Blog Archives - Page 6 of 9

June 28, 2021October 26, 2021

Return to Office Celebration

Massage is one of those magical things in life that not only feels good but also is good for us. We believe everyone can benefit from even 10-minutes of chair massage, so we’re doing all we can to bring massage to every office across the US. When employees have access to company-sponsored stress relief programs, retention, and productivity increase while stress and burnout decrease.

As offices across the country establish a new normal, Body Techniques is here to make your return to the office stress-free with a corporate massage. Last year, we really missed bringing massage to hard-working employees and can’t wait to get started with you now!

Why Corporate Massage

Corporate massage is a fantastic resource to calm the stresses of high-performance teams. When you work with Body Techniques, our certified Massage Therapists (MTs) are dedicated to releasing tension and providing relief through chair massage. Our MTs will set up their space, listen to each employee’s needs, and deliver comfort through massage. To keep bookings on time and organized, Body Techniques provides proprietary booking software that helps ensure your massage appointment is stress-free.

Beat Bad Ergonomics

Whether we need relief from a sore back, a stiff neck, or an old nagging injury, introducing massage to our routine can help. By managing our pain through massage, we can focus on the moments that matter, such as connecting with loved ones and nailing that challenging presentation.

Massage Boosts Immune Function

Many studies show massage can boost the immune system in just one session. Regular massage is the perfect feel good way to ensure your team can keep showing up healthy and happy at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Massage for Mental Health

Stress keeps our nervous system in fight or flight mode. Massage is proven to reduce stress while promoting deep relaxation. This ancient practice stimulates our nervous system’s better half, the “rest and digest” mode, so that our mind and body can shake off stress and naturally restore themselves.

And, did we mention it feels good too?

This summer, we’re offering a Buy Two Hours, Get One Free promotion on massage events. To celebrate bringing chair massage back to the office, we’re giving away the biggest discounts ever offered in our 25-years of business. We want to make sure your team feels supported; schedule a massage event today to help your team relax and restore as they return to office.

Get wellness on the books.

Written by: Emily Bonzi
Marketing Director
Body Techniques

May 19, 2021October 19, 2021

8 Tips to Host the Best Employee Appreciation Event

Companies can show gratitude to the vital staff who work behind the scenes by hosting an employee appreciation event. Filled with massages and treats, these events help boost morale and offer thanks to the people working tirelessly to deliver premium service throughout the year. Recently, the Fairmont Hotel was one such company to successfully host an event to honor their essential workers. To thank the teams of people who are committed to ensuring everything runs smoothly, the Fairmont leadership filled tables with treats like cozy socks and provided the staff with a relaxing chair massage. Each employee was able to take a moment for themselves while at work to receive thanks for all they do each day.

With employee appreciation events on the rise, we’ve captured some pro-moves to share with you.

1. Set the Date

If you’re booking an event, we suggest a minimum of two weeks to plan and pull it all together. Ideally, a month allows enough time to finalize all the little details, like making sure there is a space set up, lining up any giveaways, ordering food and beverages, confirming vendors, and getting your team engaged and excited. If there is a holiday in the near future, pairing the event with that can help to heighten the festivities. Still, we here at Body Techniques think that every day is worth celebrating, so choosing a weekday is equally appreciated.

2. Find the Space

When deciding where to host your event, we suggest a quiet room for massage. If that’s not possible, our team works with you to create a semi-private area using drapes and massage equipment. Conference spaces, communal areas, or empty offices all work well for employees to trickle in throughout the day to receive a massage. Although not necessary, displaying a company banner, signage, or photo zone helps to elevate the room and make it feel like a celebration.

3. Spread the Word

To ensure a successful event, people need to know about it. Internal communications like staff newsletters or bulletin boards are great ways to spread the word. The old adage is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, so if this is a recurring event, share photos from past events to build excitement. If you’re working with the Body Techniques team to schedule an employee appreciation event, we have materials and templates for internal promotion to help encourage staff to participate in your event.

4. Everyone Loves a Snack and a Little Swag

In addition to massage, setting a table for employees with extra treats can take your event to the next level. We’ve seen t-shirts, notebooks, backpacks, and tote bags filled with treats all bring smiles to employees’ faces. Setting the room with water bottles, granola bars, and snacks, or boxed lunches also help to create an environment that indeed says, “Thank you for all you do.”

