Preeti Rao
Founder & CEO, Weljii

Interestingly enough there are strong cultural implications of an Indian society that amplifies the rigid character defence. Through Barbara Ann Brennan’s work, we know that the main issue of people with the rigid character defence is claiming their authenticity (Brennan, 1993). This is caused by separation from their core essence and complete focus on keeping their outer world appearance perfect (Brennan, 1993, pg.245).

This disconnect with one’s core seems prevalent in the Indian culture. According to industry consultant Eugene M. Makar, traditional Indian culture is defined by a relatively strict social hierarchy (Makar, 2008). The joint family system still prevalent in smaller towns and villages plays a significant role in the Indian culture. It is a system under which extended members of a family – parents, children, the children’s spouses and their offspring, etc. – live together. Usually, the oldest male member is the head in the joint Indian family system. He makes all important decisions and rules, and other family members abide by them. (Indian Families, 2011) Makar also mentions that from an early age, children are reminded of their roles and places in society (Makar, 2008). Hence, unlike the west, family relationships in the Indian community do not operate under the nuclear family models. The majority of the families still work within the communal models, which prefer family honour to individual freedoms and choices (Verma, 2010).

These strict rules and the social hierarchy structure puts pressure to keep up the appearance of everything perfect, with no fault or weakness, in order to survive. Children in India are potentially denied of negative experiences and parents and society at large force them to establish a false sense of the world. The parents and other family members control the whole outer environment to create an illusion of perfection (Brennan, 1993). Since the head of the family in India usually makes the decision, there is little room for others to express their individuality (Makar, 2008). My assumption hence would be that the inability of a person to express their individuality could potentially make the defence action of the rigid character heightened by attempting to become even more perfect (Brennan, 1993). An Indian would usually have a seemingly perfect spouse and a perfect family. They are usually successful and make good amounts of money. They aim for perfection in all aspects of their lives (Makar, 2008 & Brennan, 1993).

The rigid character defence mechanism of everything is perfect correlates with the obsession with perfection in the context of the Indian culture. Most Indian people aim for not only mere success but demand it ruthlessly (Verma, 2010). While this person may be open to the idea of therapy as yet another form of self-improvement, they are usually not open to the emotional surrender necessary to break through the character structure. In addition, society at large usually heaps great rewards upon this person for their high levels of achievement. Unfortunately, all of that vicarious support only makes it more difficult for this person to find happiness (Johnson, 1994).

So it is highly possible that due to the constrains imposed on Indians by the society’s norms and rules, that these people constantly avoid the feeling of being unloved for who they truly are. They may find themselves resonating with, “I need to be someone you want me to be.” This may be because they’ve learned clear rules of what is ok and what is not ok at the expense of their own individuality. It’s all about being perfect but according to someone else’s standards and in this case it could parents, extended family, friends and the society at large. They can potentially experience the constant fear to do and feel the right thing. They usually fear that love will be withdrawn if they do not comply with the societal ethics and hence it is possible that their inner world is repressed and sometimes completely denied (Johnson, 1994).

Another interesting aspect that can be correlated with the rigid character defence is the fact that in present India, sex and sexuality are still considered topics that are tabooed. Topics such as male libido and female orgasm do not trickle the bedroom of an average Indian. The subject of sexuality is neither approached clinically nor as a natural phenomenon. It is always been veiled behind stigma, taboo and mystique. It is a common phenomenon for most Indian families to deny opportunities for open discussion about sex. Usually such taboos and restrictions are accepted with no questions asked (Roy & Rizvi 1998).

Similarly in a person with the rigid character defence the child’s natural erotic strivings and expressions, including masturbation, are greeted with anxiety, rejection, severe disapproval or punishment by sexually repressed parents. In the rigid character defence, an inadequate sense of self can be caused by the separation of love feelings from sexual feelings.  Repressed sexual feelings are pathologically expressed through psychosomatic symptoms, in frequent sexual activity without any love involvement (“flings” or affairs), restlessness, hyperactivity or “flighty” behaviour”, or diverted into ambitiousness in the material world. The latter seems to be more relevant to the Indian society were sex is taboo and the sexual energy is diverted to material possessions and success (Jejeebhoy, S. 2000).  I wonder whether this repressed unresolved Oedipal conflicts causes deep longings for the opposite sex with persistent fears of betrayal

It is also important to note that India is a patriarchal society where a woman is supposed to have a place secondary to a man. For example, a woman will take father’s name at birth and husband’s name after marriage; a woman is expected to deliver a male child; only the man is authorized to perform religious ceremonies and rituals; upon marriage the man gets a substantial amount of dowry from woman’s parents and brings home a wife who is expected to live with his parents (Verma, 2010,pg. 1). So the idea of self is even more denied with women than with men in the Indian society. Hence, it is important to be extremely careful in deciding somatic and coaching interventions for the Indian women clientele.

Understanding the correlations between the Indian code of conduct and morals, and the rigid character defence can help to understand how to respond in a positive healing way towards my future Indian clients in coaching sessions. Some of the things that will make it easy to protect my boundaries while engaging with rigid character defence is that these folks have a strong balanced auric field with their boundaries in place. That means that I won’t have to worry about controlling my bioplasmic streamers or my vibrational frequency (Brennan, 1993). As a coach it will be important for me to facilitate an environment where my client feels that, “All of him/her is welcome”. While enabling the client to feel his or her own essence, it is important for me to connect cellularly with my own essence. The mantra of the rigid character defence, “I am real” vs. “I am appropriate”, would be most healing for the Indian clientele grappling with this character defence.  While doing so, it will also help to acknowledge the gifts of this character defence. The gifts are that these folks are usually very generous of their time and emotions – this can potentially explain the Indian hospitality – they inspire others, are loving and passionate. They usually are natural leaders and are usually very easy to be around (Johnson, 1994).

