Establish Wellness Habits for Yourself and Your Employees This New Year
As a manager, it is your duty to lead by example, focusing on your own mind, body, and soul, to inspire your employees.
As a manager of a busy spa, the days, weeks and months can be extremely stressful. It is near impossible to expect your employees to come to work with a positive attitude when you yourself feel worn-down emotionally, physically, and mentally. Lead your team by example and focus on creating healthy habits that fit your lifestyle, 9 out of 10 times, it will encourage others to do the same.
Over the next few days, we encourage you to spend time focusing on where your mind, body, and soul may be craving some balance - it could be as simple as a small tweak to your schedule or a large investment of time and energy into something that truly brings you happiness. You may even find that you have established healthy habits in one area, but are lacking in others. In order to improve your own health and wellness, we suggest participating in things that will engage your body, nourish your mind, and replenish your soul every single day.
We know investing in yourself can feel like a daunting task, especially if it’s something you aren’t accustomed to doing, which is exactly why we wanted to share a few of our favorite ways to help improve overall wellness through the three main pillars: mind, body, soul.
1. Nourish Your Mind
Sometimes we forget that mental health is just as important as physical health. When you take care of your mental health, you’ll feel less anxious or run-down and more positive during the day.
An easy way to nourish your mind is to spend some time recognizing gratitude. Simply thinking of three things you are thankful for as you shower or drive to work every day will improve your overall mood and start your day on a positive note. During the day, take advantage of free time by spending a minute flexing your brain muscles, which could be in the form of learning something new, reading a book, or even doing a crossword puzzle. When finishing your day, try meditating before bed to relax and clear your mind for a restful sleep.
Once you feel that you have a handle on nourishing your own mind, spend some time brainstorming how you can influence your employees to do the same. Create a gratitude wall for your employees to share a recent achievement or life event that has happened to them recently. Encourage other employees to add words of encouragement via sticky notes to bring the team together. Create brain-boosting office traditions such as sharing book recommendations once every year, or even quarterly.
2. Engage Your Body
One of the biggest inhibitors to establishing a successful exercise routine is the lack of time, which is especially true for busy managers who feel like their work never ends. Thankfully, there are so many simple ways to introduce exercise into your daily tasks to give yourself a quick break!
When you would otherwise be standing around – while your tea is steeping or lunch is cooking – practice a few sun salutations to stretch your body and relax your mind. If you usually take the closest parking spot at the grocery store, try parking near the back of the lot and enjoying a brisk walk in the fresh air. Simple tweaks to your daily routine, that provide your body with even just a minute of wellness, is much better than none at all.
Maybe you’re looking for that nudge to help you on your way to a healthier life (if you are, here’s your nudge!). If you have an exercise machine at home gathering dust, or – let’s be honest – a pile of laundry, consider multitasking in order to find the time to use it more. Unwind with your favorite guilty pleasure reality TV show while you pedal on a spin bike or check your emails while you walk on the treadmill.
Another tip: make sure to turn exercise into something you look forward to and are held accountable for via a class. Hate running but love to dance? You’ll have more fun than you think at an upbeat Zumba class after work. Do you miss engaging your muscles the way you did as a star athlete in high school or college? Check out an early morning boot camp at a local gym.
Once you’ve established your favorite way to engage your body, get your employees on board too! Invite them to your favorite exercise class, create a fitness challenge for the month and compete against nearby businesses, or head out for a walk during your next team meeting!
3. Replenish Your Soul
Sincere focus on the body and mind is the key to reaching a healthy work-life balance, but in order to fully achieve “wellness,” you must focus on your soul’s health too.
Brighten your mood by doing things you enjoy - things that really make you feel good! This could be having a morning cup of coffee or wearing clothes that make you ooze confidence. On the weekends or evenings, spend time unplugging from work and put energy towards something that you’re good at or that makes you happy, like painting or hiking. One of the best ways to replenish your soul while also helping those around you is to do something nice - buy a stranger their coffee once in a while or bake some cookies for an elderly neighbor!
This is the most fun aspect of wellness to share with your employees. Once a month, schedule an outing after work or on the weekend to do something truly fun with your employees and their families. Throughout the year, volunteer to give back to the community by manning the local soup kitchen, sorting donations, or building a house! Periodically ask for recommendations and follow through with engaging activities. Remember - these don’t have to be expensive!
There are so many ways to introduce health and wellness into your life that will also influence your employees to follow suit. Think about new traditions you can start at your spa that will continue for years to come.
Do you and your employees spend time focusing on wellness together? Send us a message to be featured and inspire others to do the same!