5. The Massage Station

When you work with Body Techniques, our certified Massage Therapists (MTs) are dedicated to releasing tension and providing relief with chair massage. Our MTs will set up their space, listen to each employee’s needs, and deliver comfort through massage. To keep bookings on time and organized, we provide proprietary booking software that helps ensure your massage is stress-free. In addition, our MTs all undergo rigorous sanitation training and adhere to the highest level of safety. To read more about what we’re doing to keep you safe, click here to view our Clean Wellness Policy.

6. Raffle Prizes

If you’re really looking to wow your team, having a few larger raffle prizes adds to the fun. Prizes like full or half-days of PTO, massage credits, parking spots, or a “Lunch on Us” always seem to be crowd favorites. You can choose to host the raffle in a few different ways. One option is to give all employees a ticket and let them drop it in for the prize they want, or you can enter everyone for all the prizes and randomly select a winner. Either way, your team is sure to get excited about these additional perks.

7. Remain Flexible

You’ve planned, double-checked, and confirmed all the details. However, we don’t live in a perfect world so last-minute changes can happen. The event’s focus is to say thank you to the team that keeps the doors open and the lights on. Should issues arise, we suggest grounding with a deep breath and remind yourself that everything will be okay. Our team remains on hand to help you navigate any uncertainties, so don’t hesitate to reach out for additional support.

8. Share the Success

After the employee appreciation event, it’s time to celebrate! Share photos with your staff and announce any winner of prizes offered. If you’re able to capture a few quotes day-of or, even better, a video, share that! Sending a final email with another message of appreciation helps to wrap up a successful event!

Whether your team is returning to the office or has continued to work onsite throughout the past year, employee appreciation events are a fantastic way to boost morale and foster a team environment where staff can feel appreciated and supported. At Body Techniques, we work with you to ensure your employee appreciation events succeed with our skilled and dedicated team of administrators and massage therapists.

If you are considering honoring your employees with massage, we’re ready to discuss options with you.

Written by: Emily Bonzi
Marketing Director at Body Techniques

March 8, 2021October 19, 2021

15 Minutes to Boost Your Day

I don’t know about you, but a year into this panorama I find my focus and attention span are almost nonexistent. My ability to maintain a routine is about 48-72 hours long and discipline, well, that left sometime in 2020. Let’s not even go into the shame spirals around all that I just mentioned. With so much happening over the computer screen, tablet screen, and phone screen the digital fatigue is real. This leads me to think about the day-to-day choices I make with my wellness practices, and how my choices influence whether I maintain vitality resilience in the new normal of post pan dulce life.

Starting Small

Often, the biggest hurdle is inertia and with most things still on pause it’s hard to find the gas pedal. However, I’ve found that gradually working towards the change I seek improves my odds of success. The power of “habit”, as my favorite Ted Talk deliverers call it. With habits, the small focused time boosts my ability for engagement and I am able to focus longer and more intently.

Coming Together

Another important piece of my wellness come back is variety and community. It’s been as simple as adding 15-20 minutes of wellness activity into my day a few times a week, and having that friend or colleague to join me. In a year with so much disconnection, coming back to creating connection with others is a powerful motivator.

Accessibility

Finally, the real cheat code is access. I found that removing the obstacles for myself to actually do the thing I want helps tremendously. I keep it simple so I can get the most out of my bite-sized wellness reset for the day. Whether it is a quick meditation or set of jumping jacks, I always come back stronger and more alert after a quick break.

The Daily 15

It’s always more fun when our friends get in the fun. If bite-sized, accessible, and engaging wellness excites you, check out The Daily 15. We’ve added a sample one-minute video for you below, so that you can take a moment to pause and refresh with us.

The Body Techniques team has put their heads together and created our newest program, The Daily 15, to help virtual employees stay motivated and engaged. We know it works because we do it every day and we want to share it with you. . We encourage everyone to schedule fifteen minutes for themselves and come together as a team.

Written by: Nicki Butler
Operations Assistant
Body Techniques

January 13, 2021October 19, 2021

Mindfulness and Meditation: Let’s Get Professional

With regular practice, mindfulness and meditation can have a profoundly positive impact on us mentally and physically. The science is in, and it shows that we can reap many benefits in all aspects of our lives with a regular practice of mindfulness, which we at Body Techniques call the “4 P’s”:

The 4 P's

If you’ve been tuning in for the last three installments in this series, you know the last “P” to discuss is our professional life. Now, meditation can’t stop emails from pouring in or extend a tight deadline for you, but it can help with how you react and respond to the challenges you face at work. Meditation has been shown to increase focus and concentration, decrease work related stress and anxiety, and increase productivity and job satisfaction. So grab your coffee or tea, turn off those email notifications, and let’s explore these scientifically backed benefits in greater detail.