Since Indians in general take great pride in their successes and accomplishments, as a coach, it would be imperative to establish a respectful and professional environment which facilitates acknowledging the person’s genuine accomplishments in life, and the seriousness and concern for how he or she has successfully managed many aspects of adult living. It will also be important to create a space where they could acknowledge the confusion and disappointment they feel that in spite of these achievements and have no judgments if he or she is bored, lonely, restless and or dissatisfied (Johnson, 1994).

As a coach it would be challenging but imperative to create pathways that would allow my Indian clients to develop flexibility in approaches to life’s tasks and relationships while relinquishing the exaggerated pride and need to hold back. Since both men and women are programmed to function in set ways in the society (Verma, 2010), as a coach if I would create a space that would allow my client to surrender to their fears of becoming weak, vulnerable or losing face (Brennan, 1993). I could create a space that will encourage my clients to experience their true self while still respecting cultural sensitivities.

This will encourage my client to become aware of and open up to the true depth and beauty of the self that exists beyond the superficiality of appearances and performances enforced on them by the society at large. It would help these individually caged in the rigid character defence to recognize their higher self-aspects, especially their capacity to love fully and to see that their gifts are there even when hidden behind the mask. And that although they have a wounded aspect in their personality, they need not identify with that aspect in order for it to get the help it needs (Johnson, 1994).

As the coaching interventions continue the person may drop the mask and release the raw negative feelings. At such junctions, fear of pleasure and expansion may need to be addressed as it comes up with reassurance and no judgment. And based on the client’s own new experiences; it will be important to facilitate an environment that grounds them to embrace their new energy and spiritual self.

This article demonstrates how different coaching and somatic intervention are necessary to facilitate clients to achieve goals that they might want to accomplish and feel deeper connection and meaning to.

Preeti Rao is the Founder & CEO, Weljii. Weljii is the recipient of 50 Best Wellness Companies - Global Listing - award by the World Health and Wellness Congress. She holds a Masters degree in International Business and a Masters in Integrative Health Studies with specialization in Wellness Management and Health & Wellness Coaching. She is India’s only ICHWC Mentor Coach and NWI International Standing Committee Member.

One of the biggest issues in the management of human talent, the achievement of strategic objectives, and the execution of priorities and needs of the organization, is that people do what they have to do to succeed. 

The issue of leadership has been addressed in many ways; most research being around the need to train people, motivate them, and empower them. The main problem is that each human being has different needs, values, beliefs, talents, resources, abilities, and ways of looking at life. Also, the people who lead do so in different ways through different leadership styles and employ different techniques to have their teams achieve their results. From this perspective, change by itself is not enough to achieve goals and results, especially in medium- and long-term strategy issues in companies. It is not enough to provide methodologies, motivation, and tools. It is necessary to accomplish a change from the operational level, to transform at the level of identity; which generates alignment with respect to values and strategy.

Today, work teams need to self-manage, and for this we need a new way of looking at the leadership issue. Not only the change that the leader asks of his teams, but from the process of accompaniment towards an integral transformation of the person. Today more than ever, leaders have the opportunity to become mentors, coaches, cheerleaders, and sergeants of their teams. Always starting from their own example, from their own resources. But above all, the leadership that is required nowadays has to do with the identity of the leader and the identity of the work teams.

The basis of transformational leadership is self discovery. Who should I be to achieve the objectives? Who do I have to convert? What are the features of my personality that I would have to exalt? What to improve? How should my own resources grow? How am I a generator of that process of change in operability, of transformation in identity? 

Affects Of Transformational Leadership On Work Teams

Transformational leadership positively affects work teams from the level of behavior change —new tasks, assignments, skills to be developed — through to the transformation of beliefs and attitudes, regarding the task itself and team members' own abilities. It is also important to influence the habits and discipline of each member, to explore what are the values and moral and intellectual priorities of each one, as well as their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which gives a better understanding of what is relevant for each work team. 

The three concrete actions of the transformational leader are: understanding the fears and obstacles through which each work team passes; understanding the context and current situation of the individual and their resources and immediate needs, and facilitate the process of transformation, starting from what is apparently a simple task to what becomes a new identity.

Transformational leadership involves those steps leaders have to take to manage themselves. To be able to increase their influence on others, understand the motivations, limitations, and fears of their work team, and help them to expand an instrumentalist vision of accomplishing tasks and achieving results to a functional vision of capacity expansion and strengthening of human identity.

There are specific characteristics of the transformational leader and specific motivations and ambitions of all human beings. The contemporary leader understands these elements and uses them in favor of results, growth, and the generation of future value. Thus adding competitive advantage through four characteristics for the development of transformational leadership: 

1. Social-emotional skills:  these are the concepts of self-care, self-knowledge of emotional intelligence, social intelligence, the motivations and unique situations of each individual, decision-making, and always thinking about this concept of "better decisions" and that of resilience, concept, and concrete development goals, how to grow in each of these areas with specific indications, individually and at a corporate level.
2. Virtues: the transformational leader is someone who is regulated in the moral and spiritual from the cardinal virtues. The need to develop strength as a central element of consistency, ability to face obstacles and not bend to situations that are in the way. Temperance, which is the virtue that regulates one's appetites, passions, and vices that we generate consciously or unconsciously and that obviously distract us, de-motivate us, and generate physical, psychological, and profitability consequences. Prudence, which is having the clarity of doing the right thing for the right reasons at the right time with the right people, and being able to understand and have a broader vision of the different systems, actors, and forces that exist in the business environment — the number one feature of the trans-formational leader. Development of maturity as the core competence, understood as the ability to self-regulate, self-manage, and to achieve what is proposed.
3. Persuasion: everything that social influence implies, and how to raise one’s levels of influence to have others do it. Evidently here the key piece has to do with the motivation both at the intrinsic and extrinsic personal level. 
4. The competition vs. the experience: every transformational leader must have worked, documented their personal learning, their success stories and failures. The leader must understand the specific lessons to work with their teams in specific situations and understand that the main task is to inspire and instruct.

