The five main health pillars of The Healthy Collective – Corporate and Workplace Health and Wellness

Corporate and Workplace Health and Wellness is one of the five main pillars of health that drives The Healthy Collective business practices.

There are two main ways in the workplace that having a safe and healthy environment are important for one’s wellbeing:

1) Your body ie how you sit, stand, move and give nourishment

2) Your mind ie the state of your mental health, reducing mental illness and stress

Whether you’re an employer or an employee, here are some tips that help foster and encourage a positive health and wellness environment in the workplace:

Your body:

• Stay hydrated – one of the easiest steps you can take to stay healthy at work is drinking enough water. If you are finding it hard to remember this, include it as part of your work routine, for example, if you hear a phone ring, or someone speaks to you – take a sip.
• Healthy eating – it’s easy to reach for the quick ‘pick me up’ of caffeine or sugar, but ensuring you have healthy snacks nearby like fruit or nuts, can help reduce the risk of illnesses such as diabetes and weight gain.
• Stretching breaks – a few simple stretches can improve your physical wellbeing by helping avoid muscle aches and injury, eye strain and stress. It’s easy to get side-tracked by the work at hand and forget, so try setting a regular alarm.
• Ergonomic equipment – mice, office chairs and monitor stands, are all created to provide you with a safer, more comfortable working environment. Take advantage of this, and make sure you use them properly.
• Yoga classes at lunchtime – Yoga is said to have physical and mental health benefits. If your workplace doesn’t provide access to these, there are many apps you can download to support such activities.
• Rest your eyes – If you spend most of your day at a computer, consider following the 20/20/20 vision rule to keep your eyes healthy. Look at something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds for every 20 minutes you spend looking at a screen. By doing this, you allow your eyes to refocus and rest.

Your mind:

• Keep your workspace clean – When your desk is tidy and organised, you can easily find anything you need, which helps reduce stress. You can also choose to add some family photos or other personal mementos to improve your mood.
• Being mindful – mindfulness, meditation and breathing exercises, can provide mental health benefits. Take a moment if you feel stressed, or in your lunchbreak, to be mindful. If your workplace doesn’t provide access to these, there are many apps you can download to support mental health mindful moments of relaxing and regrouping.
• Create stronger employee-manager relationships – Making regular one-to-one meetings between managers and employees will encourage open, frequent conversation, and allow any issues to be addressed early.
• Focus on your strengths – Rather than focusing on your weaknesses, concentrate on the good that you do and bring to your workplace. Capitalise on your strengths and seek out or ask your manager for projects that give you satisfaction.
• Reward and recognise great work – Recognising and rewarding employees can increase confidence and make people feel valued for the contributions they’re making - both important for mental wellbeing.
• Providing managers with mental health training – By providing training to managers, they can not only spot when an employee is struggling with a mental issue, but are provided with tools and resources to be able to support them.

The Healthy Collective encourages you to implement the tips that resonate with you, so that you can nurture and nourish the health and wellness of your body and mind in the workplace.

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