summer wellness – EPIQ Risk Management

Six Wellness Tips for a Healthy Summer

May 28, 2024/in Health and Wellness/by admin

Health is wealth, and maintaining positive lifestyle habits is the best way to stay healthy! Here are some wellness tips to help you feel your best so you can enjoy summer and establish healthy habits to keep you well year-round.

1. Establish Good Sleeping Habits

Sleep is the foundation for a healthier, happier you. Most people need 8-10 hours of nightly sleep to function at their top performance. However, poor eating habits, stress, and lack of a proper bedtime routine can impact your sleeping habits, so try to relax before bed. Be sure to turn off your television, phone, and other screens an hour before bed to avoid blue light, which naturally decreases melatonin. Also, to encourage rest, aim to eat your last meal a few hours before bedtime and avoid snacking.

2. Create a Solid Morning Routine

A solid morning routine helps set the tone for your day. Whether your routine includes a healthy breakfast and some quiet time to plan your day, a morning run or workout, or something else you enjoy, starting your day with the same routine makes it easier to wake up and focus on your daily tasks. Aim to wake up at the same time each day, even on the weekends, and maintain your morning routine, regardless of what you have planned for the day.

3. Move Your Body

Movement is medicine, and no matter your fitness level or fitness goals, moving your body is paramount to maintaining your health. Whether you enjoy traditional workouts or prefer a morning walk, playing with your kids, dancing, cleaning, or something else, aim to move your body for at least 30 minutes daily. Depending on your schedule, you can complete a 30-minute exercise session in one setting or break it into two or three shorter bouts of activity.

4. Stay Hydrated

The summer heat increases the risk of dehydration, so drink water throughout the day, even when you do not feel thirsty. Try to eliminate sodas and other carbonated beverages as their high salt level throws off your electrolytes. Opt for carrying a reusable water bottle you can drink from and refill during the day.

5. Enjoy Seasonal Foods

Seasonal foods are an easy, healthy way to improve your diet. Whether you prefer to shop at your local farmer’s market or farm, or traditional grocery store, loading up on seasonal fruits and vegetables will boost your health and nutrition levels.

6. Add Vitamin D, Naturally!

Vitamin D is excellent for your body and health and is readily available during sunny summers. Whether you prefer to take it in supplement form or from the sun, increasing your Vitamin D intake can help improve your health. Spend a few minutes absorbing a little sunshine to allow your body to make all the Vitamin D you need for the day. In addition to the healthy boost of Vitamin D, the fresh air will also do you some good.

We hope you have a happy, healthy summer.

Summer Wellness Challenge Ideas

July 1, 2023/in Health and Wellness, Workplace Wellness/by admin

As we enjoy the summer sun, fresh air, and seasonal produce, it’s a great time to support employee wellness, engagement, and productivity, by encouraging healthy living!

Here are a few simple summer wellness challenges ideas to consider.

1. Nutrition Challenge Ideas

There are many benefits to healthy eating and fresh, local produce is a great source of nutrition as it’s generally free of preservatives or chemicals. Summer fruits and vegetables also contain the antioxidants and nutrients required to sustain that specific climate. For example, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and watermelon contain high water content, to help prevent dehydration, while berries, lemons, limes, avocados, apples, cherries, tomatoes, mangos, corn, and beans, are high in fiber and antioxidants.

Consider implementing nutrition wellness challenge activities to boost employee immune systems and promote healthy homemade food. Challenge ideas include hosting weekly summer potlucks with rewards for the healthiest summer dishes, creating a sustainability challenge where employees grow their produce, and /or offering coupons for local farmers markets.

2. Physical Health Challenge Ideas

With lots of opportunities for fresh air and sunshine, summer is a great time to re-invigorate your employee wellness programs with new wellness activities. Aim to keep the employees active, engaged, and healthy by creating summer-themed physical health challenges such as 30 minutes of daily summer exercise, 8K daily step count, bike to work initiatives, encouraging employees to take the stairs, and/or hosting swimming competitions or other outdoor activities where employees can compete. Bonus for implementing employee wellness challenges that are compatible with wearable devices and fitness apps, so it’s easier for employees to track and share their physical activities.