Every one of these characteristics is necessary to increase the chances of success in achieving objectives. In addition to these competencies there are five specific habits that transformational leaders have to master: 

1. Self-management and self-government: eat well, sleep well, exercise, and lead a harmonious, healthy, and well existence.
2. Continuous learning: the leader is the first apprentice. Lead from learning and not from knowledge; the knowledge leader gives a chair, the leader in learning accompanies the discovery or transformation process.
3. Listening: it must be active, with an interest and with a fair amount of curiosity towards people and their points of view.
4. Discipline: there is no obstacle that can resist perseverance and for this it is important to stay focused, not be distracted, and be a bit stubborn through tenacity.
5. Celebration: the transformational leader knows how to recognize the effort and knows how to reward the results. Understand that the basis of happiness is progress and that it requires taking time to recognize, reward, and give back. 
   

Although these habits are not generated from one day to the next, if you start immediately, you achieve your domain through repetition. It is also useful to propose a plan of action and individual improvement for the achievement of goals. This is undoubtedly a recipe or proven formula for accomplishing the transformation of work teams and individuals. Conceptually it makes a lot of sense, however the emphasis must be on the execution and implementation of these concepts.

Alejandro (Alex) Lobo is founder and CEO of the Mexican Institute of Integral Prevention, writer, researcher, lecturer, educator, consultant, Wellness Coach, Life & BusinessPerformance Coach. The Mexican Institute of Comprehensive Prevention, is an association Alex founded after extensive experience working in the design, management and implementation of “Comprehensive Prevention” Models in educational institutions, public and private sector and governmental organizations. He has studied administration, international trade, and has obtained a Master degree in the Mexican Business School (IPADE). Furthermore, he has worked in consulting, teaching and research in various institutions in Mexico, the United States, and South America. “Comprehensive Prevention” ensures full personal development and freeing the inner potential. It humanizes relationships and leads to a state of consciousness, well-being and fulfillment.

The University of Derby is a modern and innovative university, which gained its university status in 1992, along with many other institutions via the UK Further and Higher Education Act. The university’s focus is on industry relevant qualifications and it prides itself on the high employability rate of its graduates (97% in 2017) and its Gold rating in the UK’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
 
The University of Derby, over a decade ago, developed the first degree level programmes in international spa management in the UK.   Taking their knowledge, expertise and experience of spa, of which many traditions and therapeutic practices have their origins in wellness, and their focus of developing graduates with strong managerial skills, business acumen and commercial awareness,  the team set out to develop an innovative degree programme. 

Being located in the beautiful spa town of Buxton, surrounded by the Peak District National Park, provides great opportunities for the department to link with the local community and tap in to the heritage of the region. Buxton as a health and wellness destination dates back to Roman times, the Romans settled there over 2,000 years ago because of the mineral springs that bubble up from under the town.  The 18th century saw great development in the town with the building of the Crescent Hotel and the Devonshire Dome, the Dome is now the Buxton campus of the University of Derby. To this day visitors to Buxton can taste the famed mineral waters by visiting St Ann’s Well in the town centre. The Devonshire Dome was originally built as stables to house the horses of visitors to the town, subsequently it became a hospital and continued to offer hydrotherapy treatment and rehabilitation until its closure in 2000. The university bought the Devonshire Dome in 2001 and invested in a £23 million renovation project. The Dome opened as a campus in 2006, delivering degrees in spa, tourism, events, culinary arts, hospitality management, sport and outdoor leadership.

The team in the Department of Hotel, Resort and Spa Management at the University of Derby were aware of the emerging wellness sector for a number of years, seeing a greater emphasis on multi-dimensional and holistic practices in spa, and a rise in guests seeking to enhance their mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing through their spa consumption. Drawing on expertise from colleagues in spa, tourism and hospitality management, the team set out to test the idea for their new programme through initial consultation.  A series of events were arranged with local, national and international employers, plus their network of contacts and alumni.The response was overwhelmingly positive and via the consultation, themes emerged which emphasised the need for graduates to have a clear understanding of the concept of wellness and the practices that underpin the concept. Ideas and information abounded and one of the first challenges in taking the idea forward was deciding what to and not to include in the curriculum.  

In rising to the challenge the team looked to the National Wellness Institute and Dr Bill Hettler’s model of The Six Dimensions of Wellness.  Drawn from this model, the curriculum focusses on, but is not limited to: the concept of wellness, principles of mind, body and spirit and the theories that under pin wellness, including anatomy, physiology and psychology. At its core the programme has a suite of management modules including aspects of, marketing, leadership and management, finance, business planning, strategic and operational management.  Forming the core of the programme, these modules are designed to develop students’ business acumen and commercial awareness, and skills that allow them to lead in a range of supervisory and management positions.Noting that communication skills are essential and wanting students to gain skills in coaching and mentoring, so that they can have ‘wellness’ conversations, whether that be individuals about their wellbeing or companies about developing their wellness strategy, a module focussing on this was included in the second year of the programme.  One of the biggest challenges faced in curriculum design was in deciding whether or not to teach students practical wellness modalities as part of the programme.   Modalities such as yoga, tai chi and meditation were considered but the team settled on onsite massage and mindfulness as their choices.  The choices were based on the flexibility for these two practices to be delivered in a range of settings and they were included within the first year of the curriculum. It was then decided that the two areas of corporate wellness and wellness tourism would be option modules within the programme, as these may provide distinct career pathways for graduates.  

The importance of integrating knowledge from a range of disciplines and ensuring graduates were cognisant of the tenets of wellness became a strong guide in curriculum design. A highlight in the journey was concluding that the aim of the programme was:

To develop graduates with strong management and leadership skills, who promote a holistic, multi-dimensional approach to wellness and are aware of the breadth and diversity of the wellness sector.

