to counterbalance the strain?
Here are 15 ways that can help:
Breathe – Take a few long breaths throughout the day. Deep breathing relaxes the body and mind.
Nap – Lie down for 15 minutes to reenergize. Some workplaces have nap rooms. Schools are hopping on board, too.
As November comes to a close, the season of thanks does not. Gratitude is healthy. Both empirical and anecdotal evidence supports this. Finding appreciation for things in your life is good for you mentally, emotionally, physically and socially.
Everyone has heard the anthem, “I’m grateful for my friends and family.” We need a little more. How about your toilet? We would be squatting behind a bush and wiping with leaves if we didn’t have toilets and toilet paper. Thank you! Thank you to the inventor of the toilet. Thank you to all of the people who for so many years only had nature or outhouses to relieve themselves. These are the people who desired something more and better, easier and cleaner. Enter the toilet, the bathroom, toilet paper, SOFT, non-abrasive toilet paper, automatic flushing…it gets better and better.
How do you create wellness for yourself?
Wellness is defined as the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.
Two words stand out: mind and effort. We generally connect wellness with our physical health. That is a fallacy. The mind-body connection is unequivocal. What we think, what we believe, what we expect all affect how we feel and, therefore, how our bodies feel.
Remember the last time you walked into a meeting unprepared. All eyes on you. You sat down with not much to offer. Oops. You were uncomfortable, embarrassed, awkward. Was your body relaxed and loose? Nope. You were fidgety and tight, maybe even sweating.
Flick off the overhead lights. Light a candle. Turn on a lamp or two and sit. It’s 7pm in November and dark outside (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). It’s dim and cozy inside and your body and mind relax. Fast forward to 2pm tomorrow. Bright sunlight outdoors; bright inside. You’re energized and ready for action. Close the shades, turn off the lights, light a candle or two. Hmm, doesn’t feel right. Why? Our bodies are programmed to ebb and flow based primarily on our circadian rhythms (how our body acts and reacts based on external cues).
Our bodies want to synchronize with our environment. As the sun rises, our bodies rev up, and as it sets, we do the same. Or so the theory goes.
We give relatively little thought to lighting and its effect on our health. Picture this…you’re outside in bright sunlight and you walk into a store with fluorescent lighting overhead, the kind where you feel like a gray fog has descended upon you as soon as you step past the sliding doors. Not a good feeling. You feel drained, deflated, dull, dim.
What if you work in an environment like this?
Imagine a space where you walk in and there is a host of lighting. There are sconces, pendant lamps, floor and table lamps, overhead lighting and desk lighting. What a difference! This is not only an energizing and inspiring environment; it is also a soothing and relaxing place to be.
Where would you want to work? To go to school? To live? To shop?
How do our indoor spaces affect us? Most of us don’t give this much thought. But as we listen to the green building industry and consider the myriad chemicals that are outgassed from the products and materials that we build, design and decorate our indoors with, it gives us pause.
Consider this…we spend 90 percent of our time indoors. We sleep indoors all night, get up, jump in our car, work indoors all day, go back home, go to bed. A little simplified, sure. But for the most part, true.
Listen to Today’s Business as Sharon Hill interviews Melinda Easterling of Easterling Consulting on WCHL. Easterling discusses the importance of creating quiet spaces in the workplace.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Want a Break from Work…..at Work?
New Business Creating third spaces within the workplace®
The World Health Organization (WHO) claims: “A healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an absence of harmful conditions but an abundance of health-promoting ones.”¹ The American Institute of Stress adds, “Numerous studies show that job stress is far and away the major source of stress for American adults and that it has escalated progressively over the past few decades.”² “According to the WHO, the cost of stress to American businesses is as high as $300 billion, and unless we change course, this will only get worse,” says Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post.³
CHAPEL HILL, NC – October 14, 2014 — Easterling Consulting is a new business whose principal, Melinda Easterling, has a specific focus: seeing the workplace change through creating “third spaces” in large companies. And she’s done her homework.
