“[Salmon] hatch in a gravel bed in a stream somewhere deep in the wilderness, wiggle up into water current and eventually enter an overwhelmingly vast ocean. After years of swimming with whales and avoiding sharks, they travel sometimes thousands of miles back to that same little stream in that same wilderness where they reproduce and die.”

No maps, no guides, and no GPS units, but they manage the trip. 

How?

Through interacting with the earth’s magnetic field (and smell, but this isn’t an article about salmon migration). 

They solve the problem of getting back to the place they’ve only been once, by interacting with what is fundamental…in this case, the earth’s magnetic field. 

Dr. Tony Nader and garten CEO Michel Heinrich discussed in a recent garten Infinity Speaker Series interview how consciousness is highly practical to businesses wanting to be effective. 

With medical and scientific degrees from Harvard and MIT, Dr. Nader isn’t the average meditation teacher. He explains how an understanding of consciousness can propel businesses because it is how to cultivate a workforce with the clarity of vision to be truly effective. 

Why Should Business Leaders Care About Consciousness? 

The subject of consciousness is fascinating, but that’s not why it’s relevant to leaders. 

Instead, it’s because understanding consciousness is how you are able to interact with reality on a more fundamental level. The more closely your effort and innovation are applied to reality, the more valuable your company’s solutions will be.

What does it mean to say that consciousness is fundamental? 

Saying that consciousness is fundamental is saying that our physical world is an expression of consciousness as opposed to them being 2 separate things or that consciousness is a product of the physical world. 

It’s something like saying that steam, ice, and liquid water are all H2O. If you think that water is only liquid or only ice, you will not be able to see the bigger picture and you’ll make mistakes because of it. 

If you see H2O as fundamental, you can see that steam, ice, and liquid are all expressions of the same thing. 

The video at minute 10 discusses this:

Being effective comes from clarity of vision;

Clarity of vision comes from clarity of thinking;

Clarity of thinking comes from the source of thought;

The source of thought comes from deep within us which is consciousness.

Stress – the normal workplace reality – reduces the field of view. Stress restricts what can be considered. Practically speaking, stress reduces broad comprehension and long-term vision. 

Watch this famous video about the monkey business illusion to experience what happens with a narrowed focus. 

The Monkey Business Illusion

Just like you missed what are – in hindsight – obvious things, stress reduces focus to just what is thought to be the important details from the stressful standpoint. It’s remarkable what can be missed in that state. 

When a workforce is in a state of stress, physiology dictates that important pieces of the picture will be missed. Imagine what that means for your company… 

Wellbeing is a sustainable competitive advantage  

The most valuable problems to solve are the issues most fundamental to life on earth. When you cultivate a workforce that is more squarely dealing with reality, you will have more people who can discern between what matters and what is a distraction. 

If humans were salmon without valuing the reality of the magnetic field, we would devise all sorts of ways to navigate. The trouble is, the starting point would be away from reality – any of our solutions would be subpar. Move back to reality – sensing the magnetic field – and we can now ignore all of those clever innovations that we had to develop simply because we weren’t starting from reality. 

Dr. Nader explains that with meditation, people are able to experience – not just know about – this greater field of consciousness or awareness. The ability to tap into greater awareness is available, but its value in the business world has only begun to be realized – probably because we are only just awakening from the trance of hustle culture. 

Supporting workplace wellbeing is about more than being nice or having programs that attract good hires. Wellbeing is a sustainable competitive advantage. 

More about garten:

Business leaders committed to wellbeing in their own lives and in their companies bring in garten to support mind-body-environment wellbeing. Our bread and butter is setting up amazing food and kitchen programs that save your internal team time and stress while fueling your people with better-for-you food. We’re also expanding our offering of resources like on-demand yoga that can support your mission. If you see the ROI on investing in wellbeing, get started here. It’s easy and we are friendly. 

To your wellbeing!

The post Is consciousness the missing piece for business growth? appeared first on garten.

In most cases what’s good for the individual employee is good for the organization. When the organization cares for its employees – the employees are simply more open to using their discretionary effort to care for the organization. 

This observation comes from direct experience, and it holds up.

After all, an organization is made up of individuals – all with energy, all with emotion and all with a desire to do great things. 

However, in the post-pandemic era, it has become increasingly clear that employees’ well-being has taken a significant hit. Burnout looks to be at an all-time high and doesn’t seem to be getting any better with the chaos/confusion surrounding a return to the office and a potential recession staring us in the face.

What can we do? It Starts With You.

As leaders, I believe we have a 2-part obligation 

a) To be at our best  

b) To create an environment where everyone can be at their best 

I’ve thought about, researched, and tried several things that will build well-being into your culture. As I list them below, please remember what they say on the airplane…put your mask on first…meaning, wellbeing at your organization starts with you. 

Leaders hold the vision of what is possible. To create a company fueled from wellbeing, you first have to live it. It truly does start with you. 

5 Practical Steps Toward Workplace Wellbeing

#1 Priorities – Stop sacrificing ourselves

Trying to have energy like a superhero and being at your best are different things: When did “I was working on this until 4:00 am” actually become a badge of honor? I get the hustle – in fact, I’m all about hustling. And grit. However, hustling until the middle of the night isn’t something to brag about. “Pulling an all-nighter” is better left to college students who sleep until noon the next day. 

What if we changed the mindset FROM one of being obligated to sacrifice your own health with long nights TO one where wellbeing is good for the company? Instead of being obligated to sacrifice your personal health to get the work done, the obligation is to care for your wellbeing because that’s what success is built on. The company needs productive, high-performing people so the obligation is to stop working and get some rest.

Ideas for application:
Companies can implement more strict working hours to ensure employees are getting enough rest. Offering flexible or unlimited PTO, or switching to a 4-day work week, like garten has, can ensure productivity in the office is optimized and employees are getting enough rest.

#2 Food – Prioritize food because it’s what we’re made of

It always comes down to the food: As someone who has been watching my weight almost my whole life, eating right was very discouraging. Then I learned about using food to propel me forward in almost every aspect of my life and something clicked for me. Food is directly correlated to the energy I have and the work I’m able to produce. When I eat better, I feel better and therefore I produce better results. Sounds reasonable, right? 