With this aim, the intention wasto ensure graduates are lifelong learners and are equipped to take up leadership roles in areas such as: workplace wellness, community wellness, wellness tourism and wellness destinations. Exposure to professional practice was considered essential; the team concluded that students should engage in live projects throughout the programme, have the option to complete a yearlong placement between years two and three and should undertake an individual wellness management research project in their final year.  Awareness of the breadth and diversity of the wellness sector and the roles and career paths within it was also important.

Validation of the programme provided another challenge and key milestone in the programme development.   A degree validation event involves scrutiny by a panel of internal and external academics and quality managers who consider the content and design of the proposal.External representation on a validation panel is an essential quality assurance requirement and finding an academic with appropriate subject knowledge and expertise was a challenge.  After a fairly long search, an experienced panel member was found who worked on health and wellbeing ethics programmes, who was also a holistic therapist.  The external panel member fitted the role well, and was able to provide guidance to internal representatives who were unsure of the subject of the proposal put forward.After a challenging day of rigorous questioning and stimulating debate, the programme was validated and approved for delivery from September 2016.  This moment was both exciting and daunting as it brought the next challenge of recruiting students to study the programme.

Unfortunately, the programme did not recruit a sufficient cohort to run in 2016 and so the start date was postponed until 2017.   Promoting the programme through traditional undergraduate progression routes of schools and colleges, to potential students who are 16 and 17 years old proved problematic.  The team found that students of that young age did not fully understand the concept of wellness or the career opportunities within the sector, when compared to the more established subjects of tourism, hospitality and spa management.  The team recognised that they had extensive work to do to educate potential students and those who advise them of study and career choices about the opportunities in this growing sector.   

The programme began in September 2017, with a small cohort of students.  Since then the team have been eagerly working to expose students to many different wellness modalities and practices. This has included liaising with local and international organizations regarding live projects, and taking students can on a number of visits.  Firstly, students visited a destination spa in the north west of England, where they learnt about the spa’s focus on wellness and their extensive workplace wellness scheme.  Students also delivered hand and head massages as part of a wellbeing event for teachers from across the east midlands region.  One very exciting project that student have just begun, is a live workplace wellness project, which involves them evaluating a company’s support for line manager in respect of staff mental wellbeing and making recommendations for how the company can take the work forward.  Students can be see below ready to undertake a factory tour to learn about the company and gain greater insight into the working environment.

The prospect of delivering this new programme and taking the subject area forward in UK higher education is very exciting.  The team are undertaking scholarly activity and research to inform their teaching and following the recent publication of their text book, Spa Management: Principles and Practices, colleagues within the department are working together with other likeminded individuals to produce an academic journal which aligns to the spa and wellness curriculum.

So the journey continues, moving forward the team aim to grow their student numbers and are working on a recruitment plan.  Further forward the team would relish working with like-minded institutions and individuals to establish a wellness organization within UK.

To find out more about the programme, please contact Louise Buxton, Programme Leader of the BSc (Hons) in Wellness Management, at l.c.buxton@derby.ac.ukor visit the University of Derby’s website at www.derby.ac.uk

Louise Buxton is a Senior Lecturer in Spa and Wellness Management at the University of Derby in the United Kingdom.  Starting her career as a beauty therapist, Louise went on to study management, education, coaching, and mentoring at university. Louise holds an MA in Education, is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and an experienced therapist, coach, and mentor
Louise Buxton | BA (Hons) PGCE MA FHEA
Senior Lecturer | Link Tutor (Swiss Partners)
Department of Hotel, Resort and Spa Management | College of Business, Law and Social Sciences
University of Derby | LS/207 1 Devonshire Rd Buxton SK17 6RY
+44 (0)1332 594612
M: +44 (0) 7920478199

Have you been diagnosed with a serious illness? I want to share ways to address the trauma, shock, and overwhelming anxiety involved with a serious diagnosis and ways to offer empowerment and support.

I am designing a coaching program for those people diagnosed with meningioma and am asking for input. The coaching program I am working on is a combination of numerous international empowering and catalytic resources incorporating the Six Dimensions of Wellness and the Wheel of Wellness. I'm interested in working with people around the globe in support groups that have meningioma and are challenged by the reality involved.

I have had 2 surgeries to remove my tumor and am currently recovering from facial palsy, double vision and changes that are requiring rehabilitation at a center twice a week. I have the greatest empathy beyond my training to be able to present ways to really reach deep — accessing an individual’s inner strength and facilitate the vulnerabilities into tools of resiliency.

There will be no charge for this program; with members meeting one to three times a month. At the beginning of the month, the topic of focus is sent out as are resources and transformation processes. There are worksheets and access to more tools and resources with each month’s focus.  

The monthly focuses I am contemplating and currently designing are stress management, resiliency, mindfulness, neuroplasticity, nutrition, heart congruence, the interconnection between the 3 brains, the heart, brain and the gut, becoming a witness, breathing, and holistic nourishment. I have many more ideas which I’m formulating into introductory information packets with accompanying coaching questions used in the group. My webinar plans are being designed and I will be ready to share what I’m doing in a follow-up article. I am also contacting global speakers to ask that they appear as a guest speaker periodically.

I am assembling all my training and life experiences, which have empowered me and built my resiliency to support others with the condition of meningioma. I plan to give access to other people as time goes on. I would appreciate any suggestions or direction to be better prepared.

Elisabeth Wightman is a Professional Life Coach in Australia with an accompanying Wellness Certificate and an International NWI member. She earned a New Zealand Bachelor of Health Science, is ICF credentialed, Heart Math trained, and a licensed coach. She is currently working on her Doctorate of Natural Medicine to support previous Naturopathy training. She can be reached via email, elisabeth@theolivebridge.com 

When we think of wellness for a third world country we must first consider basic principles of human dignity such as security, food, education and health.

