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Lets ​Talk About Well Being In The Workplace​

YXE Benefits offers the simple, stable, smart choice for Saskatoon businesses; combining accessibility, flexibility and the stability of pooled benefits. Saskatoon companies choose The Chambers plan because it offers unsurpassed value & outstanding customer service. The Chambers plan group benefits are exclusively for Chamber members.  In our latest post, we discuss mental health, mental disorder and the overall well being of your Saskatoon staff.

Are You Aware that One in Five People Will Suffer From Mental Disorders? 

 Is well being on the decline?

But before we answer that question, let’s first define “well-being.”

The phrase “well being” gets bandied about a lot, and we take for granted that its meaning is clear. But what is it exactly? It’s not a lack of physical or mental disease. In fact, it’s not defined negatively as an absence so much as a presence.

People with a sense of well being possess certain positive characteristics:

  • Balance
  • Resilience
  • Contentment
  • Goals
  • Flexibility
  • Self-confidence
  • Support
  • Gratitude
  • Connection

True well being, according to a report by the British think tank, the New Economic Foundation, means “personal fulfillment,” feeling good about yourself and where you are in life, maintaining a healthy curiosity about the world, a sense of purpose, and strong social relationships. Those with high well being enjoy life more.

15 Traits of Well Being

Here are fifteen characteristics of people with high well being:

  1. Connected: They have strong relationships with people who are close and supportive. In fact, their life goals are tied to social relationships and positive connections with others. They’re not into making money for money’s sake. They’re attuned to themselves and others.
  2. Curious: People with a high well being share an inquisitiveness about their world and surroundings and mindfulness about their senses, thoughts, and behaviours.
  3. Giving: Being of service to others, like volunteering, enhances self-worth and also reduces mortality in aging adults. Those who give their time and resources to others feel better about themselves.
  4. Active: Being active is good for physical, emotional, and mental health. Physical activity releases endorphins that lift your mood and energy level. Due to regular exercise, those with high well being have a lower risk of chronic illnesses, memory loss, depression, and anxiety.
  5. Learners: Life-long learners, whether formal or informal education, maintain a sense of purpose and competency, thereby improving a positive self-image. Education also provides social interaction opportunities.
  6. Balanced: They keep their stress levels in check through mental and physical activities that relax or remind them of pleasant sensations, like playing music, being out in nature, or working out. They also know how to relax, have downtime, balancing out work. Finally, they know how to slow down and observe, meditate, and appreciate to understand and control their worWell Beinglds.
  7. Healthy: Those with a greater well being eat and sleep well. They avoid mood-altering substances, like caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, sugary snacks, refined carbs, and fried foods. And they eat more mood-boosting foods, such as Omega-3 fatty fish (salmon, sardines, tuna), nuts, avocados, beans, flaxseed, leafy greens, and fresh fruit. They sleep 7 to 9 hours a night
  8. Centred: They have a purpose and set goals. People who find meaning in life have superior mental health and immune systems. Purpose and meaning may derive from work, paid or unpaid, that is creative, productive, and engaging, like gardening, writing, caring for a pet, or volunteering. Being a caregiver for an aging parent or sick child likewise gives meaning and purpose to life. They’re people who spend quality time with family and friends.
  9. Kind: They treat others and themselves well through kind acts and self-care.
  10. Content: They like themselves. People with higher well being have positive perceptions of their bodies and physical appearance, regardless of societal expectations. They feel positive self-worth.
  11. Flexible: They’re not rigid in the face of the unexpected. They can adapt to disappointment or challenging situations with circumspection and adaptability.
  12. Aware: They’re in touch with their emotions and know themselves, their reactions, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and behaviors.
  13. Grateful: They appreciate all they have.
  14. Groomed: They understand that caring for their appearance reflects positively on themselves and attracts others to them, boosting self-confidence and self-esteem. Looking their best impress others and enhances opportunity, personality, and gives them an advantage. Caring for one’s outward appearance is an act of self-love.
  15. Resilient: They don’t let missteps and pitfalls lead to their downfall. Instead, they pick themselves up and start again.

