Wellness @ Work – Is This the New Green?

With everything we hear about going green, have we left ourselves out of the equation?

One can't avoid hearing about America’s high number citizens who are overweight, have diabetes, or are on medication due to stress, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep deprivation or poor physical fitness. It's time we take charge and improve our health. And what better place to address this than the workplace as that’s where most adults spend many of our most stressful waking hours?

More workers than ever are using sick days, says the Associated Press; only 1/3 of unscheduled days off are because of illness, according to a study by CCH Inc. A survey of personnel officers at 333 U.S. companies found the overall rate of unscheduled absences for personal reasons has increased from 20 percent to 24 percent and absences due to stress
has jumped from 5 percent to 12 percent, just in the last two years. This results in a huge negative impact on companies’ productivity and the bottom line that creates even more stress for those left at work to pick up the slack for absent employees as well as downsized companies with unchanged workloads.

The good news is that Gov. Schwarzenegger has declared wellness in the workplace a priority – the perfect complement to the green improvements we now see being adopted across the U.S.

Bay Area cities are stepping up and guidelines for wellness @ work programs are being
created and implemented as we speak. Similar to being green certified, companies can become recognized and awarded "the fit business award.” San Francisco is leading the pack and has finished a round of “Shape-up San Francisco” walk challenges, nutrition, education, and snack and lunch programs in offices and schools.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Emeryville to become the Healthy City. The Emeryville Chamber of Commerce has adopted workplace wellness as one of its core program priorities. On the Spot Massage LLC is an official Emeryville Healthy City Initiative Partner and as of this edition of the Wellness Corner has started a collaboration among several Emeryville health
and wellness providers. Soon you will be hearing more about "The Emeryville Wellness Corner collaboration” of which On the Spot Massage chair massage, along with other local businesses are the first to engage in plans to bring wellness to businesses, organizations and residents in Emeryville.

We are excited to be a part of Emeryville’s transformation and hope to inspire as many
businesses as possible to participate in investing in their workplace team health and well-being. We will be looking at donating a percentage of the income generated from providing our services to businesses to a cause in Emeryville that will improve or invest in health programs for less fortunate residents.

Take care of the body it's where you live.