YET…I worked for a large company not too long ago that subsidized their food service/cafeteria. Every day there was a ‘special’ that was usually heavy. Heavy protein, heavy sauce, heavy carbs, maybe some veggies… and a sugary dessert.  

Trying to do a good thing by creating affordable meals was actually detrimental to the health and wellbeing (and definitely productivity) of their employees. People would eat the special and wonder why they were dozing off during their afternoon calls/meetings. It’s called a ‘sugar crash’ and we’ve all heard of it. 

The food doesn’t have to be limiting, doesn’t have to taste bad, and it’s absolutely more than salads. In fact, it can be delicious, fresh and energizing – so when we go back to work we are no longer exhausted – instead, we are ready to take on the world.

Ideas for application:
Companies like garten can offer better-for-you catering & snacks in the office. Nutrient-dense, low sugar & simple carbohydrate food options can prevent the mid-day slump.

#3 Sleep – Everything we do improves with adequate sleep

It’s funny the way we can think biology doesn’t apply: For those with young children, it is obvious how important sleep is to feel great (or simply functional).  Remember how it was before children…you went to sleep and then you woke up – after 7 or 8 hours, feeling refreshed. The point is, lack of sleep leaves negative impacts everywhere. 

Let’s all agree to never police how many hours of sleep employees get. Instead, the magic comes from changing the culture around self-sacrifice for the sake of “productivity.” Setting the conditions for a successful career AND enough sleep is what business leaders can strive for. 

Improving sleep not only helps employees succeed at work, but it is also foundational to enjoying the rest of life. If we recognize that a company is made up of the individuals who work there, we’ll want to take note. 

Ideas for application:
Providing employees with times of day for purposeful pauses – of rest and relaxation – can help employees take a break, even nap when they are low on sleep. When working from home, you can offer more flexibility in scheduling to allow sufficient sleep for employees. This is something garten implements 2x times daily.

#4 Movement – Moving our bodies improves cognitive work

After all, the brain is connected to the body: I love to exercise. Actually, that’s not exactly true. I love how I feel after I work out. That feeling of finishing a tough hike, a workout using heavy weights, or crossing the finish line on the 5K (or 10K, or more…). 

There seems to be a direct correlation between how sweaty I am and how accomplished I feel. But, I learned something else during the pandemic…I learned that walking, just moving, is sometimes all we need to clear our brains and get rid of some stress. I mean, I always knew this intellectually – but during the pandemic – especially at the beginning – there was so much stress. There was so much unknown that I was able to feel it coming on in my body. I learned that when I started to feel that way, the best thing I could do for myself was go outside and take a walk. I walked a lot in March, April, and May of 2020. Just moving our bodies seems to give our brains a rest. It allows us time to take a few deep breaths and move forward.  

Ideas for application:
Providing employees with times of day for purposeful pauses – for walks, yoga, or movement – can help break up the monotony of meetings and improve employee performance. Think about offering a yoga or workout Zoom class to your employees, such as the garten Experiences team events. 

#5 Being intentional – Video calls aren’t the same as in-person meetings – we can experiment to find what works for our teams

Don’t treat a Zoom call like an in-person meeting: Why bring people together if they are going to be staring at a zoom screen? 

I love being with people face to face – problem-solving, thinking out loud, innovating, and collaborating. And while some of that can happen on a video call (or even less on the telephone), the magic just isn’t the same. There are plenty of things we can/should do that do not require facetime with anyone. Experiment with your team to find the right balance.

For this hybrid strategy to work, leaders need to understand exactly what our people are doing and parse the work accordingly. 

Ideas for application:
Companies should create hybrid policies around when it’s completely necessary to have employees come into the office.

Wellbeing Is A Great Investment 

My company wants long term performance and I imagine yours does too. To support long term performance, we must invest our focus into building systems that correlate with human biology. The fundamental issue is when company culture expects sustained productivity at the expense of wellbeing. 

Instead, let’s use these 5 steps as a guide to make the culture at our companies compatible with long-term productivity. 

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” 

-African proverb 

The definition of a company is going together. It’s time to start thinking and acting in ways that support productivity on the foundation of wellbeing. 

—

Alicia Mandel has 30+ years of experience in high-profile companies as a thought leader in learning and leadership development, change management, organizational development, executive coaching, and workplace culture. As the Chief People Officer of garten, she puts her expertise to use working with leaders of organizations that want/need to make a change. She coaches high-potential and high-performing leaders to remove barriers to success. 

Today Alicia lives in Phoenix and enjoys traveling to see her clients all over the country. She has two adult (sort of) children – a 21-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter. She has two dogs and enjoys a great glass of wine (or bourbon) as much as a great workout.

The post Building Wellbeing Into Your Culture To Improve Productivity Starts With You: 5 things business leaders need to do appeared first on garten.

As the leaves begin to fall and we feel the call of cozy fires and warm smells from the kitchen, we turn our hearts and minds to reflect on the year and find the sparks of kindness and gratefulness that will keep us warm through the winter.  A time to appreciate family and celebrate the good things. 

FOR THE BODY

Heal Your Health: Relearn to Breathe Presented by Kali Patrick. 

We often take our breathing for granted, but paying more attention to our breathing is important for several reasons. These include:

• the affect our default breathing pattern has on our overall health & well-being
• the usefulness of the breath as a signal that warns us about unmet self-care needs
• our ability to use the breath intentionally, as a way to reduce acute symptoms (e.g. anxiety or depression)
• the breath as a portable, always available tool for increasing stress-resilience

In this interactive presentation, your attendees will learn: 

• Whether or not you’re breathing properly and the surprising implications of improper breathing
• A simple practice to correct disordered breathing patterns created from chronic stress 
• Specific breathing techniques designed to: build stress resilience, alleviate muscle tension/pain (including headaches), provide relief from anxiety/depression, increase energy, improve attention and focus, improve posture, restore healthy blood pressure & restore refreshing sleep

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.  We have ways to help you & your team take a deep breath.