Choose to Be Well

Well being is a state of mind—and being—where characteristic traits pre-exist and grow from a sense of fullness about all life and its offerings. Clearly, healthy people are optimists, seeing the glass as half full.

Though some of these well-being traits are inherited, most can be acquired or honed by intention, practice, and effort. For example, maintaining fitness and diet take willpower and consciousness. Stress reduction through yoga, meditation, problem-solving, self-awareness, and education similarly require effort and devotion to daily practices.

Of course, there’s always help from counsellors, fitness trainers, employers, family, friends, and authors of self-help books. But some exercises are simpler, like mindfulness, which is merely practiced attention to each of life’s moments as they unfold.

Achieving, maintaining, or maximizing well-being require a decision to be well and then a commitment to living a healthful, loving, productive, and meaningful life and career!

We encourage you to connect with us on our Saskatoon YXE Benefits social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. 

Contact us today for a quote…. find out if you can benefit!

‘Join the Group- It’s Time To Benefit’
www.yxebenefits.ca

Promoting A Good Nights Sleep Is Important For Your Team Productivity and Wellness

YXE Benefits offers the simple, stable, smart choice for Saskatoon businesses; combining accessibility, flexibility and the stability of pooled benefits. Saskatoon companies choose the Chambers group plan because it offers unsurpassed value & outstanding customer service. In our latest post, we discuss why  a good nights sleep is important for productivity and wellness

The Importance Of  A Good Nights Sleep

Have you heard of a book called “Even Superheroes Sleep”?  This book talks about superheroes and sleeping. So, Batman works hard helping Gotham City stay safe. He needs a rest, so his mind stays sharp and focused. This is a great children’s book to read. But, essentially the parallel here with superheroes and needing to sleep is that, in spite of how much everything is going on, heroes really get good sleep!  Let’s just replace the superheroes with the hard-working superheroes on your team,  and they part of your employee wellness program.

How can a good nights sleep be integrated into your employee wellness program?

Track Your Sleep 

Fitbit good nights sleep

Use of device trackers and some health apps that have the sleep tracking functionality, a very common example is Fitbit.

Basically, these detect your sleep quality. But, some other things that you can do in terms of sleep challenges could be the use of wellness cards or wellness tiles or smart tiles, both on web and mobile, which attaches points and incentives to make sure people are aware of their sleeping patterns.

We all know that getting to bed usually around 9:00 o’clock is really key. But, for those that are a part of the 4:30 a.m. club that get up really really early, there’s a whole day waiting for you when you wake up.

Cool and Comfortable

Another trick is to make sure your mattress is cool. There’s a couple of things you can do to make sure your mattress is cool. There’s the chill pad. It’s a really expensive device, but it’s really worth it.

 

Other Sleep-Promoting Ideas

Some other creative things that you can do are to make sure you do yoga before bed. Stretching out your legs really helps and stretching out your thighs helps make you kind of a little bit sleepy. Don’t eat too much sugar or cards before bed.

Again, make sure that this is part of your wellness program and make sure that these behaviours are encouraged. Some other things that you can do are to make sure that you are meditating and clearing your mind.  Somehow just listening or reading fiction before bed is really key and helpful for many. Also, stretching right before hopping on the bed, reduces your stress. Meditation also helps

So, track your sleep as well if you’re using a device tracker. It should be telling you things like when you’re cruising for a bruising, if you’re going to bed after 10:00 pm, for example. But, anyway it’s time for me to go to bed so I can wake up at 4:30.

 

Everyone have a good night.

 

We encourage you to connect with us on our new social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. 

Contact us today for a quote…. find out if you can benefit!

‘Join the Group- It’s Time To Benefit’
www.yxebenefits.ca

Why You Should Encourage Health Heroes In Your Business

The YXE Benefits are the local advisors for the Chambers Plan in Saskatoon.  This is the simple, stable, smart choice for Saskatoon businesses; combining accessibility, flexibility and the stability of pooled benefits. Saskatoon companies choose the group plan because it offers unsurpassed value & outstanding customer service. The Chambers plan group benefits are for Chamber members.  In our latest post, we discuss the impact of health heroes in your business.