Strengthens Focus and Concentration

Being able to focus and concentrate on the task at hand, and refocus after a distraction, is crucial to job performance. We can’t accomplish much of anything if our brain is constantly wandering while we should be creating that spreadsheet, drafting that important email, or writing that final blog post installment.

In two studies conducted, one brief 10-minute audio-guided meditation improved the attention span of the participants. In the first study, participants who listened to the meditation “exhibited a boost in accuracy reflecting increased attentional control,” even when time constraints were placed on them. In the second study, “when the task was more complex but less temporally constrained, participants in the meditation condition were faster to respond correctly, regardless of the presence or absence of distracting stimuli.” Both these studies show that even with a one-time brief meditation, you can strengthen your focus and concentration and be less impacted by distractions, which leads to greater productivity and less stress. So next time you find yourself struggling to concentrate at work and your brain is thinking about what’s for dinner or the lyrics to your favorite song, try pausing for a brief meditation to reset and refocus your mind.

Decreases Workplace Stress and Anxiety

Let’s face it, no matter how wonderful the workplace or how much you love your job, we all experience workplace related stress and anxiety. It’s a natural part of life. But too much stress and anxiety is detrimental to the body, mind, and yep, our professional life. We often cannot change what is causing the stress, but we can change our response to it. In the words of Jon Kabat-Zin, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” And, in this case, meditation is your surfboard.

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

Reduces workplace stress and anxiety
Reduces emotional exhaustion
Reduces psychological distress
Reduces depression and occupational stress
Improves quality of sleep
Promotes relaxation

That’s a hefty list of benefits, and it’s important to note that this list demonstrates that when we can reduce stress and anxiety, we will see improvements in so many other areas, such as sleep and self-compassion. It becomes a ripple effect throughout our life. So next time work related stress presents itself, grab your mental meditation surfboard, take a deep breath, and ride the waves with a more calm and centered mind.

Increases Productivity and Job Satisfaction

Increasing productivity and job satisfaction are key elements to decreasing burnout, having a long-lasting and fulfilling career, and improving your overall quality of life. When we feel accomplished at work, we are happier and more satisfied with our job. And when we are happier with our job, we are more satisfied with our lives. It’s that mindfulness meditation ripple effect again.

This study of a randomized control trial conducted at a midwestern marketing firm compared the effects of a half-day mindfulness seminar with that of a 6-week mindfulness training program on employee well-being outcomes. “Although both groups improved comparably on job productivity, the 6-week mindfulness training group had significantly greater improvement in attentional focus at work and decreases in work–life conflict, as well as a marginal improvement in job satisfaction compared with the half-day seminar comparison group.” Now, to be fair, pushing yourself to be productive and satisfied in a job that is not the right fit for you isn’t beneficial in the end. But mindfulness meditation can help provide you the clarity to know whether to keep pushing forward, or begin looking for something new. And if your job is the right fit, it will only serve to increase your productivity and job satisfaction.

Start Your Journey Today

Meditation gives us the tools to approach professional life challenges from a calm and centered place. When we feel better, we do better. Not sure how or where to start? We’ve put together a simple and free “focus” mantra to get you started:

Are you ready to help your team:

We hope you enjoyed taking a look at the science that drives what we do. Stay tuned for more blogs exploring wellness in the workplace and more!

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!

Author: Rebecca Kurdziolek
Corporate Site Director
Body Techniques

December 10, 2020October 19, 2021

Mindfulness and Meditation: Let’s Get Personal

Even when you practice mindfulness, you’ll still get stuck in traffic and you’ll still have to file your taxes. Nothing changes, and yet everything changes. The profound transformation that occurs takes place within you and this includes changes within your brain. So, how does this transformation occur? Well, practice! Establishing a regular practice, whether it’s three minutes a day or thirty minutes a day, will get you on your way to experience the changes that can happen as a result of the practice of mindfulness.

We’ve been working on sharing the 4 P’s of mindfulness over a series of four blogs. In this third installment, we take a look at the juicy details the benefits mindfulness and meditation can have on our personal lives.