FOR THE MIND

In the month of November we uplift caregivers as well as bring light to the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease through Caring for Your Loved One Who has Alzheimer’s.  Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s is never easy. It takes time, transition, training and techniques. This presentation aims to help address and target those skill sets and to help caregivers successfully care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s to the best of their ability.  Presented by Maranda. 

November also brings to the forefront and awareness of stress and helpful ways to mitigate this in our lives.  Garten has a number of resources available to help you and your team find the balance. 

FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Creating an environment of kindness and compassionate listening can be challenging.  Here to help is Amy with a talk specifically designed for World Kindness Day.  Kindness doesn’t just happen one day a year though… feel free to schedule this anytime!

CELEBRATE WITH GRATITUDE

Enveloping ourselves with kindness creates a space to be grateful.  Nurture this with The Gratitude Effect presented by Devin.  He demonstrates how gratitude, when given frequently and crowdsourced, changes not only the receiver, but also the giver. In this session, see how some of the most admired global companies in the world achieved eye-popping ROI through case studies supported by unique data science. Learn how to achieve an appreciation structure with the right level of investment to positively impact culture and performance.

Find this and more resources on building a culture of gratitude with garten Experiences. 

December

‘Tis the season to celebrate what is good and set our sights on the New Year to come.  Like fresh snow, deep starry nights and your breath becoming crystalized before your eyes, there is a refreshing tingle of new goals and the excitement of building on what we accomplished last year. 

FOR THE BODY

As winter approaches our bodies may need some extra help to keep healthy as we prepare for the cold and flu season. Julia can help your team learn the role that food, teas, herbs and supplements can play in boosting the immune system, especially when viruses are making the rounds at the workplace. She shares practical, evidence-based (and delicious!) ways to enhance the health of your employees all winter long in her talk on Winter Wellness. 

Would you like to Spice Up Your Vegan Holiday?  Jennifer will help your employees explore how to use spices that are especially useful during the fall and winter seasons to support a healthy lifestyle, including immunity and digestion, and provide unforgettable flavor and richness to classic holiday meals. Or, have Cathy show you how to prepare one or two vegan holiday recipes in her live cooking demo Easy, Healthy Recipes for the Holiday Season.

Did you know that December 13th is National Cocoa Day?  Did you also know that chocolate can be healthy? Learn all about cacao beans and their transformation into delicious chocolate as Cathy guides you to make your own chocolate treats with assorted tasty add-ins such as sea salt, cinnamon, coconut, ginger, chili powder, and more in her From Beans to Bar – Chocolate Crafting Workshop. Continue the fun by hosting a Rosé & Chocolate Essentials Social Hour where Danielle will awaken your senses with the gift of an essential oil to promote relaxation and mindfulness while you experience an interactive wine and chocolate tasting. 

FOR THE MIND

Did you know that doing a hands-on creative activity can help to relieve stress and clear the mind?  Wear your most atrocious attire to celebrate National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day AND host a fun meditative knitting party! In this workshop, participants will learn how to knit, practice pranayama breathing exercises and stretching techniques, providing them with a new skill that nourishes both mind and body.  You may love it so much you will want to make it a regular part of your workplace culture for the New Year!

Along with the fun of the holidays comes stress. Help your team through what may be a stressful & emotional time with Tom, a Licensed Psychologist and Life Coach, who speaks on Navigating Holiday Stress.  Browse through our providers’ offerings of ways to handle stress, from meditation to movement and breathwork. 

FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT

From a place of gratitude comes generosity – giving of our time and resources to make this world a better place for all. Support your team to find ways to volunteer and serve the community around them: 

• How to Make Kindness Matter
• How to Find a Virtual Vibe – Opportunities to Give Right Now
• How to Be of Service
• How to Find Time to Do Good
• Volunteering is the New Normal
• Balancing Volunteerism

CELEBRATING THE HOLIDAYS

Finding ways to come together for end-of-year celebrations and creating room for building community during the holidays means fun, laughter, creativity and celebrating the wins.  We have a collection of holiday celebrations to choose from!  Here is just a taste: 

• Seasonal Wreath Workshop
• Santa’s Sake Tasting Social
• Merry Terrarium Workshop
• Festivus Foam Roll and Fizz
• Jolly Mixology

January

Don’t let your team’s motivation fizzle like last year’s champagne bubbles… keep up the momentum!  Support your team’s wellness goals with some added motivation and fun events:

BUILDING HEALTHY HABITS

Whether your workforce is remote or hybrid, we all need to re-asses those things we do routinely and maybe reboot those habits to serve us better going forward.  Here are some of our top picks for just this thing: 

Creating a Self-care Habit
Building a Sustainable Wellness Routine
You can Change: Making New Habits Stick
SMART Goals

The whole package: these events come in a weekly series that will set your course.  From food to fitness, this is the way to start off the new year!

2023 Food and Fitness Challenge
Food and Movement as Medicine

WEEKLY WELLNESS CLASSES

Establishing a weekly routine within the workplace can create the foundation for a well-rounded wellness program.  Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Monday Meditation – start the week off with intention and a clear mind
• Training Tuesday – kick it in high gear, get the blood pumping, and get going on the most productive day with weekly fitness classes.  
• Fri-Yay Yoga! From beginners level to advanced, there is a yoga class for everyone.  Try a few styles to see what fits well, or stick with the same provider so you can build on skill sets.

January is MENTAL WELLNESS MONTH and we have experts in the field to encourage and educate your employees as we build awareness for this important topic, from maintaining mental wellbeing through mindfulness to addressing mental health issues both in the office and at home.

The post Curated Winter Experiences appeared first on garten.

We interviewed Nimai and asked him to share what his top tips for health, fitness, and wellbeing are heading into the new year. We’ve included our own top tips in our blog post below:

Nimai’s top tips for health, fitness & wellbeing in 2021:

Set a goal. You can’t work towards something if you don’t know what your goal is. Define that goal, be specific. Then give it a timeline. Be realistic. For example, set a reasonable goal like lose 10 lbs in 10 weeks. Break your goal down into bite size portions that work for you and track your progress.

