stress prevention

Clint Eastwood won’t make a movie without his twice a day meditation practice.  Gwyneth Paltrow has committed to building her practice. Richard Gere swears by meditation.  What’s all the hullabaloo about meditation?

According to a study-cited article in the Telegraph, people who meditate regularly have half the rate of heart attacks as people who don’t.  Stress is a key cause of heart disease, and practitioners and experts say a regular practice greatly reduces stress. 

According to the CDC, the United States currently spends $450 billion dollars annually on heart disease.  Dr. William S. Weintraub, chair of cardiology and cardiology section chief at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, DE states, "What we spend on cardiovascular disease is not sustainable. But we can afford to prevent it. Ultimately, we can't afford not to.” 

When it comes to affordability and effectiveness, the Mayo Clinic backs up the ability of a meditation to soothe one’s life and outlook.  Even a few minutes of quiet focus each day can bring results that can have far-reaching affects on your health.  The Mayo Clinic cites the below as some of the emotional benefits of meditation;

• Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
• Building skills to manage your stress
• Increasing self-awareness
• Focusing on the present
• Reducing negative emotions

The study cited in the Telegraph included 44 people who had been meditating daily between five and 46 years. These participants had an increase in the gray matter of their brains, and they also sport a larger hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that focuses on learning and memory. 

Meditation can be as simple as “focused attention” where the participant sits for ten to twenty minutes and focuses on their breath.  When wandering thoughts occur, the participant lets go of the thought and comes back to the breath.  Some practices include incorporating a favorite word or empowering phrase that is repeated over and over. 

The Mayo Clinic describes a walking meditation, where the walker takes their time, enjoys the scenery, and notices how the body is feeling, while maintaining a steady, even breath.

If cutting your employees heart attack risk in half is a worthwhile investment, consider your returns on a wellness practice that can be done for free. Meditation and stress-reduction wellness programs are perfect for your corporate heavy-hitters and achievers. 

In our Wellness discussions, it’s vital to include not just the health of the body, but also of the mind.  According to the CDC, the cost of anxiety and stress disorders in the U.S. is between $ 42 and $47 billion each year, and depression costs between $44 and $53 billion. These numbers include treatment costs, absenteeism, presenteeism, and mortality costs.

 According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health:

• One-fourth of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. 

• Three-fourths of employees believe the worker has more on-the-job stress than a generation ago.  

• Problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints then are any other life stressor - more so than even financial problems or family problems.

Stress sets off the sympathetic nervous system, which is also known as the “Fight or Flight” mechanism. Muscles tense, respiration quickens, and various chemical dumps occur in the brain.  This is great in a dangerous situation where a body needs to react quickly, but to experience this continuously takes a huge toll on the biological systems.  Unchecked, this can lead to crises in relationships at work and at home, lack of sleep, violent feelings, rage, exhaustion, mood swings and loss of morale. According to the Encyclopedia of Occupational Safety and Health, there are studies that directly link stress to suicide, cancer, cardiovascular disease, back issues and body pain, and reduced immune function.

Science has known for a while that exercise improves mood, but now we are starting to understand that it also makes for a calmer brain that is more resistant to stress.  The New York Times recently published an article explaining the science behind why exercise relieves anxiety.

You can help your teams deal more effectively with stress and lower the costs associated with the fallout of this debilitating condition.  Providing a Wellness Program that offers counseling, fitness and nutrition advice, mind body relaxation techniques, and support creates a safe, creative, and high performance environment for all of your employees and maybe even for you too.

We all face challenging economic times.  As a Smart Employer, you know throwing up your hands and taking the stance that stress is unavoidable in today’s working world is not going to get you employees that are the best they can be.  According to studies by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stressful workplaces increase absenteeism and employee turnover.  A Smart Employer knows that striving to be a “Healthy Company” will benefit your bottom line.