The 4 P's

When we practice mindfulness and meditation regularly, we see changes in our personal lives in the following ways:

Less emotional reactivity

You don’t sweat the small stuff. A lot of our days can have us tripped up in habitual reactions to ordinary things, for example, the stress of getting organized for a meeting or finding the keys to our car. Starting a regular mindfulness practice, even if it’s for 5-minutes a day, can aid in stopping those habitually reactive cycles. Simply taking the time in a stressful situation, to breathe in and breathe out changes our nervous system instantly. Mindfulness helps us cultivate equanimity. We become aware of our triggers and learn to pause so that we may respond thoughtfully, not react habitually. This study shows, by tuning into our breath puts the breaks on constantly cycling from one activating crisis to another. Our nervous system becomes more regulated, we are in the driver’s seat, no longer the passenger on a wild ride. We literally stop sweating the small stuff.

Meditation helps to:

It improves our relationships

No matter how far you’ve come in your intimate relationships, cultivating care, intimacy, and union is an ongoing process. As mindfulness is the ever-unfolding source of compassion and non-judgmental awareness of each moment, mindfulness practices and relationships go hand-in-hand. For example, mindfulness can help us navigate through tough emotions. When experiencing a strong emotion (it might feel like our muscles are tensing or tears rising), we can turn towards this feeling by taking a few deep breaths, softening the mind, and paying attention to the sensations and stories that are moving through us. After a few moments, we might try to express ourselves in a new way. It can be helpful to focus on our own needs, hopes, and desires, rather than expressing the other’s wrongdoings.

It fosters compassion

Some mindfulness teachers say that awareness and compassion are the same thing. The more aware we are of the present moment, the more in tune we are with the experiences of others, their joy and their pain. This generates compassion — a true desire that all creatures be free from suffering. We act to help others not because we know we should or because it’s what we’ve been told to do. We help others because we are aware that their pain is our pain. Our awareness becomes compassionate engagement.

Start your practice today

As shared above, mindfulness helps us move toward stronger personal relationships by teaching us to tap into the present moment. Body Techniques aims to stock your mindfulness toolkit with breathing techniques and mindfulness practices so that we all can identify the techniques that work best for us. We believe everyone can benefit from mindfulness and want to share this wellness practice with as many people as we can.

Mindfulness helps us:

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. The science behind mindfulness continues to inspire the BT team to show up daily. Stay tuned for our final look at the benefits of mindfulness as we kick off the new year; we’ll look at all the positive impact mindfulness can bring to our professional lives.

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!

Author: Nicki Butler
Operations Assistant
Body Techniques

November 23, 2020October 19, 2021

Practicing Gratitude

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

November 20, 2020October 19, 2021

Mindfulness and Meditation: Lets Get Psychological

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

October 30, 2020October 19, 2021

Mindfulness and Meditation: Lets Get Physical

At Body Techniques, we understand the powerful impact a daily mindfulness and meditation practice can have on a person. When we engage in breathwork, body awareness, and focusing on the present moment without judgment, science has shown we can reap benefits in all aspects of our lives, which we call the “4 P’s”:

The 4 P's

Don’t just take our word for it, though. This next series of blogs from BT will explore how regular meditation can benefit these areas of your life, with the science to back it up.

First up, the Physical Self.

Lowers Stress + Cortisol Levels

Some things are universally shared across the human experience. One of those is stress. Most of us are searching for ways to manage it, and in the meantime, we suffer negative side effects in our physical body, from slight discomfort to debilitating disease. So what happens in the body that causes these issues? The answer lies with cortisol: our main stress hormone (read more about it here). Cortisol is released in higher doses when we face stress, and it plays an important role in many bodily functions such as sleep, inflammation, blood pressure, and glucose levels. Releasing high levels of cortisol during a stressful event or in the face of danger was and is crucial for our survival.

Let’s rewind to when all humans were living off the land and did not have the modern shelter, tools and resources we now have. When faced with stress and danger back then, let’s say a charging bear in the woods, our nervous system entered into “fight or flight” mode, and the higher levels of cortisol adjusted functions in the body to prioritize those that help us “fight” or “flight” (run away).

Fast-forward to now, when most people in modern society aren’t facing that level of danger, such as a charging bear, on a daily basis. Although that pressing deadline at work isn’t the same as a life-threatening encounter in the woods, our nervous system does not realize that, and the reaction is similar. So you can imagine the detrimental side effects in our physical body when our important functions like sleep are constantly being halted or altered during stressful times. Because of this, higher levels of cortisol have been definitively linked to headaches, anxiety, depression, heart disease, and the list goes on.

But, have no fear! Like Gandalf at the Battle of Helm’s Deep, meditation comes rushing in to save us from that modern-day charging bear when all hope seems lost. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to lower cortisol and overall stress levels. When we meditate consistently, our nervous system does not enter “fight or flight” mode as often, less cortisol is released, and our bodies can return to performing those important and vital functions that keep us healthy and happy.