Create an environment for success. For example, if you have a fitness goal, don’t buy junk food and expect not to eat it. Stock your fridge to support your goals—especially if you’re working from home. Hang up sticky notes to remind and inspire you. Create a vision board. Follow Instagram accounts that inspire and motivate you. Consume consciously.

Create an empowering routine. Even just a special hour of the day to empower your health, fitness, and wellbeing. The best time to do it is first thing in the morning. If you can’t do it in the morning, schedule it on your calendar. To take this even further, plan a second timeslot later in the day, such as after work, to get in another round of rejuvenation. An example of this would be meditating, reading, listening, or watching something inspirational and/or restorative, like going for a walk.

Eat more plants. Incorporate a more plant-centric diet. 80% of disease can be prevented through a plant-based diet & a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to go full vegan, just incorporate more plants. Many professional athletes are doing this to fuel their training, competition, and recovery (as seen in James Cameron’s Documentary “The Gamechangers“). You don’t have to become a professional athlete but you can learn from their empowering habits and integrate them into your daily life.

Check-in with your breath. Set a reminder/alarm in your phone for once or twice a day to check in with your breath and body. We often don’t realize that we’re holding a lot of tension in our body by either holding our breath or taking really short breaths, which leaves us feeling stressed and tensed up. Try this simple breath-practice: Close your eyes. Put your left hand on your belly and your right hand on your heart. Take three deep breaths, feeling your heartbeat and your breath with your hands. Then say hello to yourself (I.E. “Hello, Nimai”). As you do this, relax your eyebrows, let go of the tension in your face, relax your shoulders, and place your awareness inside of your body.

Curated by Vedge Nutrition’s Nimai Delgado

garten’s top work health, fitness & wellbeing tips for 2021:

Move your body before starting work. Stretch, yoga, go for a walk, do a full workout. Doesn’t matter if the movement is big or small, but make it a habit to move your body before you engage your mind with work. You will have more mental creative energy if you start with movement.

Walk & talk whenever possible: work phone calls, one-on-one meetings, or even just during a short break in between meetings. Make this a habit & you will easily hit 10K+ steps. Do this for a few months and you’ll be in better physical & mental shape without a doubt.

At the end of the workday, write out a list of everything you still need to do the next day and the rest of the week. This way your mind can stop thinking about work and rejuvenate so it’s fresh for the next workday. This is especially key when working from home, to create a mental barrier between work and home life.

Celebrate progress. When you set a specific goal of an observable behavior, you can track your progress. Mark the days that you walk on a calendar or write them down in a journal. If you miss meeting your goal, that’s okay, don’t sabotage your progress with negative self-talk. Be patient with your process, and give yourself grace and a little pep talk. Think of a baby taking her first steps, when she stumbles, we don’t scold her, we encourage her to keep at it. When you do meet or exceed your self-care goals, celebrate and lean into your positive results to keep your momentum going. 

Be kind to you. Think about one area of your life that you have been neglecting. There are perhaps a few, but be kind and start with one to focus on for a few weeks. Research tells us that small changes can yield big benefits and more lasting results. 

Once you have identified the area of self-care that you will focus on, next think about an activity that brings you joy. For example, if being more active is an area of self-care that you want to focus on, but exercising inside has not worked for you in the past, and you know that you love being active while outdoors, then choose an activity that brings you outdoors.

And remember, small changes yield lasting results; you don’t have to initiate a rigorous training program like running a half marathon to realize benefits. An enjoyable walk at lunch can help improve your focus as well as your blood sugar levels and leave you feeling better at the end of the day so you sleep well at night. If you make this a regular workday practice before you know it you’ll be feeling better and more fit than you ever have before. Tiny habits and consistency can truly change your life in profound ways.

Curated by garten’s Justin David Carl (Dragon)

The post Top work health, fitness & wellbeing tips for 2021 appeared first on garten.

Becoming physically active is a great way to gain stress management skills and promote overall well being. Pair your activities with goals or challenges and you’ll be excelling in no time. Remember folks, consistency is key here so ease into it. Some great activities to try that are free and easy to start include walking, running, cycling, and yoga. 

2. CONNECT

Healthy relationships promote a healthy well being. Right now it might be hard to get out to the local meetup without concern for the safety of yourself and others. Most of us are lucky enough to have access to the internet which is jam packed with digital platforms for connecting. One of the most popular recently has been the Quarantine Karaoke page on Facebook which is a live stream feed of quarioke.

3. LEARN

Taking the time to learn something new promotes self growth, aids in self confidence, and may even lead to activating new neural-pathways in the brain, especially if it’s been a while since you have taken the time to add a new practice to your routine. One great way to start on a new learning path is by auditing your schedule first to clear cut free time and devise a master plan for practice time and execution. 

4. GIVE

“Giving has been proven to decrease blood pressure and reduce stress. This reduction promotes longer life and better health. Giving promotes social connection. Studies show that when you give to others, your generosity is often continued down the line to someone else, or returned to you.” Research shows that those who volunteer live longer and have happier lives. Charitable giving delivers a host of benefits to the body and brain. Regardless of whether you give your time, money, or energy. 

5. BE MINDFUL

Maintaining attention to the present moment can improve your mental well being and play a big role in stress management by reducing thoughts outside of the present moment and the tasks at hand. There have been countless studies on the benefits of a mindfulness practice and it’s standard practice for most high performing individuals. One of the immediate benefits is a deep sense of calm, and the ability to schedule and execute tasks with a deeper attention to detail.

Written by Brendan Terranova

The post 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing & Stress Management appeared first on garten.

Listen to the podcast below:

Original content can be found on the Authentic Avenue page.

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More often than not, the words “start-up culture” conjure up a very specific image in people’s minds: late nights at the office, lots of coffee and Red Bull, pizza boxes under the desks. In other words, an environment where people are just so committed to the work, that nothing else matters. Who needs rest, social relationships, proper nutrition, and exercise? All of that can wait, right?

But can it?