Brazil is currently going through a very serious crisis of trust of its political leaders. In a little more than a year President Dilma Roussef was impeached and a few months later we found out that the current president Michel Temer was also involved in serious acts of corruption. These facts have made worse the economic crisis, increased unemployment and especially aggravated the revolution against authority and violence in our country.

In 3 years, the number of unemployed people has more than doubled, rising to 13.7% in the first quarter of 2017, according to the data released on April 31, 2017 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), through the PNAD survey. The latest data provided in August showed an improvement of this statistic of less than 1%, decreasing to 12.8% in the quarter ending July 2017. This improvement was due to informal work.That is, people who went about developing something on their own, empowering themselves with their personal skills and abilities and not waiting to be hired but becoming self-employed.

The economic crisis together with the crisis of a lack of trust in the government generates a sense of outrage in the population. The Brazilian population lack inspiring leaders and this has brought about bad consequences in several sectors of our society. We are in a chain effect that has had the consequence of creating great losses in personal wellness and quality of life. The economy is one of the main sectors affected and that brings consequences such as the increase of unemployment, insecurity and outrage, raising considerably the crime rate in Brazil.

Servant leadership has as a principle, the leader being an example of character, justice, and an inspiration for their population. "Be an example of a human being wherever you are, be it in your family, church, community or company. Develop yourself as a leader who has a sense of community and personal values that are fair and guided by what is right to do." Coaching is a tool to help people develop and pursue their goals with their own skills and abilities.

I believe that servant leadership, together with a coaching methodology can promote powerful actions for the promotion of wellness in countries like Brazil where it is common to find leaders with poor regard of person values.

This article aims to clarify how the combination of servant leadership and coaching can help develop Brazilian society by promoting wellness through better individual behaviors and, consequently, generate a more productive, peaceful, and happy society.

Servant Leadership

Servant Leadership was first proposed in a 1970 essay by Robert K. Greenleaf, "Servant as Leader" which was inspired by his experience with institutions and the short reading of Herman Hesse's novel, "Journey to the East." That story is told in the first person by H.H., a musician and member of a brotherhood, who decides to take a long journey. The group followed a servant, esteemed by all, called Leo who was wise, faithful, kind and handsome. At one point Leo disappears and the group falls quickly into a spirit of disorder and he leaves the group. Years later the narrator finds out that despite being seen as a servant, Leo was the chief and spiritual guide of the religious order they belonged to. It was through this reading that Greenleaf solidified that what makes the greatness of a leader is ‘the attitude of first serving others’.

"Caring for people who are more capable and less able to serve one another is the rock upon which a society is built"
– Greenleaf

But it was with James C. Hunter that the concept of servant leadership gained greater prominence in Brazil. Initially named "The Servant," the book "The Monk and the Executive" has already sold more than 3 million copies in Brazil alone and has been on the list of bestselling books for ten years. The author also published two more books about leadership.

While Greenleaf uses the servant Leo as the inspiration for the novel Journey to the East, Hunter quotes Jesus Christ as the greatest example of a servant leader in his book "The Servant". Hunter defines leadership in the book "How to become a servant leader" as: "The ability to influence people to work enthusiastically toward common goals, inspiring confidence through strength of character.”

James C. Hunter defends the thesis that leaders must have character, a very strong spiritual basis and the awareness that leadership is not power but authority, conquered with love, dedication and respect for people.

The author shows that it is necessary to practice every day the skills of the servant leadership so that they become a habit. Simply engage in a process of continuous improvement, accept feedback from subordinates, and be willing to take the risks to eliminate the gap between who you are and what you need to change to become a truly effective leader.

In the writings of servant leadership mentioned above, there is a prominence of some key words that define the characteristics of the servant leader. In analyzing them one by one, note the alignment of coaching posture with that of the servant leadership:

Character - In the process of coaching you do not have to convince, deceive, impress or please anyone. It is the time to be truetoyourself.

Very strong spiritual base - In a process of coaching, beliefs and values always appear as guides or saboteurs of success. Beliefs and structured values in favor of the goals make the expected results closer;

Continuous Improvement - The coaching process aims to help achieve the high performance of people willing to develop;

Accept feedback - Only accepts feedback those who are committed to their personal development and focused on themselves and not seeking justifications for failures in the external environment;

Leadership is not power but authority - Authority belongs to people who know how to listen attentively to the opinion, knowledge and experience of others. That they have respect differences and do not make judgment without knowing the facts in depth;

Love - If you want to become a better person, you have a clear goal and actions to follow, is because there is love for something or someone;

Dedication - In a coaching process the sessions must take place weekly and the actions developed must have an agreed day, time, place to start and finish. The results depend entirely on the coachee's dedication;

Respect - Not judging, questioning what is right or wrong, listening attentively to others are basic principles of coaching and they demonstrate respect for the history, experience, knowledge and learning of the other.

For you to become someone better you will have to use your own resources, because nobody gives what they do not have. The greatest expectation about a leader is not their technical knowledge, but their ability to inspire the team to use the knowledge that is in favor of a common goal. Coaching in this process can be highly effective as it leads to the necessary questioning for the leader to find their essence and inspire others. Is 10% the best you can get? What about the other 90%?

A lot of personal knowledge is stored waiting to be used, but on a day-to-day basis the lack of purpose and clear goals can lead to one’s own resources remaining stacked away. Coaching can help the person to seek within the unused 90%.

The servant leader invites the person to be better. To understand that to lead is to evolve continuously.

The principles of servant leadership can be learned and applied by those who have the will and intention to change, grow and improve. What most leaders seek is to find new knowledge to better perform their tasks. But if research indicates that one uses only 10% of what one learns, what about the other 90%? Accessing and utilizing some or all of that 90% can boost the potential to face the difficult challenges of today's leaders. Coaching methodology has the potential to empower the leader to achieve this.