Boosts immune function

Having a robust immune system has always been crucial, but in 2020, it feels more important than ever. When our immune system is functioning at its best, we can fight off infections and disease with ease, allowing us to spend our time and energy on the things that matter most, like catching up with loved ones and nailing that tricky presentation to the boss.

One systematic review of 20 studies conducted on the link between regular meditation and the immune system found mall but meaningful effects including:

Working mindfulness and meditation into your routine is a relaxing way to help you keep showing up healthy and feeling your best at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Changes to the Brain

Perhaps the most incredible benefit of a consistent meditation practice is that you can actually change your brain on a cellular level. Its almost too good to be true, but science has shown us, this is very real. It’s important to stress here that these long-term changes require a consistent and daily meditation practice, usually at least 20 minutes a day for 8 weeks.

Think of it like exercise for your body, but this time it’s for your brain. For example, going on just one run is going to yield positive benefits, such as decreased stress levels, improved mood, and increased focus. However, if you want to visibly see those thighs tone up and witness your average mile time improve, you are going to need do more than just the one run. That is not to discourage us, we will still reap benefits from the one occasional run or meditation session. It just means to get those long-term lasting changes, we need to put in the time.

So what are these changes exactly? With modern brain imaging technology, studies like this one have been able to demonstrate increased cell volume and density in areas of the brain associated with:

These areas actually thicken in the brain, which in turn strengthens these functions.

Interestingly, studies such as this one also show that one area of our brain shrinks with regular meditation. This might sound like it’s bad, but I assure you it’s not. That is because the area that shrinks is called the amygdala, which regulates our “fight or flight” mode, including stress, anxiety, and fear. When the amygdala shrinks, we become less reactive to the stressors we face and we are able to respond in a more calm and centered manner.

Lastly, meditation has been shown to protect the brain against aging by increasing gray matter (brain cells) as we discussed above, and it also slows down age-related atrophy. This study found that “at age 50, brains of meditators were estimated to be 7.5 years younger than those of controls.” Wow, it’s not often we can truly reverse the natural aging of our body, but meditation gives us that power, at least in our brain.

Start Your Journey Today

The science is in, and it‘s clear that building a regular meditation practice into your life is a no-brainer. Not sure where to start? Check out our guided 4-7-8 Breathing Video Tutorial for a simple and short introduction to breathwork. You can use breathing techniques like this to relax and ground yourself into the present moment, and that’s what mindfulness and meditation are all about. Stay tuned for the next 3 blogs in our series, where we will explore the benefits of meditation in our psychological self, professional life, and personal life.

Written by: Rebecca Kurdziolek
Corporate Site Director
Body Techniques

October 7, 2020October 19, 2021

Finding Joy

“Our joy carves out the space for our sorrow and our sorrow carves out a space for our joy.” Khalil Gibran from The Prophet

Let’s rewind back a couple months. A couple monumental public figure losses and almost a million global lives, countless Zoom meetings and bottles of sanitizer, another Beyonce visual album and marches in the streets—early 2020. That was the last time I felt full-bodied joy. That joyful event would be many people’s vision of dread: 6am, dripping sweat, a dark room, black lights, loud music, and someone yelling boxing combos over a microphone.

I certainly experience joy, small peaks of euphoria while singing Fleetwood Mac at the top of my lungs in the car. Or in quiet, unexpected bursts after a long run and a hot shower. However, as I go about my everyday business – sprinting to meet deadlines, standing in front of the open fridge, aimlessly scrolling through social media – I wouldn’t say joy isn’t the largest emotion I experience.

Even before 2020 served us this further unveiling of the United States problematic past coupled with a global pandemic, many of us treated joy like the good china, only warranted on special occasions. Even if we know it is at the tip of our fingers, many of us treat it like it’s out of our control. So do we dare seek joy at a time when death, suffering, and terror are grabbing all the headlines?

To answer that question, personally I ventured down the path of unpacking the idea that joy is not extraneous, something you have to earn, or off on the sidelines. The fact of the matter is that laughter is important. Joy is important. It’s not a guilty pleasure, it’s a strategic move toward the future we all need and want to create. Also, most importantly, finding. creating, and feeling joy is a practice.

What we’ve seen so far in 2020 is the unveiling of what is essential. So, on one hand, we’re all exhausted and our nervous systems are hanging on by a thread, but there’s a clearer sense of what is essential to our communities. Of course we as a society recognize being a healthcare worker is so significant, but its also crucial to be a waste management worker, a grocery store employee, postal worker or a delivery person. The essence and purpose to that and recognition from the community feels joyous to me.

