We've learned in today's world that "health" refers to more than just our physical condition. As many of us learned during lockdown, "health" may also refer to our emotional, mental, and even social well-being!
All of these important elements work together to provide a complete picture of our health and well-being. Over the years, a number of workers have been sent to me for support because of their negative responses to stress.
These reactions might happen every day, and the worker typically only gets a few hours of sleep as a result. When this happens, they turn to foods low in nutrition since they are too exhausted and reluctant to exercise.
Add a dash of sadness in other areas of life, combine some external factors (a sick parent, the death of a loved one, etc.), and you have your own special "toxic cocktail."
Your poisonous concoction may eventually cause more serious problems, such as anxiety or emotional disturbances, depression, long-term chronic illnesses, addictions, and eventually, severe diseases like cancer.
Prioritizing self-care and laying a foundation of emotional and physical resilience can be truly transforming.
These components can also help you overcome life's setbacks and inevitably lead to a happier, healthier life.
I want to talk about the seven major pillars that could change life so much to assist employees in making positive changes in their lives.
First Pillar: What Is Your Sleeping Pattern?
Since sleep is the most important factor in overall wellbeing, it is ranked as Pillar One. Your physical, mental, and emotional well-being deteriorates without it and eventually crumbles like a house of cards.
Additionally restorative, deep sleep cleanses our body of mental and physical impurities. Many occurrences of early heart disease and irritation to the gut biome, which is linked to a number of chronic ailments, have been attributed to a simple lack of sleep.
Pillar 2: Control Your Feelings
In the past, I would have referred to emotional control as "stress management."
Over time, I've realized that the "trigger" that initiates a stress response is our feelings about a specific circumstance.
This means that it's critical to return to the fundamentals and assess which emotions are driving you the most in your life. These set the tone for everything you do, driving home all of your intentions and thoughts.
I delve further into the physiology of various brain regions during employee sessions to assist explain how, where, and why particular emotions can cause the body to go into stress.
The employee can then begin to reframe their thoughts in order to prevent their brain from going down the "emotional rabbit-hole" and enable them to make emotionally sound decisions.
Here are a few easy strategies to start working on your emotional control:
- Breathe deeply diaphragmatically to relax your stress reaction, often known as the "fight or flight" response, and reactivate your parasympathetic nervous system to rest and digest when you experience an emotional stimulus.
- Remind yourself that this too will pass when you feel your heart rate drop and your muscles relax.
- Keep in mind that your brain has been trained to repeat negative beliefs for years. QUIT the subsequent pessimistic thought in its tracks by firmly commanding it to stop and erasing it from your consciousness.
- (Don't worry if this seems challenging at first; finding the "choice-point" will require some experience, but the rewards will be abundant.)
- Instead of bottled up, you might perhaps find a reliable buddy to chat to or record your emotions in a notebook.
- Lastly, do your best to see the wider picture. In five years, will this specific issue still be important to you? Is that keeping you from appreciating the present moment?
Pillar 3: Engage in Consistent Mindfulness Practice
Regular mindfulness has been demonstrated to alter our genetic makeup and avoid inflammation in the body. Even better, there are no drawn-out or challenging procedures involved. All it takes to be mindful is to bring your attention to the here and now and accept it without passing judgment.
Regular mindfulness practice will help you become more adept at enjoying life's little joys as they arise. It's possible that you won't be as prone to worry about the future or regret past experiences, and wouldn't that be amazing?
The Fourth Pillar: Finding the Correct Nutrition (or Nourishment)
According to recent studies, 5% of our genetic makeup suggests that we are predisposed to specific genes, including the gene for cancer. However, as lifestyle factors account for 95% of illnesses, proper nutrition can, in part, alter the population of our genes, protecting us against disease and possibly even curing many of them.
For instance, vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene are found in green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, and broccoli. These nutrients also protect the heart and blood vessels and reduce the incidence of dementia and cognitive decline.
Eating a nutritious diet can also change your energy and make you feel better overall.
Remember to drink lots of water in addition to eating a nutritious diet. Eight to ten glasses a day will support your body's biological functions and help it rid itself of waste and toxins.
Fifth Pillar: Make More Movements
It's crucial to move in ways that you find enjoyable and most comfortable for you. Every day, I exercise in a variety of ways, including tai chi, yoga, Pilates, and walking.
"Movement" sounds more gentle, in my opinion, than "exercise," which can make some employees feel as though they must suddenly run a marathon!
In actuality, there are numerous wellness advantages to even the most basic exercise habits, such as better sleep and a more optimistic outlook.
But if you really want to boost your feel-good hormones, consider getting outside and moving around. You could go for a stroll in a gorgeous park or have a revitalizing swim in the sea.
Pillar Six: Assess Your Social Well-Being
I don't need to describe the negative effects on our health and wellness that the Covid confinement and the enforced social distancing have had.
Globally, recent events have demonstrated the significance of strong partnerships. They tend to us, support our development.
On the other hand, you might have examined your connections more deeply during the lockdown period, examining the emotional energy you expend to keep them going, like a lot of the workers I work with.
While being in healthy relationships lowers stress and enhances wellness, it's crucial to choose carefully who and how you invest your emotional energy.
Seventh Pillar: What's Important to You?
I consider passion, purpose, meaning, and fulfillment to be important components of life, and I have regular conversations about these with my coworkers.
This entails examining their objectives and basic principles in greater detail, as well as focusing on their positive interactions. Essentially, we uncover their true selves via all of this.
When a problematic employee finds and experiences meaning via self-realization and self-awareness, it can be an amazing turning point in their life, as they finally understand what matters to them and why they live the way they do.
They feel empowered to pursue happiness every day as a result of this process of self-discovery, which also allows them to begin to feel happy.
It's likely that you've seen that putting these seven essential pillars of health and wellbeing into practice is quite simple, so what's stopping you now?
Please contact me for a confidential conversation if you have any questions about these pillars or if you would like to talk about an employee issue in private. There is no obligation to speak.