It is possible and advisable to obtain knowledge about a subject by reading a book or by taking part in a course, but application and practice are fundamental. The exercise of leadership is what leads to development.

There should be willingness to review old behaviors, identifying and altering what is judged to be necessary to achieve good results. The crucial difference in applying the coaching methodology is that the person knows what it is they are looking for. Coaching methodology involves self setting a clear goal and always ends with a personal action plan. Knowledge is not filed; it is sought for the execution of something that brings the person closer to their goal.

Considering that information, the leader must answer these questions:

1. On a scale of 0 to 10 how much am I engaged in a process of continuous improvement and becoming a more inspiring leader?

2. What else can I do to become a better leader?

3. What would the best leader I have ever known say to me to do besides everything that has been mentioned above?

4. From the above list of key characteristics of a Servant leader, which of these actions will I carry out now to bring me closer to my goal?

5. How will I do them? When? (Date/time) Where? (Local / Environment) Who with?

These questions will cause the leader to seek the responsibility for their own development and thus find solutions to overcome the difficulties that exist in the current socio-political and economic scenario of Brazil. Moving from being a victim to be the main character of their life while developing a more just and transforming community. These actions will generate self-esteem, human dignity and inspire admiration and respect, infecting the environment in which they live with progress and continuous actions of personal and social development assisting in the construction of a society that Brazilians can be proud of — a society and culture depicting the rightness of character and growth by honest work.

The aforementioned process of coaching servant leaders has been implemented in hospitals, clinics and medical centers which are clients of our company and the results validate the effectiveness of the methodology. Both health professionals and their patients report that they have a higher quality of life. In a future article I will explain in detail the statistical results of the present program.

Cecilia Negrini is business Consultant, businesswoman, coach and speaker.

She is founder and owner of the company Cecilia Negrini – Consulting and Advice for the Health Area.  She had more than 10 years of experience in assisting health professionals. A personal coach by SLAC – Sociedade Latino Americana  deCoaching  and she is affiliated in Institute of Coaching by Harvard and affiliated in National Welness Institute – USA. She is specialist in Linguistics from UNESP – UniversidadeEstadualPaulista and she did MBA in Marketing for Health and  MBA in Business Management from FGV – FundaçãoGetúlio Vargas. She  works like facilitor in training about servant leadearshi by FórmulaTreinamentos and James Hunter – author  of the book The Servant and others.

 E-mail: cecilia@cecilianegrini.com

Introduction

I kicked things off by discussing the buzz surrounding workplace wellness in Ireland. My aim with the Workplace Wellness Ireland group is to ensure that we are not looking back in 10 years time and remembering wellness as a ‘fad’ in Irish workplaces. What a missed opportunity that would be? By bringing people together to share experiences and lessons learned I believe we can improve all of our services, we can demonstrate real value for Irish businesses and for the people in those businesses and eliminate any future talk of a workplace wellness fad.

I also mentioned the fact that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to workplace wellness. The bad news is, it’s not an exact science. The good news is that there are simple strategies that can be followed to significantly increase the chances that wellness initiatives will be successful. This is the type of information I want to promote and share at our meetups and in the online community.

Values

I then introduced the values I’ve created to the community. I would love if we can adopt these at our future events and in any online interactions. The Workplace Wellness Ireland values are:

1. Share without expecting anything in return
2. Have fun and respect everyone
3. Make friends, not contacts *
   *Thank you to Startup Grind for inspiring me on the third value ;)

Jim Kirwan:

‘Workplace Wellbeing Lessons Learned’

The first speaker on the evening was best selling author, international speaker, and health and wellbeing coach Jim Kirwan. Jim started his talk linking saying goodbye to his daughter at Dublin airport, last Christmas, to the value of time and the importance of our health and wellbeing. He then explained why what he does is so important to him by telling us his dad's story; he died very suddenly at 47 of a massive heart attack when Jim was only 20. He described this as 43 lost years and said he does not want this to happen to you.

Jim then introduced us to the 6 Key Ingredients of Effective Strategic Wellbeing which he refers to as FIT-CEO.

FIT-CEO

F - First: CEO and all executives and managers have to walk the talk.

I - Involve: Increase employee involvement and engagement will follow.

T - Transform: Wellbeing is a great opportunity to transform your organisation with BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).

C - Culture: Wellbeing is at the top of your organisation values.

E - Excellent: There is no other way!

O - Outcome: Clear vision of results you want to achieve in short, medium and long term.

Lessons Learned

Jim also introduced his top four lessons based on his experience of working with Irish companies.

Lesson 1

What was the difference? The CEO, executives, and managers from Company B promoted and attended his talk(s)!

Lesson 2

Your wellbeing initiatives should focus on the majority of employees, not a minority.

Lesson 3

Most one-off wellbeing talks are not effective; think PROJECTS with a beginning, middle, and end which can measure results and change behaviour over time.

Lesson 4

Your wellbeing initiatives should be fun, enjoyable and sustainable. Sustainable means that employees can make changes that last!

Left to right: Robert Carley, Jim Kirwan, Brian Crooke, and Caroline McGuigan

A key message from their talk was that we all have mental health. Forget about the traditional statistics. Everyone has mental health issues at certain times according to Caroline and Robert.

Caroline discussed her own inspiring story and the obstacles she has overcome and continues to overcome. She introduced herself as a mum first and foremost. She also happens to be a psychotherapist, mental health advocate and the founder and CEO of Suicide or Survive.

Highs and Lows

We all have highs and lows. Robert gave a heartfelt example from his own life. This week in September is an emotional one for Robert and his family as they remember the sudden passing of his wife seven years ago. This September he also learned that he’s going to be a granddad again.