3. Emotional Wellbeing Challenge Ideas

Mental and emotional health has become increasingly important and offering employees opportunities to disconnect from daily emotional stressors can help promote healthy living and stress management. While many corporate wellness programs include mental health challenges, summer-themed options include outdoor yoga sessions, motivating talks, breathing exercises, personal coaching sessions, and hobby sessions.

4. Social Wellness Challenges Ideas

With so much to do in so little time, employees often find it difficult to maintain work-life balance. To help promote both social interactions and balanced living, employers should consider summer-themed corporate wellness challenge ideas such as coordinating volunteer opportunities, virtual or in-person learning sessions, encouraging employees to create weekly to-do lists to organize their time and days, and providing opportunities for employees to reconnect with their co-workers and others for their social, occupational, and emotional wellbeing.

5. Financial Health Challenge Ideas

During these uncertain economic times, employers can help promote personal financial health by offering employee financial wellness challenge ideas and workplace benefits packages that may include health insurance, HSAs, 401(K) plans, paid leaves, maternity/paternity leaves, student loans & scholarships, and more.

We hope you and your teams enjoy a happy healthy summer and make the most of your employee wellbeing programs!

Summer Wellness Challenge Ideas to Keep Employees Engaged

June 1, 2023/in Health and Wellness/by admin

Summer is upon us and between the new season, travel plans, and other distractions, it may be more difficult than ever to engage your employees in wellness challenges. But don’t dismay, with a little simplicity and creativity, you can launch some new wellness challenges to recharge for both the summer months and second half of the year! The key is to design challenges that represent the six dimensions of wellbeing: physical, emotional, social, occupational, financial, and purpose.

Here are six of our favorite summer wellness challenges, no matter where your employees work or live:

1. Physical Challenge: Fresh Air – Walk Outside 20 Minutes Per Day

Walking is one of the easiest and most beneficial activities you can include in your everyday life! The Fresh Air Challenge invites participants to take a walk outside for 20 minutes each day, for 30 days. A 20-minute walk is an easy, effective way to integrate exercise into a daily routine and the fresh air and sunshine also help rejuvenate the mind after being stuck indoors at a desk all day.

2. Emotional Challenge: Wire Less – Take a Break from Your Phone

While essential, our cell phones often create a constant source of stress. Anxiety-provoking news, urgent work requests, and family demands can all be delivered through our phones, interrupting, and distracting us from everyday life. The Wire Less Challenge encourages employees to disconnect for an hour a day to reconnect to themselves and the world around them.

3. Social Challenge: Care Package – Send a Care Package

The Care Package challenge encourages participants to make a connection with someone by sending a care package. Whether it’s sent to a friend or family member who lives far across the country, someone living across town, a member of the military, or a healthcare worker, sending a care package benefits both the giver and the receiver and allows the giver to take their mind off their own concerns and allow them to focus on the needs of someone else.

4. Occupational Challenge: Top Priority – Create a Daily To-Do List

No matter the time of year, there is always so much to do and never enough time. The Top Priority challenge helps participants organize their hectic days by requiring them to start each morning by creating a to-do list and prioritizing each item. To-do lists are not only simple tools for becoming more productive but also help us focus our energy and provide a sense of accomplishment.

5. Financial Challenge: Great Deal – Comparison Shop

The Great Deal Challenge invites participants to comparison shop for five things they buy in the next 30 days. This challenge is great for you financially, as it helps ensure you are getting the best price and helps take the time to evaluate the necessity of the things we purchase.

6. Purpose Challenge: Do It – Do Something You’ve Been Putting Off

The Do It Challenge challenges employees to do something they have been putting off. This is their chance to accomplish something, big or small, they’ve always thought about but never gotten to. Not only will it make them feel good about themselves, but also give them the confidence to try something else that’s new.

Posts

Six Wellness Tips for a Healthy Summer

Summer Wellness Challenge Ideas

Summer Wellness Challenge Ideas to Keep Employees Engaged

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