As someone who has experienced more than a few office cultures like the one described above, I’m here to tell you that the “work as hard as possible” ethos that seems pervasive — not just in Silicon Valley, but throughout much of the corporate world — is not just wrong, it’s counterproductive. Tired, stressed, unhealthy people are not going to perform at their best. They’re not going to come to work with creative ideas and focused minds. (In fact, I was shocked to learn in Jeffrey Pfeffer’s recent book, “Dying for a Paycheck” that the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.) This state of affairs not only led me to found a company, Oh My Green, that’s exclusively focused on health and wellness in the workplace, but also to develop a new approach to leadership — one that inspires people to bring their best selves (instead of their most stressed selves) to work.

The foundation for my leadership approach is balance — when we focus on taking better care of the body, mind, and environment at work, engagement, inspiration, and productivity will follow. The idea is to do less and accomplish more vs. do more and accomplish less. (The latter seems, unfortunately, more common in today’s corporate environments).

Let’s take a closer look at how a company benefits from ensuring that these three critical elements of a healthy workplace culture are in alignment:

Body.

Over the past ten years, chronic disease has increased by 25 percent in working-age adults, and the CDC estimates that productivity losses due to missed work cost employers $225.8 billion, or $1,685 per employee, annually. And while there are a number of factors that impact health, nutrition is a big one: A recent study published in the British journal The Lancet and reported in the New York Times found that “one-fifth of deaths around the world were associated with poor diets-defined as those short on fresh vegetables, seeds and nuts but heavy in sugar, salt, and trans fats.”

Unfortunately, the foods people typically get at work — sugary sodas and ultra-processed snacks — often fall into the unhealthy category. Considering that people spend more than 50 percent of their time and consume more than 70 percent of their calories at the office, it’s critical that business leaders do more to support better nutrition for their employees. There’s an array of actions that workplaces can take to do this — from offering free, healthier break-room options (sparkling water instead of sodas, for instance, or more fresh fruits and vegetables) all the way up to providing fully catered lunches that focus on whole foods and organic ingredients.

Beyond diet, things like on-site fitness classes, subsidized gym memberships, standing desks and even scheduling walking meetings can encourage people to integrate more physical activity into their workdays.

Mind.

Mental health is just as important as physical health — in fact, the mind and body are deeply connected. But the problem is, when people are burning the candle at both ends, they tend to ignore their mental health even more than they ignore their physical health. Modern office environments can easily devolve into whirlpools of stress and distraction. All too often, we mistake constant activity — multi-tasking and overscheduling — with true productivity.

First, encourage employees to get good sleep — a tired mind is not a productive one. Meditation (especially evidence-based meditation like transcendental meditation and mindfulness) is an excellent productivity tool that can be used to help your team counteract the challenges of information overload and burnout, empowering them with the mental composure they need to think through problems and focus on what really matters the most.

Personally, being introduced to transcendental meditation has changed my life: by meditating two times a day, I am much better able to think strategically about key priorities. Now, our entire office does so as well, and it really helps to keep us centered on our goals and creates an atmosphere of joy and calm.

Environment.

Finally, leaders should want their offices to be spaces where people are happy to spend their time, not ones where they are eager to leave. Environmental factors like air quality, lighting, ergonomics, and office design can all play important roles in boosting employees’ moods, preventing health problems and injuries and even in sparking greater creativity.

For example, a study done at Cornell University on natural light in the workplace (reported by NBC News) showed that “workers seated by a window that optimized natural light reported an 84 percent drop in symptoms of eyestrain, headaches and blurred vision.” Natural light was also shown to boost productivity and decrease drowsiness. NBC News additionally reported that indoor plants, images of natural scenery and other sensory elements that put people in touch with nature increased motivation and reduced stress.

These may seem like small things, but all can contribute to a workplace environment that instead of draining people, inspires them. And inspiration is important — according to a Bain study, inspired employees are 2.25x more productive than those who are simply “satisfied”.

While a start-up culture prioritizing health, wellness and, yes, happiness, may sound like a fantasy to some, there’s solid research to back up the business benefits: The CDC has found that improvements in physical, mental and emotional health enhance stamina, concentration, and focus, and the World Health Organization estimates adequate nutrition can increase productivity by an average of 20 percent, just to name a few stats.

We’ve seen these kinds of benefits first hand at Oh My Green. Our workforce is motivated and engaged, and we’ve realized nearly 18 percent growth, month over month, since the company’s inception. We spend more time properly preplanning and less time fixing mistakes, which has been critical in our growth trajectory. Most importantly, our team hasn’t had to burn themselves out to achieve this success.

If you’re not an Oh My Green customer and want to upgrade to overall wellness, get on board now.

The post Less Multi-Tasking, More Meditation: A New Model For Start-up Leadership appeared first on garten.

According to Michael (and other sage entrepreneurs) running a startup is more a marathon than a sprint. He talked about surviving the race to avoid burnout and finding ways to help coworkers do the same. What works for Michael is being anchored on purpose and keeping a healthy mind, body, and environment

Michael says that many entrepreneurs, and leaders in general, foster a burnout culture and that most people are very stressed out because of work. He wants to do something different and he doesn’t believe that running his company should drive him or his employees to feel burned out.

When Michael founded Oh My Green his mission was very clear. He was driven to create something very different and has set up to be a role model for what his new form of leadership looks like. The first part of his mission for Oh My Green was to empower people to live healthy and blissful lives. The second part was to make sure that no matter how tough it got during the journey of running this company, he would always keep wellness at the forefront.

Michael says that entrepreneurship is very much a marathon rather than a sprint. So, for him —the person—being anchored on purpose, keeping a healthy mind, body, and environment is very important. Also, what he calls his “non-negotiables” are: sleep seven hours a day, meditate twice a day, always eat healthy, organic foods, and have meaningful relationships in and outside of work. He believes all this to be a foundation of who he is as an entrepreneur and a business leader. Being physically and mentally healthy allows him to have a deeper focus on what matters at work and be able to think strategically about priorities.

He credited his past work experience, some of the companies he worked at, and his graduate studies on shaping the person and the entrepreneur that he is today. Michael remembers one of his professors at Stanford University as a very important mentor for him.

Probably the greatest influence in his life has been his grandmother while growing up in Berlin. As a medical doctor, she always emphasized the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables, exercising, and avoiding excess sugar to stay healthy. The teachings from Michael’s grandmother have been the driving force behind the business concept he originally had for Oh My Green and for how he has decided to live his professional and personal life.