We can all relate to certain highs and lows in our own lives. Even from day to day and week to week there will be highs and lows that impact us. Caroline and Robert are on a mission to highlight the need to start conversations on mental health in Irish companies, to reduce the stigma and create work environments that are supportive of speaking up if you happen to be going through one of those lows.

Interaction

It really was an inspiring and engaging talk and no exaggeration to say that those present were close to tears one minute then roaring with laughter the next. The audience played their part too, as we were first encouraged to turn to the person beside us to tell them they had mental health issues, then stretching our hands in the air as high as we could (and then a little higher….and a little higher….) to squeezing a fist together as tightly as we could then slowly releasing it and letting all the tension escape.

From Now On…

I didn’t expect Hugh Jackman to feature at our inaugural meet up, however Caroline and Robert had everyone standing together at the end of their talk to join in on the chorus of a song from The Greatest Showman movie: From Now On...From Now On.

Like you care about your dental health, care about your mental health — we all have it!

Our People

The meet up was just as much about meeting new people as it was about hearing from the wonderful speakers. There was a great energy in the room before we kicked off on Tuesday and this was repeated during a short interval between speakers and again as we wrapped up for the evening with lots of people staying back to chat and ask questions.

Most people I’ve spoken with since have mentioned the really interesting people they met at the event, which is yet another expectation of mine which was exceeded on the night.

The energy and atmosphere was supported by our brilliant food exhibitors: Fiona’s Food For Life, Skinny Malinkys Juices and The Fruit People who kept everyone fuelled on the night.

One of the values I introduced was ‘Make Friends, Not Contacts’ and this certainly seems to have been the case on Tuesday.

Future Events

As I discussed on the evening, I want the group to tackle different areas and perspectives in workplace wellness. There’s a great mix of organisations and industry sectors represented in the community, and also companies of different sizes. Some are at different stages of the wellness journey, with some businesses quite experienced in this area and some only starting out.

At future meetups I want to hear from these differing perspectives. While there will be differences from company to company, there will also be similarities that we can all learn from. I’d also love to hear from you the community as to what topics you would like to see addressed in the future. Drop me a line and let me know.

Our next meet up is scheduled for November 13th, again at the Bank of Ireland at Grand Canal Square and again from 6 pm to 8 pm. Get the date in your diary!

Thanks, everyone and see you on November 13th!

Brian

#WorkWellIreland

Brian Crooke is a wellness consultant, speaker and trainer specialising in the auditing, development and delivery of workplace wellness initiatives for Irish companies through his Office Worker Health business. He is the founder of the Workplace Wellness Ireland community and meet up. In his spare time Brian is trying to bring free resistance training to every county and community in Ireland with his parkHIIT project. Contact Brian to find out more: brian@officeworkerhealth.com

In November 2016, I received an email from Sallie Scovill, PhD, Associate Professor, UW – Stevens Point asking if I could host 13 students, as she had received confirmation that she had enough students to make a trip to London viable.

I was excited. Why? I had previously hosted 12 UWSP Interns in 2015 and the experience of sharing my career journey in Wellness in the USA and in the UK at that time encouraged me to agree to this new request.

I am a 1993 graduate from UWSP in Health Promotion – Wellness, and I completed my Internship in the UK. This provided me with the opportunity to start my own business. In 2000, Personal Touch Fitness was launched and 17 years on, the business continues to offer various corporations Health & Wellbeing programmes to suit their business plans. So when asked to host and share my experiences again, I grabbed the opportunity.

I feel it is important to share and highlight accomplishments of meeting goals, and the highs and lows of running a successful business with the future practitioners of our profession. On June 6, 2017, thirteen Interns came to one of Personal Touch Fitness’ clients in London to observe, learn, participate, and engage with the business, all the while being encouraged to ask questions.

Personal Touch Fitness hosted the interns from 11am – 2:15 pm, and started with the group being split into two smaller groups. Group one, led by myself, was given a tour of the fitness centre, which included information about all services provided, operations, posters, marketing, subcontractors, employees, equipment, classes, etc... There were many questions, and it really highlighted to students how everything needs to work well operationally to be a success.

What can go wrong? How do you manage it? How do you learn? These were some of the questions students asked.

Group 2 was hosted by our Fitness Manager, Martina, and these students experienced the Health Assessment that is provided to fitness centre members.
After 30 minutes, the groups switched.

Afterwards, we made our way to a large meeting room on the top floor of the site. The students were pleased with the view into London City with Canary Wharf in the distance. It was time to have a healthy working lunch. This was a selection of freshly made sandwiches, wraps, fresh fruit, and water. I talked about the background to Personal Touch Fitness from 2000 – 2017. My goal was to give the students an understanding of how crucial it is for a business to always innovate, grow, learn, and offer different services whilst listening to clients’ needs. Each of these is necessary to tailor services, and to deliver what you set out to do.

Martina also shared her experiences of being an employee of Personal Touch Fitness, and how she was developing her skills of presenting by being involved in hosting the group. She admitted that she needed to work on this, and the students loved the honesty. Seeing first-hand that we are always learning helped them to realize that they too will need to become life-long learners to excel professionally. That is wellness.

To end the time with the students, I wanted to close with a Q & A session. I had asked Sallie to have each student write down a question, then send them all to me prior to June. Martina and I answered each question. This process worked really well, as the students found it extremely interesting.

An example of questions:

• What was the biggest mistake you have made within the field of health promotion and wellness?

• What are some things you do that have been successful to inspire and motivate employees to want to start a healthier lifestyle at your clients' companies?

• What is reflexology, and how does it relate to lowering your stress along with exercise?

• What techniques do you use to convince large companies to get on board with your programs?

• Do employers have the American 9-5 work hours, or do they let employees decide what hours they want to work?

• How do you get the most current information, to stay up to date with trends and information?

