Let’s discuss ways in which you can create a workplace that encourages employees' self care habits so you can have the happiest, healthiest team around! Read on for Confetti's self care ideas and activities to honor International Self Care Day with your team.
International Self Care Day is an annual global event that takes place on July 24th every year. The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of practicing self care and promoting healthy lifestyle choices that can improve physical, mental, and emotional well being.
International Self Care Day is an initiative of the International Self Care Foundation (ISF), which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting self care as a vital foundation for health and well being. The ISF believes that empowering individuals to take care of their own health and well-being can help reduce the burden on healthcare systems and improve overall health outcomes.
On International Self Care Day, individuals are encouraged to take time to focus on their own well-being and engage in self care activities such as exercise, healthy eating, mindfulness practices, and other activities that promote physical, mental, and emotional health.
The day is also an opportunity for healthcare providers, policymakers, and organizations to raise awareness about the importance of self care and promote policies and programs that support individuals in their efforts to maintain their health and well-being.
Anyone who’s ever juggled any combination of career, family, and social life can attest that prioritizing fun and wellness can be a challenge.
If you think you don’t have the time or resources to consider integrating employee mental health as a key part of your company culture, consider the number of resources used to put out the fires of high turnover and decreased productivity that can come from collective employee burnout. That’s not even including the number of resources that go into making up for extended absences caused by physical health conditions exacerbated by poor workplace mental health.
When companies incorporate fun health initiatives into the workplace culture, they have everything to gain:
We can all agree that good mental health helps us to be better colleagues, better partners, and better people overall.
Companies need to create an environment in which each member of the team has the tools to reduce anxiety and depression and support a balanced lifestyle for the long term. Luckily, with self care activities, doing so can be entertaining and rewarding!
Now that we’ve gotten the consequences of inaction out of the way, it’s time to focus on the fun part: fun! Fortunately, one of the results of shifting support towards reducing employee stress levels and burnout is, well, having a good time.
When you have an inclusive and open company culture surrounding mental health issues and well-being, you are creating a positive work environment and reducing the stigma around mental illness.
Here are five initiatives that leaders or human resources professionals can include in their employee experience program to encourage more fun and self care activities in the workplace:
1. Create together 🎨
What’s that old saying? The workplace that creates together, makes space for growth? Eh, something like that. When employees work together creatively, they:
Consider appealing to your company’s current eco-initiatives. Staff can participate in the Terrarium Workshop and learn how to brighten and maintain their workspace by creating their very own micro-garden. Plus, plants are proven to have great mental health benefits!
Here’s how to get started 👉 Make your space greener with a Terrarium Workshop!
As Elle Woods said in Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy.”
It can be difficult to fit regular exercise into your schedule, especially in the United States which has a more rigorous work week than other countries. But if you want to help your employees practice self care, movement is the way to go. Regular exercise leads to:
Looking for a way to gain all three of these benefits? Consider signing up for a group fitness class. With hybrid and totally virtual options, your employees can break a sweat with your colleagues with options ranging from Strength Training to Yoga, from wherever works best for your team.
How to get started 👉 Raise the bar on self care in a Strength Training Class!
You know that brand of advice that’s so cliche that you almost resent it for working so well? “Take a deep breath” has to take the cake. By focusing on deep breathing, you might just end up with a couple of pleasant side effects like:
Maybe your friend telling you to “just breathe” hasn’t always been the support you were looking for. But teaching employees how to practice meditation and use breathwork techniques is a great way to continue supporting employee health in your company.
Consider sitting down with an expert by taking our virtual meditation course where your team can get answers to questions like “What do I do if I get distracted?” and “How long should I meditate?”
Take that breathwork to the next level, by participating in a Sound Bath Meditation session. In this immersive experience led by a sound therapist, employees will find their unique path to relaxation using different frequencies of sound as their guide.
How to get started 👉 Clear your mind in a Meditation Class!
As the saying goes, “He who laughs, lasts!” Everyone loves a good laugh every once in a while. But not everyone knows that it's a powerful tool to support your employees and their mental health. As it turns out, laughter is pretty powerful, especially for your employees. Getting your regular chuckles in can:
As funny as it might sound, one of the coolest ways to reap all of these benefits is in a Laughter Yoga class!
Building on a foundation of breathwork and creative collaboration, this course allows employees to learn a new technique to brighten their own outlook and gives them the opportunity to truly let loose with their co-workers.
How to get started 👉 Laugh the stress away in Laughter Yoga!
In today's fast-paced and competitive work environment, it can be easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget about the importance of social connection with colleagues as an act of self care. Connecting with colleagues in a friendly way is not only a great way to boost morale and team spirit, but it is also an excellent self care practice during the workday.
Taking time to connect with our colleagues in a friendly way helps build a sense of community at work, which helps employees feel more connected to their work and colleagues, improving overall job satisfaction as well as a greater sense of fulfillment.
Here's how to get started 👉 Here are some easy ways to find connection with your colleagues throughout the workday:
At the end of the day, the workplace environment plays a large part in whether your employees have good or poor mental health. Helping your employees implement self care practices not only increases connection and employee engagement, but it makes breaching the topic of employee mental health enjoyable.
Prioritizing employees' health at work can be a blast. It’s time to shake the stigma that focusing on mental health in the workplace needs to be done alone and in silence. Sometimes self care activities can be as raucous as a rollicking laughter yoga class with the Marketing Department.
Check out the experiences we curated for you and your team’s mental health and well-being, perfect for International Self Care Day or Mental Health Awareness Month.
With Confetti, you can pick and plan your experience in as little as 5 minutes today!