On the days that feel completely void of all hope I try to rest in this quote by Khalil Gibron’ “Our joy carves out the space for our sorrow and our sorrow carves out a space for our joy.”

This quote is a reminder that the destruction we see is essential to make more room for a new place of liberation and joy. One in which our children are laughing, free to fully express their joy. They can go wherever they need to go. There are no borders holding them. That is what I am living and loving, and hitting those high notes in traffic.

Written by: Nicki Butler
Operations Assistant
Body Techniques

September 2, 2020October 19, 2021

Vibe Check: Mental Health is Wealth

If thinking that the infections just need to slow down and the return(ish) to office culture is the magic recipe for aiding the impacts of COVID-19 on us, let’s think again. We can right-size our teams, we can wipe down every surface in sight, hand out PPE for days, but the tolls on our mental health will be long-lasting.

As we collectively grapple with the gigantic rug being pulled from under our feet, the speed of the disruption, and uncertainty created by a global pandemic and erupting racial tensions has moved many leaders into overdrive. Brick by brick, the groundwork is being laid for strategies to help people manage through the next phase with their jobs, their health, and their wellbeing intact.

Six months into shelter-in-place, leaders are rightly hyper-focused on the importance of helping keep people physically healthy right now: from supporting social distancing with the technology needed to work productively from home, to new hygiene standards for essential workers and workplaces, to introducing COVID-19 responsive sick and family leave policies.

But an issue of singular importance for the sustained success of people throughout this crisis and beyond: maintaining mental health.

Concerns about health, trust, work, finances, children, family and the uncertainty of what will happen have created a perfect storm for serious health issues in the workforce. While people are increasingly worried and in many cases faced with escalating health risks, to be agile and adaptive, to learn new things (including how to work remotely) is a sought after skill.

"Mental health is foundational to one’s overall wellbeing, and maintaining the mental health of people in our work communities or personal communities is a fundamental priority for investing in workforce health."

The real cheat code for the COVID-19 game is acknowledging mental health IS health. Mental health is foundational to one’s overall wellbeing, and maintaining the mental health of people in our work communities or personal communities is a fundamental priority for investing in workforce health. It’s understood that extreme stress, fear, and burnout are the big influencers for long-lasting problems such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Taking actions to provide mental health support that employees need so that we don’t spend the next few years picking up the pieces as people fall apart, is crucial. We must preventively and proactively help people manage through the current uncertainty with their mental health intact so that they are able to participate in the emerging new reality. Everyone has a part to play in the revolution!

Responsive organizations know that they are dependent on the agility, adaptive capacity, and emotional wellbeing of their people – this requires people staying healthy emotionally and physically.

COVID-19 has brought this need into sharper focus due to the uncertainty and multi-pronged threat it has created; we already knew we needed workers to learn and extend themselves in new ways while staying focused and collaborative. Now the need is even more urgent. This is a textbook situation for causing burnout, which occurs when the demands placed on someone exceed the resources they have available to deal with them. Less than a year ago the World Health Organization named burnout a workplace syndrome and captured the cost at $125 billion per year. Workforce emotional wellbeing and behavioral health were already priority challenges prior to the pandemic.

You don’t have to be a finance grad to know $125 billion dollars is an astronomical cost. It will be critical for leaders and teams to mitigate the potential for employees to suffer emotional distress and burnout by providing access to the resources and cognitive skill-building tools essential for handling an unprecedented stress load. As a leader, it is important to understand that some segments of your workforce will have default reactions to stress that put them at increased risk for burnout. People on your teams with high levels of empathy and an emotionally-charged first reaction to a situation have the highest percentage risk for burnout at 36%, including many frontline workers. Another group at high risk are those innovators we count on in times like these to forge ahead regardless of risk. Without work-life balance and stress management skills, 25% of these strategically critical employees are at high risk for burnout.

If there is anything 2020 has ushered in it’s the view of our workplace as human and as holistic, COVID-19 has put its foot on the technological gas and created a complete work culture change. It has also put fuel to fire of mental health awareness in our workforce. Laying out those return to “normal” protocols will be a task for us all. Just as the pandemic has forced the rapid adoption of remote working technology, it is forcing us to reckon with a total employee experience strategy that integrates mental and physical health along with other skill and talent management areas.

Written by: Nicki Butler
Operations Assistant
Body Techniques