If you want to take a listen to the complete podcast to catch all of Michael’s great insights, check it out here. It’s about 18 mins long. I promise it’s worth your time.

Learn more about Oh My Green and be sure to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find us as @OhMyGreenHQ.

The post Avoiding the Burnout Culture appeared first on garten.

Workplaces today face increasing demands and challenges. High-stress levels may result in decreased effectiveness, creativity, and efficiency in employees, as well as in low workplace morale. Combined, these factors may lead to decreased productivity and increased employee absenteeism and burnout.

How Slowing Down Can Actually Be More Productive

Our default setting is switched to autopilot and we more often than not tend to immediately react to stimuli. Rarely do we take the time to pause and think about an appropriate response before we respond. But what if you took a minute to fire up those olfactory nerves and inhale a whiff of a rose every once in a while? Sounds (smells) peaceful, right?

Peace is the concept of harmony, the absence of hostility, the lack of conflict and freedom of fear. Can you think of the last time, if at all, you intentionally did something that brought you a sense of peace?

Not Just Another Productivity App

Meditation and mindfulness are tools that can be used to invoke a sense of peace within our lives and can lead your mind to think in healthier, less stressful ways.

Implementing these as tools in your workplace, different than the essential excel spreadsheets you strain your eyes on each day, help to counterbalance the challenges of information overload and the increasing demands of modern day office culture.

So what is meditation and mindfulness? While both are their own distinguished practice, meditation and mindfulness are completely synergistic and complimentary.

Mindfulness is…
a form of self-awareness, a state of being in the present moment and accepting things for what they are without judgment

While Meditation is…
a precise technique for resting the mind and attaining a state of consciousness that is totally different from the normal waking state.

Just as the practice of mindfulness enhances your ability to meditate, the practice of deep meditation strengthens your ability to be mindful.

In an eight-hour workday, the average worker is productive for only two hours and 53 minutes.

So, for almost one-third of our workday we preoccupy ourselves with unproductive activities, such as reading news, chatting with co-workers, checking social media, but not only that, we fail to have enough brain power to focus on completing one task at a time and are busy making mindless decisions that directly affect our productivity in the workplace.

Meditation and mindfulness go hand-in-hand, and the practice of one strengthens the other. But unlike other relaxation techniques, mindfulness can be developed to the point where it can be practiced right in the middle of stressful situations. While being mindful you can still remain alert and respond appropriately to the situation at hand, but without resorting to your autopilot and reacting. This can be extremely beneficial in a high intensity, fast-paced work setting where how you react to stressful situations can undoubtedly reflect on your job performance as a whole.

No Need to be Pro

What are ways you can begin to practice these techniques, you might ask? Well, you can start simple. The idea of creating a serene, stress-free work environment is virtually impossible unless you’re a Buddhist monk. So don’t stress yourself out even further with thinking you’re expected to achieve a state of complete nirvana. These practices are meant to help you cope with the day to day stresses and open your awareness to a different way of thinking and being.

Some simple and accessible steps you can begin to train your brain to be more mindful are:

1. Breathe. The hectic nature of an office ensues with emails, pings, phone calls, all of which can seem overwhelming at times. When you arrive at your desk, practice having a moment or two without any distractions and envision your day. After completing a task, take a second to reward yourself with 3 deep breaths before moving onto the next one. When you’re in the elevator, focus on the rising and falling of your breathe instead of pulling out your phone.
2. Re-familiarize yourself with the environment and the people around you. Allow yourself to enjoy a gaze out of the window or spark a conversation with a co-worker you haven’t connected with in a while. Your relationship with yourself and those around you will only strengthen as you feel engaged and connected
3. Take a walk. Explore a new space in the office, get some fresh air. Walking can act as meditation, and by walking away from the desk, concentrating on your breathing, your focus, for example thinking about I need to open the door, I need to watch my feet walking up the stairs, I need to breathe while doing it. A simple walk will certainly do wonders for the body, mind, and soul and is a simple technique to introduce a mindfulness approach to the workforce.
4. Get nimble. Yoga and stretching are perfect ways to get your blood flowing and the brain working. There are tremendous benefits to incorporating a yoga practice or quick stretch session in your work day, such as reducing stress, increasing energy levels, and alleviating physical ailments. Here are 7 yoga poses you can do right at your desk!

5. First things first. Simplifying your task list and tackle it one item at a time. Multitasking is the opposite of mindfulness and will deter you from performing at your highest level

6. What is done is done. Instilling a mantra of concentrating on one thing at a time, allows for mistakes and forgetfulness to subside. Don’t beat yourself on what has already happened but rather learn from your mistakes and think about what you can do moving forward.
7. Reflect on your achievements. Acknowledge the work you’ve done, and give yourself credit for it. Practice a loving-kindness towards yourself.
8. Healthy fueling – let’s eat! (my personal favorite) Grab a healthy snack from your OMG box or shelf and give your body and mind the love it deserves!
9. Guided Meditation Sessions. Organize twice daily, optional meditation sessions. Getting others involved with you will result in a calmer, happier team. You know that feeling when you have just finished something, taken a breath and feel great – and it’s suddenly disrupted by someone who has a fire-drill ready to place in your lap. Encourage those teammates to join you, so that emergencies can be addressed mindfully.

These are just some of the ways you can jumpstart a more mindful culture in your office. There are a plethora of other outlets one can use to study meditation and mindfulness. Apps on guided meditation and mindfulness, like my go-to, Headspace, or checking out our very own Justin Carl’s OMG blog post on four universal forms of meditation are extremely useful and accessible ways to help guide you and develop your new routine. You can take note from the world’s largest hedge fund and take your office to the next level by exploring Transcendental Meditation training for your employees. After digesting all that information, I think it’s time to meditate.

Namaste.

Learn more about Oh My Green and be sure to join our community on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Find us as @OhMyGreenHQ.

The post Turning Off Autopilot appeared first on garten.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to meditate, and no one understands this better than Oh My Green’s very own Head of Connections, Justin. In his below featured post, he explores the different ways of meditating that are for meditation novices and pros alike. For more of his tips, practices, and thoughts on wellness, visit his personal blog Alchemize Life.

