People are getting ready to change their calendars to the next year soon. January will be here faster than we think. Our team still loves November and December, because that’s when the fall screening programs for our clients come to a close. It also gives us a time to look back on what the full-year participants have done over the course of that time. It’s also when we make giving back a high priority.
When the topic of health comes up it is not often considered that what we do in our lives also affects our health. The quality of giving back for what we have received has been shown to be large factor in the wellness of a person. Gratitude is one of the keys to being able to be happy and content, which, in turn, can make one healthier. Kindness and giving back are two things that one should be practicing regularly as part of their overall philosophy of living. This can be as equally important as what one eats and how much time they spend exercising. It’s ideal to be practicing all three, though.
Being generous can help one with their wellness. There’s actually a “Giver’s Glow” that shows up in the brain – it can aid people in getting more sleep, and if they do things like sharing their time for a worthy cause, like a soup kitchen, they can see a boost in their overall health. With that in mind, we offer a four-week program in which we show employees plan out a pattern of giving while also paying attention to keeping themselves healthy as well.
A company called Back on My Feet takes this giving/health philosophy to heart. They are spread throughout the nation and are determined to using running to help put homeless people off the streets and into their own homes. They have an annual treadmill challenge – they want to keep eight treadmills going for eight hours while raising a set amount of money for their programs. This event combines all these previously mentioned things – teamwork, exercise, and community support.
We embrace this type of organization because it empowers people through exercise and the fulfillment of goal-setting and then working to complete that plan. You could do something similar with your own company with an event like this with either exercise or sport challenges, both of which promote health!
There are many ways that you can stay active. You can do physical activity, like working out. You can also be active through your community. There’s also a very important muscle that you can keep active – your brain. You can look to your workplace for all of those – and you can seek out your coworkers so that you can start spreading generosity throughout the entire place. There are plenty of group volunteer opportunities, fundraisers, and ways to just show kindness to each other during the workday. We hope that this Thanksgiving is another day for people to be able to explore what it feels to be kind and healthy
Our team can tell you a lot more about how to use health coaching to give your employees support, wellness challenges, and other things. Contact us today.
