November 2020 - Body Techniques

November often shifts conversations to reflections on all the good that surrounds us throughout the year. Although 2020 continues to feel far from the norm for many of us, the BT team believes in holding true to the tradition of showing gratitude. Gratitude helps to ground us and, as UC Davis psychologist Robert Emmons shares from his research into gratitude, it can increase our own happiness and satisfaction within our lives. As a regular practice, acknowledging the positive aspects of our life can help develop the habit of recognizing the good in even challenging moments, and it also helps us connect more deeply with ourselves and others.

At Body Techniques, we thought we would take a moment to practice what we preach, and share what we are most grateful for this November. So, here’s our list, straight from the pages of our gratitude journal, about that which we are most thankful for this year:

Our Providers

Time and time again this year, we have been inspired by not only the flexibility but also the depth of knowledge that our providers share with us and our clients. Before many offices shifted to remote work this Spring, our providers were showing up daily to share stress relief techniques through massage, in-person fitness classes, yoga, and more. Now, we’ve witnessed the growth of our virtual wellness programs, particularly meditation, largely due to the passion, depth of knowledge, and commitment to sharing wellness with others from our providers. We see people who at their core have an unflappable dedication to helping others and we’re proud to have them as part of our team.

The Commitment of Our Clients

It’s powerful to see companies recognize that their employees’ wellbeing is just as important as productivity. This is ultimately why we are here. Body Techniques aims to help create a more balanced and rewarding working experience through our stress management programs. In the most hectic times of this year, our sales team was able to continue relationships and develop customized plans with companies so that their teams’ could reset with an hour of a gentle stretching or participate in a weekly meditation. We also were honored to offer massage to essential workers who continued to show up daily throughout this entire year. When many doors were closing due to restrictions, we were able to stay active and engaged because our clients are committed to supporting their employees. As a result, our team continues to have the opportunity to show up daily and do something that we believe in.

More Meditation

Although Body Techniques was already offering meditation classes to clients, it is now one of our core products. With the launch of BT Mindful, we were able to see how impactful a 15-minute guided meditation session can be on teams as they navigate all the challenges that arise on a daily basis. We’ve deepened our commitment to sharing tactics that produce small incremental changes and learned the power of keeping things brief.

The Strength of Our Team

For our operations team, 2020 has felt like the ultimate trust fall at a company picnic, and we learned that we have each other’s backs. Luckily, we were able to tap into many of the resources we offer our clients so that we could show up, coffee in hand, and ready to tackle whatever came our way. Deciding how to approach each new 2020 challenge sparked a resiliency in our team that is now a steady burn. This year, we’ve continued to bring on new staff and strengthen our programming and delivery. More than ever, we’ve learned to communicate openly, lean on each other’s strengths, and come together to make something stronger than any one person could do on their own. Pretty powerful stuff, right?

We are so thankful for being able to show up and continue to share wellness with others. By reading this blog, you can help make it possible, so we are also grateful for you! Even though this year might look like a different Thanksgiving than usual, we encourage each of you to take a moment to reflect on your own gratitude, and reach out to connect with the loved ones in your life you are thankful for.

We’ve also put together a brief gratitude mantra, led by Rebecca, who is part of the team we are so thankful for.

Written by: Emily Bonzi
Marketing Director
Body Techniques

At Body Techniques, we know and embrace the power of mindfulness. When we engage in breathwork and focus on the present moment without judgment, science shows we can reap benefits in all aspects of our lives, which we call the “4 P’s”:

The 4 P's

In our last blog, we discussed the first of the “4 P’s”. We gave you our best Bill Nye impression and shared the scientifically proven benefits a regular meditation practice can physically have on a person and the incredible changes that can occur in the brain on a cellular level. Next up, let’s do our best Dr. Fauci impression and discuss the positive impact mediation can have on the Psychological Self, with the scientific evidence to back it up.

Mindfulness relieves workplace stress and anxiety

Oh, stress. We meet again. And, unfortunately our friend stress is not going anywhere. As long as humans exist, stress will live a long life on this planet. The goal is not to get rid of stress (let’s be real, that’s impossible), but to change our relationship with it. Mindfulness and meditation can help us do just that.

This systematic review of 23 studies on the “effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on employees’ mental health” found that meditation:

Meditation helps us stay in the present moment as well as increase our awareness of how we choose to respond to stressful situations. Through meditation, we can alleviate psychological stress, anxiety, and change our relationship overall with stress. As a result, we find ourselves better able to focus, be productive, and stay grounded during moments of uncertainty. So when meetings, deadlines, emails, and more meetings pile up, we can face those workplace (and non-workplace) challenges with a calmer and more open mind.

Mindfulness improves your mood

You know the feeling of those mornings where the coffee is brewed just right and nothing can get you down? Well, mindfulness can’t make every day a walk in sunshine but adding practice to your routine sure can help promote a positive mood.

According to this study performed on non-experienced meditators, short daily meditations decreased negative moods and increased emotional regulation responses. This means that meditating daily helps us regulate our emotions, so we can be less reactive, especially to negative experiences, and as a result, our mood becomes more positive overall.

Mindfulness improves memory function

Do you ever wonder why your brain can remember all the lyrics to your favorite song from ten years ago but can’t remember where your keys are every other day? Well, we don’t have an answer for that, but we can offer a tactic to make room to remember both things.

This study linked in the above paragraph, also found that 8 weeks of brief daily meditation enhanced:

Our working memory is a cognitive system with a limited capacity to hold information temporarily. Working memory is important for reasoning and it guides our decision-making and behavior, aka remembering where we put the keys. Recognition memory allows us to recall and identify something we previously encountered, and that’s where the song lyrics live in our brains. Improvement in both working and recognition memory translate to the workplace and all aspects of your life, keeping us sharp and concentrated so we can accomplish everything on our to-do list.

Start your practice today

Meditation gives us the tools to approach life’s challenges from a calm and centered place. When we feel better, we do better. This ripples through all areas of our life. We like to think of meditating as giving our minds and mood a spa day. Soak that big beautiful brain for a few minutes a day with even a short meditation practice, and you’ll reap the benefits.

We hope you enjoyed taking a look at the science that drives what we do. . We look forward to diving into even more of the incredible benefits meditation can yield in both your personal and professional life in our next two blogs. In the meantime, check out our easy “belly breath” tutorial, and stay tuned!

If this has increased your desire to practice mindfulness and meditation, click here to learn more about our programs and offerings.

Let's get started today!

Co-author: Nicki Butler
Operations Assistant
Body Techniques

Co-author: Rebecca Kurdziolek
Corporate Site Director
Body Techniques

Month: November 2020

Practicing Gratitude