Keeping it Healthy at the Office
At PeopleLikeUs we believe that a happy and healthy team is one of the most important things any company should focus on. That’s why keeping a balance between mind and body is something we take very seriously.
This week Office vibe, FreshMint and WeWork organized an event on the topic of health in the office space, and I was lucky enough to attend. Here’s what I learned:
We started the event on a healthy foot by having a delicious meal provided by FreshMint (miam miam). This is how I felt about it:
Nutritionist Vanessa Perrone, talked to us about the importance of listening to your body. She said something that resonated strongly with me: “We are so used to ignoring our body –thirst, being hungry, etc.– that we assume it’s normal to have a 3 o’clock down and the usual headache.” GUILTY!
Here’s some of the tips she gave us:
- You can eat every 3 hours to increase your body awareness (or just eat more regularly).
- Don’t eat at your desk; take the time to get up and eat properly.
- Make sure you have a variety of snacks, and good ones: carrot sticks and hummus, fruits and nuts, bananas and peanut butter. You choose, but try to avoid that oh-so-tempting chocolate bar.
If you want to implement these habits in your office space, a snack station is a great start. Just make sure it’s far enough that people need to get up from their desk to grab a bite. At PeopleLikeUs we keep a kitchen stocked full of healthy snacks: nuts, fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, etc. to ensure the dreaded energy drop from hunger is not a source of panic for the team.
The second speaker, Psychologist Dr. Jodie Richardson, guided us through the process of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a trending word these days. You hear it everywhere, without really knowing what it means. As Dr. Jodie explained, it’s simply paying attention to the present moment without judgement. Taking time to analyze what’s happening outside in your surrounding environment, but also inside; what do you feel and how do you feel. This again helps by regaining awareness of your body and your mind. To put aside those circling thoughts before a presentation, or to just clean up your mind of any emotional turmoil.
She said, “Your body is the hardware, and your mind is the software”. You need to treat it like your computer sometimes; clean the junk and make some updates to avoid crashing. The best way to do this is through meditation. We don’t always have the time to do an intense meditation session, but even a short one, can have immense health benefits. Try this:
- Take 2 minutes and sit down comfortably.
- Close your eyes.
- Just breathe in and out, being mindful of each breath.
- Open your eyes and … done!
Easy right? No reason not to do it.
If you want to implement this in your office space there are a couple of ways to do it: having a guided meditation with your team, or by simply providing a space where people can go and meditate (maybe with some headphones and mats provided).
The final speaker, Scott Simons, founder of Organik and yoga instructor, talked to us about two big epidemic:“stress and the sitting disease” (insert dramatic music). Like in most other companies, here at PeopleLikeUs, we experience stress (what!? I know! shocker.), and we are victims of the sitting epidemic. When a person is stressed, our body can’t function properly, it can’t heal, recharge or improve. It takes all your energy to fight the stress. A simple exercise we did with Scott to fight the “sitting disease” was:
- Stand up.
- Put your feet as wide as your hips.
- Start by moving your toes for 30 seconds, feel them.
- Close your eyes and take 5 long breath.
- Inhale (4 secs) / Hold it it (1 secs) / Exhale (3 secs).
Just this simple breathing exercise helps your body get back in sync with your nervous system, and tells your brain, “it’s okay”. If you don’t have time to do this, just focus on your breath, and take long inhalations and exhalations.
The second epidemic, the “sitting disease”, creates tension and atrophies our muscles as sit all crunched up in front of our computers. Your abdomen muscles are atrophied, your legs are tensed and under pressure, and your neck hurts. He gave us a simple exercise that I like to call: “The Titanic”, or “I’m the king of the world!”.
- Stand up.
- Look ahead (don’t put your chin down or your neck high).
- Then (Titanic time), open your arm and pull them back. Try to get your shoulder blades as close as possible without feeling discomfort.
- Hold it for 15 seconds (Yes you might look a bit weird while doing that, but remind yourself that, hey, you’re taking care of yourself, so you do you.)
- Release.
I personally felt AMAZING after this one!
Overall, every speaker reminded us that we need to lead by example. You can’t expect your team to do something that you aren’t. To reiterate, here at PeopleLikeUs, we want everybody to be happy and healthy, and we strongly believe in balance in every sphere of our lives, One of our mantras internally is, “we believe in working out and hamburgers”. We will try to implement these small habits into our team’s day-to-day. I am also starting a new healthy habit inspired by this event: no more eating at my desk!
I want to thank Office vibe for organizing the events and WeWork for hosting it. The speakers were great and I highly recommend that you check them out to learn more about them, or how to improve health in your workspace.