The Four Universal Forms of Meditation: Why Sitting Isn’t The Only Way To Meditate

Can’t stand the thought of sitting for 20 minutes to meditate?
Can barely fathom sitting still for even 5 minutes?

Does your brain & body hurt just thinking about trying to sit & meditate?

Is your consciousness f***ed?!

Definitely not. Maybe your mind, body & emotions are calling for a different mode of meditation. One that accesses another physical posture other than sitting.

There are other modes of meditation that are just as powerful and harness different, equally important, aspects of human development.

Even if you have been hardly awake the last few years, chances are that you have noticed that meditation has become popular in our society. If you haven’t noticed and are reading this then you are now caught up with the rest of us. :)

Honestly, it seems like there has been an epidemic of meditation in the U.S. in recent years. All of the en vogue celebrities & gurus are touting it, there are numerous meditation apps available, and many companies offer it to their employees as a benefit (mine does).

I think it’s awesome that we have reached a point in our society where the emphasis on the development of our consciousness is widely accepted and encouraged. Definitely a tipping point in our evolution as a species in my opinion.

But what if you’ve tried traditional seated meditation and for whatever reason can’t stick to it or cant stand it no matter how many times and types you’ve tried…  ?

According to the late Angeles Arrien, PhD, there are four universal forms or postures of meditation found among almost all societies across the globe and throughout our collective history.

If seated meditation has not been working for you, maybe you are trying too hard or maybe it is time to embrace one of the other ways below. Chances are you already do one or more without even realizing it.

The Four Universal Forms (or Postures) of Meditation:

1. SEATED MEDITATION

According to Arrien, seated meditation accesses WISDOM.  Something all of us could always use more of.

Seated meditation embodies the Teacher-Archetype.

Think of the great wise teachers throughout our history — Ghandi, Einstein, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Buddha, Aristotle, Socrates, etc. All of them spent a lot of time in seated meditation. Within they found deep & profound insight that they in turn shared with the world, elevating all of us to higher states of consciousness and greater ways of being in our shared-world.

For many of us, these figures may appear to be superhuman and beyond our personal relate-ability. This is often due to the fallible thinking of comparing one’s place on their journey to the journey of another. This kind of thinking almost always creates self-doubt and leads to stagnation.

I believe we all have something to teach & we all have innate wisdom that we can tap.

I also believe that we often make things way too hard. Especially, seated meditation. I was guilty of this. Making things harder than they need to be is something I constantly have to guard against (see here for insight on how I’ve began to overcome this life-challenge).

The seated form is what most people think of when they hear the word meditation. And unfortunately many of us think that if we cannot sit cross-legged or in full or half lotus pose then we are not cut out to meditate. I was one of these people up until about 2 years ago.

Many people can’t sit crossed legged, in lotus, or upon their shins in the traditional Japanese sitting posture “seiza” (see picture above) for more than a few minutes without experiencing mild-to-major discomfort (myself included unless I have been practicing yoga regularly).

Fortunately, I discovered that sitting in some “proper” way is just societal conditioning & the over-marketing of how meditation “should” look. This was spawned from our idolization of those monastic people who spend all day doing yoga, martial arts and seated meditation. People who have deliberately physically trained their body to sit for long periods of time in “traditional” seated meditation postures.

In truth, if you can sit in a regular chair or couch or can sit upon a bed with your back against the headrest and your legs stretched straight out in front of you (my preferred way) then you can do seated meditation. The key to seated meditation is to keep your spine & neck straight, but relaxed. Almost everyone can find a sitting position that personally works for them that achieves proper spinal alignment.

2. LYING MEDITATION

This is another important posture of meditation that we often forget about. Or we don’t realize that it is an awesome way of meditating because we associate it with sleeping.

And in our society if it is too easy or not difficult enough then we faultily think that we are doing it wrong or that it isn’t working.

Lying meditation is all about HEALING & LOVE, keeping with Arrien’s framework. Intuitively, this makes a lot of sense. It is what most of us do naturally when we feel physically unwell. It is also what we do with our loved ones to cultivate love. Also known as snuggling or cuddling.

This form of meditation is part of the the Healer-Archetype.

We can use this posture of meditation to heal beyond just the physical aspect of our nature. Mental, emotional, and spiritual healing can be accessed and accelerated in this position.

Shivasana, aka corpse pose, is used in most yoga classes and is probably the most common form of lying meditation.

Lying massages of all types can also be used to meditate. I’ve personally experienced many transcendental moments during a great massage.

Another, more advanced, but fairly accessible modern day version of this lying form of meditation is Holotropic Breathwork, pioneered by Stan Grof.

“Holotropic Breathwork is a powerful approach to self-exploration and healing that integrates insights from modern consciousness research, anthropology, various depth psychologies, transpersonal psychology, Eastern spiritual practices, and mystical traditions of the world. The name Holotropic means literally “moving toward wholeness” (from the Greek “holos“=whole and “trepein“=moving in the direction of something).

The process itself uses very simple means: it combines accelerated breathing with evocative music in a special set and setting. With the eyes closed and lying on a mat, each person uses their own breath and the music in the room to enter a non-ordinary state of consciousness. This state activates the natural inner healing process of the individual’s psyche, bringing him or her a particular set of internal experiences. With the inner healing intelligence guiding the process, the quality and content brought forth is unique to each person and for that particular time and place. While recurring themes are common, no two sessions are ever alike.”

To date I’ve undergone two Breathworks and both times had incredibly healing and transformative experiences. I was blessed because my Mom is trained in this particular healing modality. [Send her an email if you live in WA and are interested otherwise see here for worldwide Breathwork events]

This type of lying meditation may sound a bit out there, but it’s growing in acceptance. Founder & CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, speaks openly about Breathwork’s transformative power in The New Yorker.

Ayahuasca, LSD & magic mushrooms have grown in popularity among the in-crowds the last few years in our ongoing humankind search for healing & meaning. Breathwork is an awesome way to discover this and reach similar (or better) altered states of consciousness without taking drugs. Unlike drugs, there are no negative side-effects with Breathwork.

