It might seem odd that people would actually boast proudly about the way they neglect their health but I’ve witnessed it and I’ve been guilty of it myself. At one of my first jobs as a Child and Family therapist, I remember complaining of how much work I had to do with all the meetings, paper work, and crises that I didn’t even have time to eat.  I started to notice that my managers did the same thing. They would run and swirl from meeting to meeting and in the hustle and bustle of their day they would remark that they had no time to  eat or even drink.  There was an odd sort of camaraderie around how my co-workers and I were neglecting our health and how hard we were working.  I had assimilated this attitude of being proud of how busy I was to the detriment of my health. (I should mention that I don’t believe this type of work culture is unique. I believe it is quite common in social services and in busy corporations alike.) I was gaining weight, getting sick often, and my mood was often low and my mind fatigued.  It was clearly not a sustainable way of working or living for me and certainly not something I should feel proud of.To change an organization’s or corporation’s work culture from workaholism to doing excellent work from a platform of good health is a very difficult thing to do. In my experience, change happens most efficiently when it occurs from the top-down; when managers and directors are initiating and supporting change, not simply with their words but through their actions.

While I was still working at the aforementioned organization  I tried to start a yoga/meditation club that would meet daily for only 15 to 20 minutes (10 minutes of simple yoga poses and stretches and 5 minutes of meditation).  My colleagues would often tell me they wanted to come but they felt too guilty to leave their desk to join me even though it was only for 15 minutes!

Perhaps, it would have been helpful if managers took the initiative to join us for our lunch Yoga.  It might have given the encouragement and permission to the staff and the message that doing something positive for their bodies was a good thing and that feeling  guilty was unnecessary.  By participating, managers would have lead not only with their words but by their actions which we all understand to be a more powerful way of leading.  Of course, change is not only a top-down process but a bottom-up one as well. Staff need to challenge their own ideas about what they want their work life experience to be and whether their health is worthy of attention, time, commitment and energy.

I believe that health is worth the effort. This is one of the major reasons I created the MOVE program; specifically to address the problem of being sedentary but generally to make it easier to do something positive and healthful for yourself at any point in your day: wherever you are , whatever you are doing, and whenever you are doing it.

I am thankful to Integra, the organization where I currently work which has been supportive in allowing me to be active at my workplace and to share some of my ideas with my colleagues.  With only one or two minutes at a time, my colleagues and I take frequent breaks throughout the day to do pushups, squats, burpies, meditations, and yoga.  Once we are done our one or two minutes we are back to work with our blood flowing with endorphins energized to continue on with our work.  There is comradierie being built around the way we care for our bodies and the ways we support each other to be healthy and productive.

Now that is something to boast about!