How can your wellness facility play a major role in the life of your member as well as your community?
This article will define stress and its effect on the mental and physical body. It will also give you, corporate wellness centers, fitness facilities, or anyone looking to reduce stress, some tools to manage and diminish the effects of negative stress. As you read, think about how your facility can make a very real difference in the lives of your members, employees and your community. At the end of the article, read about a program that is changing the way stress affects people and how you can implement those changes effortlessly to see your membership and your wellness facility usage increase. As a company (let’s face it, a gym is as much a company as a manufacturing plant), you need to keep our staff healthy – both mentally and physically – so that they are more productive. This saves your company lots of money.
When we feel overwhelmed, under the gun, or unsure of how to meet the demands placed on us, we experience stress. In small doses, stress can be a good thing. It can give you the push you need, motivating you to do your best and to stay focused and alert. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, or drives you to study for your midterm when you’d rather be watching TV. But, when life’s demands exceed your ability to cope, stress becomes a threat to both your physical and emotional well-being. According to the American Physcological Association, 54% of Americans are concerned about the level of stress in their everyday lives.
Stress is a psychological and physiological response to events or demands that upset our personal balance in some way. These events or demands are known as stressors. We usually think of stressors as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship. However, anything that forces us to adjust can be a stressor. This includes positive events such as getting married or receiving a promotion. Regardless of whether an event is good or bad, if the changes it brings strain our coping skills and adaptive resources, the end result is the subjective feeling of stress and the body’s biological stress response.
Now, let’s look at some facts about stress and how it affects our society, and indirectly, you, as an owner, director, or part of a wellness team:
• 60 to 90% of medical-related sick days are stress-related
• 46% of employees feel their job is stressful
• 40% of turnover is due to stress
• Loss of workplace productivity due to stress accounts for a reported $300 billion each year.
Symptoms that stress is affecting the mind are:
• Memory problems
• Seeing only the negative
• Difficulty making decisions
• Poor judgment
• Inability to concentrate
• Loss of objectivity
• Confusion
Symptoms that stress is affecting the physical body are:
• Headaches
• Chest pain or an irregular heartbeat• Digestive problems
• High blood pressure• Muscle tension and pain
• Weight gain or loss• Sleep disturbances
• Asthma or shortness of breath• Fatigue
• Skin problems
Behavioral symptoms of excessive stress are:
• Eating more or less
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Isolating yourself from others
• Neglecting your responsibilities
• Increasing alcohol and drug use
• Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
• Teeth grinding or jaw clenching
• Overdoing activities such as exercising or shopping
• Losing your temper
How can you introduce a program that will be targeted specifically to people who are stressed and in need of some release so that the above listed symptoms diminish or go away altogether? How can your corporate wellness facility, spa retreat, fitness facility, or even a conference room make a difference?
Introduce colorgized meditation. The use of meditation means you can provide a very real, life-changing, money-saving program at any hour of the day without the need to change your clothes or hit the showers. How many programs do you offer in which a businessperson can actually get in and out and really benefit immediately within their lunch break?
During colorgized meditation, your participants will sit (or lay) in a darkened room and experience the rejuvenation and peace that come from meditation. “Colorgized” simply means color and energy working together to create a balance in the mind and body. Participants will be affected physically and mentally because color has very real and impacting effects on the body. (Think about babies who are treated with a blue light, or how people exposed to red actually show an increase in heart rate, respiration and body temperature.) Color is used to create a flow and balance in the person who is meditating. Positive affirmations will be created so that there is a focus directly related to the source of the stress and there is a method by which to realize and release it. The mind will slip into a suggestible state where the color, affirmations and breathing will generate a sense of purpose, focus, drive, or relaxation – participants will get what they need because they are focused internally for an hour a day. The result is less stress – happier, more productive employees and members who can then go out and not only do better, but give you the credit.
Christina Leon is the President of Spectral Journeys. She can be contacted at 877.257.4493, or by email at christina@spectraljourneys.com, or visit www.spectraljourneys.com.