3. STANDING MEDITATION

Standing meditation is rarely openly discussed in our current culture, yet it is incredibly powerful.

In a way, standing meditation has been repackaged into “power-poses” and standing affirmations. Two ideas that are talked about more often in our society.

I like to picture myself in a powerful superman silhouette upon a sky-scraper looking upon the city with the wind holding my cape afloat.

Or sometimes I picture myself upon the ledge of an Arizona red-rock cliff with the camera doing a 360-degree pan.

And sometimes I stand in a classic Wolverine pose in front of the mirror and just harness wild-beast energy.

Standing meditation accesses PRESENCE and cultivates our ability to honor boundaries and limits, as stated by Arrien.

This is the meditation of the Warrior-Archetype. Something that has always been programmed into our consciousness.

Throughout history and all civilizations we as a human species capture this warrior energy in our pictures, paintings, and statues of powerful humans in powerful poses.

Heroic statues stand guard around the globe. They often mark the entryway to our homes, institutions, various sacred areas, and even our country (statue of liberty).

4. WALKING (OR MOVING) MEDITATION

Walking and moving meditation accesses INNER CREATIVITY (VISION) and it harnesses the Visionary-Archetype.

It should come as no surprise that many of mankind’s most visionary artists, writers, scientists, and thinkers had a daily practice of moving meditation. Many of them were habitual walkers.

Mason Curry covers many of these famous minds and their daily moving meditations in his book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work.

Moving meditation can also come in the form of cooking, cleaning, swimming and various physical sports.

I even think driving can be a moving meditation. Not stuck-in-traffic-driving, but the kind where you are cruising along.

Same goes for bathing in the shower, a place where ideas seem to flow through our bodies like the water cascading over us.

There is something magical about moving and letting your mind unwind itself.  Whether it’s working through a current problem and finding a creative solution or ideating for all areas of life there is something naturally powerful about meditative movement.

Whether by conscious design or happenstance we have all had this experience and as Arien states, “When our body is moving & open, we become vehicles for creative problem-solving.”

Many cultures use this type of moving-meditation to reclaim one’s authentic Self. Aboriginals of Australia have their “walkabouts” and Native Americans use “vision quests”. Even in our modern day, people of many first world countries go “backbacking” through Europe or road trip through America to rediscover themselves.

Through movement we can remember who we are and why we came here.

No matter the type of preferred movement we can all get into altered states of consciousness. The trick is to notice which ones work especially well for you in your life as it is right now.

If you have the time and resources to go on vision quest, walkabout, backpack, road-trip, etc.  Go take a journey that reconnects you with your Self.

If an extended meditation of that type doesn’t fit your life how can you cultivate moving meditation in your life today?  It’s fairly easy if you don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

I go on walks and ride my bike daily. I body-build and practice yoga weekly as well–two more awesome moving meditations.

Friends of mine practice martial arts like kung fu & tai-chi.

My fiance goes to SoulCycle and has regular “spiritual experiences” and emotional breakthroughs during class.

Runners and marathoners are classic modern moving-meditators.

My fiance and I rollerblade together. Another favorite moving meditation of mine. It feels like flying to me and my mind always feels free & expansive as I journey through urban landscapes.

Hiking through nature is another personal favorite moving meditation. Whether in the foothills, through a park, deep in the mountains, or along a beach. [Side Tangent: Nature is an especially powerful amplifier and cultivator of all types of meditation.]

Moving meditation empowers me to remember what has heart & meaning to me in my life. It helps me remember who I really am and always provides creative answers that are endowed with personal integrity. Answers that help me move through whatever beguiling situations I find myself in during the course of my time here.

Alchemical Learnings:

1. Meditation is a natural phenomenon that everyone experiences.
2. The key to regular meditation is doing it in a way that truly works for you.
3. We can consciously harness different types of meditation to access different archetypes & powers. In review:

   1. Seated Meditation: Archetype = Teacher, Power = Wisdom
   2. Lying Meditation: Archetype = Healer, Power = Love & Healing
   3. Standing Meditation: Archetype = Warrior, Power = Presence & Boundaries
   4. Walking (Moving) Meditation: Archetype = Visionary, Power = Inner Vision (Creativity)

Alchemical Resources:

1. The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, & Visionary by Angeles Arrien, PhD.
2. Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey.
3. Awakening Spirits: A Native American Path to Inner Peace, Healing, & Spiritual Growth by Tom Brown Jr.
4. Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom by Rich Hanson, PhD with Richard Mendius, MD.
5. Have some other awesome meditation related resources? Please reference them in comments, email me, or tweet me! ??

Alchemical Opportunity for the reader:

1. Consciously identify the types of meditation you already naturally do in your life. Notice which of the Four Universal Forms of Meditation they fall under.
2. Choose one of the Four Universal Forms of Meditation that you currently do not practice and find an easy & fun way to add it into your life as it is now. [more on choosing easy & fun here]
3. If seated meditation has been difficult for you try it in news ways:
   • Use a personally comfortable sitting position.
   • Try out different types of seated meditation. I.E. Breath-based, guided, body-scan, mantra-based, chanting, listening to binaural beats, etc.
   • Try using an app like Headspace.
4. Want to go deeper? Try a breathwork, go on a vision quest, partake in a weekend meditation or yoga retreat, take a road-trip, or even go backpacking through a part of the world that has been silently calling to you.

Developing our consciousness is a worthy cause for all of us. It empowers our lives in so many ways and there is a huge growing body of scientific evidence that supports the positive effects of meditation on all areas of life.

But more importantly, meditation does not have to be hard. It is something all of us can do. If we take a little conscious energy to explore we can find ways to meditate that suit us particularly well. And in doing so we can return to our Self, mine our inner gold, and be of the highest benefit to everyone we come into connection with. Including ourselves.

In alchemy & service,

Justin David Carl ?

P.S. My mission is to empower people & organizations to transform & self-actualize. Meditation & consciousness development is a huge part of that. If you enjoyed this article please share it! ??

The post Featured post: The Four Universal Forms of Meditation appeared first on garten.