Health herosEncourage Health Heroes In Your Saskatoon Business

Exercising and dieting are hard. Most people need a lot more of both; minimally, everyone needs the right diet. That’s why Facebook teams with exercise and diet groups ready to cheer those undergoing the mental and physical hardships of getting lean and clean.

Studies confirm that co-workers and social media friends are watching. Your influence is greater than you think. So, if you’re posting your morning sweaty selfies after a good workout or sharing your late afternoon power shake photos on Instagram, chances are others will take notice.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Inspiration is the strength of your social connections. Smart Saskatoon employers exploit that resource at the workplace by creating a team of wellness champions, the health heroes in your business, to support wellness initiatives and the overall health and wellness program.

This network of health advocates do what everyone else does, healthwise: lose weight, quit smoking, manage diabetes, or get fit. They’re working toward their health goals, like anyone else in the company. Or maybe they’re managing pain or maintaining their fitness. But they also disseminate information to educate workers about health and the company’s wellness program. They support those trying to better their lives. These leaders know the wellness pulse of the organization, what’s working and what’s not, because they’re in the fray with the rest of the employee fold, struggling and succeeding too.

Wellness champs typically volunteer for their roles as “cheerleaders,” coaches, educators, and liaisons with top wellness strategizers. They’re passionate people who have a good rapport with employees and management, so they make great role models. And that’s what you want.  In coordination with top management or the wellness vendor, your carefully-selected team will increase wellness program awareness and foster a culture of health. They often help provide leadership with critical feedback.

Most importantly, however, they are the mouthpieces of your program and what it offers employees. Therefore, leaders should be clear what they want to communicate and how they want it communicated.

Health heroes need to know their roles within the organization and how they’re empowered to represent the company’s goals. They need training, guidance, and acknowledgement for their work too. While your champions probably have natural abilities to lead and love people, motivating others to reach their own personal goals, along with the company’s health goals is the aim.

Champion Networks Get Results

The wellness message gets through to employees via champion networks. Other employees are more open to receiving information from successful peers. And informed employees are more likely to participate in a workplace wellness program. Increased participation yields global achievements, like more completed health risk assessments, for example.

The optimal number of champions for results is anywhere from 1 to 3 percent of the work population—enough people to be visible as they carry on the company’s wellness work of model health advocates.

Indeed, they must be passionate, communicative, and exemplary enthusiasts for healthy lifestyle changes. They must not be in it for their own game, i.e., pushing health products.

What They Do

Besides creating awareness of the program offerings and ensuring employees understand the company program, health heroes provide support by encouraging people on their health journey, share stories of their own experiences, and head up specific informational events during lunch breaks or throughout the company.

They may lead the lunch walks, stair competitions, biggest loser competitions, Zumba classes or charity run the company sponsors. Perhaps it’s the coordinated company effort to get employees to onsite screenings or community health fairs they organize. They’re in charge of the wellness business, vitality and fun.

But it’s not all fun and games. They must do all of the following:

  1. Prioritize: which company goals are the most important this year and the next.
  2. Plan: what is in their capacity to achieve and how to focus on those strategies.
  3. Understand: how success is measured, results reported, feedback is given, budget available, and legal violations (such as confidentiality) avoided.
  4. Use: resources and time available to meet, collaborate, and communicate.

Who They Are

Health heroes in your business must be dedicated, investing time in their responsibilities. They see the big picture of what the company wants to achieve and how to get there holistically. Health is not a one way, one approach to a straight line. People not only have various challenges and starting points, but they also have different definitions of health. One person seeks to run a marathon, while another wants to work a day pain-free.

Health heroes are positive and social. But they’re also busy. They have their jobs to do in addition to volunteering. They need recognition from their peers and their leaders to keep their engines running.

We encourage you to connect with us on our new social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin. 

Contact us today for a quote…. find out if you can benefit!

‘Join the Group- It’s Time To Benefit’
www.yxebenefits.ca

 

Main source article:

Who Are the Health Heroes at Your Job?

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