Was it a great experience for the students? Yes, let me share what one student sent me:

Dear Chris,

 It was wonderful meeting you today. I am so grateful that you took the time out of your day to share your personal journey of building a business such as Personal Touch Fitness with UWSP Health Promotion Students like myself. It was such an amazing opportunity to learn about Personal Touch Fitness and all the hard work that was put into the company to create such a unique business.

 I think I speak for all the UWSP students when I say you are truly inspiring, and I could just feel your passion for the business and what it promotes when you speak. It is encouraging for us as students to hear about someone who has walked in our shoes and has been able to create something so beautiful from an immense amount of hard work and dedication. Thank you for Martina's information, I hope our paths cross again very soon. I've attached our photo together [see photo below] in this email as well. Thank you so much for everything.

Best wishes, Mallory Price

Health & Wellbeing is about sharing, learning, awareness, mindfulness, and always working towards making small adjustments to one's wellbeing for a healthier life. What are you doing to make a difference?

Good luck to all students around the world to reach out and learn, grow and achieve. You are the next generation to push wellness forward. Cultivate a culture that flourishes.

Chris Andrews

Chris is the MD of Personal Touch Fitness (PTF) for 17 years in the UK. Chris prides herself in her passion, enthusiasm and expertise in providing fitness services in the corporate environment which is extended through the company values, ethos and to the employees. With almost 23 years of experience, many leading PTF, she has learnt what works and what doesn’t. Her energy drives her tireless quest to improve her clients’ health and fitness. Chris has given PTF clients the confidence to harness her skills to lead Facilities and Service Provider workshops as well as formulate and promote client Wellbeing Strategies.

Ruth Limkin
Founding CEO – The Banyans Health and Wellness
Queensland, Australia

In Australia, the wellness market is still developing, and there are limited options for those seeking comprehensive, integrated wellness programs.

Whether the health concern is lifestyle stress for busy executives; depression or anxiety; or overuse of alcohol or other substances as self-medicating pain or distress; the main programs that have been available are traditional institutional hospital programs, therapeutic community programs, or outpatient programs.

While residential programs with a wellness focus are slowly becoming more popular, there has still been a need for a comprehensive program offering best in field practitioners and a truly integrated approach that provides privacy and individual therapy.

Over the last 18 months, I have been involved in the establishment of a new wellness centre. Called, The Banyans Health and Wellness, it was purpose-built to provide tailored programs for discerning individuals, and with the highest level of specialist practitioner support available within the Southern Hemisphere. Drawing guests from around Australia, from the USA, New Zealand and Singapore the results are a testament to the benefit of a model that is medically informed and integrated with biopsychosocial care.

We have drawn on the Dimensions of Wellness from The National Wellness Institute, and trained our foundation staff in this model. This has meant that we take an integrated and holistic approach to wellness which informs every part of our program, and the shared language of staff helps our guests to understand the breadth of wellness.

For instance, with a Nutritionist on board, our team understands that proper nutrition and hydration are key to help restore physical and mental health and improve the chance of recovery. They understand that macro- and micronutrient deficiencies can lead to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and low energy, all of which can lead someone to start bad habits or learn maladaptive coping mechanisms in an attempt to soothe, comfort or distract themselves from the pain of their condition or symptoms of disease.

This integrated approach provides the best of both worlds, with robust medical care as needed and allied health providers working to provide more broad approaches to health and well-being. This means that medication is not feared nor is it seen as the only way to assist emotional and mental well-being.

As the Founding CEO, it has been a privilege to work with a large team to create wellness experiences for guests who have measurable, demonstrated results. It has been a joy to see the multi-modality of therapies being delivered successfully.

Our Clinical Director Peter Hayton explains the benefits of integrated residential programs in comparison to consultations in an out-patient mode. He says, “Many Psychologists in less frequent models of delivery, such as occasional appointments, need to rely on a client’s own motivation to address areas of physical well-being. This can be a difficult scenario, as the reason a client is seeing a therapist often means they have reduced motivation. Therefore, a psychologist may need a number of consultation sessions just to address this motivation and need to improve physical health concerns. However, in a residential wellness program, the aspects of diet, nutrition, exercise, and sleep are not only coordinated with the support of other professionals in the program, but are also scheduled into the daily program, freeing the counselling and psychological therapy time to address other concerns.To be successful, counselling and psychological treatment also require that clients allow ample time for contemplation, adjustment, and implementation. Less frequent therapy programs offer this space in between the weekly or monthly consultations and while therapists may set homework, the busy schedule of life can get in the way. This can make it difficult for clients to follow up or even take the time to practice new skills and learnings. In a residential program, while the program can be busy, there is also time specifically allocated for reflection, without the trappings and distraction of normal schedules and responsibilities. Thus the impact of transformation can be enhanced. Moreover, activities like yoga, music, and artwork often work hand in hand with the therapy components, adding power and emphasis to the change process.”

This is supported by research, with a broad study by Sheffield Hallam University showing that there was strong and consistent evidence for residential programs including:

• Residential programs provided benefits in physical and mental health and reductions in substance use.
• A study of females showed a clear benefit from residential treatment programmes in the area of psychological health.
• Greater overall improvement in physical health was related to residential programs than other forms of treatment.
• Long-term outcomes provide a strong endorsement of residential treatment and the longevity of its positive effects.
• Residential programs were significantly implicated in positive health outcomes, especially for those with alcohol, in the Australian Patient Pathways study.
• Residential programs are generally dealing with complex health needs, yet generally achieve equivalent or better results to other modalities of treatment.

For many people who have significant professional or personal responsibilities, investing one month in an intensive therapy program followed up supportive aftercare is much more attractive than eight months of trying to fit therapy in amidst the rest of life. Many guests also value the confidentiality that comes with one on one therapy rather than having to disclose personal details in group therapy.

Perhaps the most unexpected lesson over the last 18 months of operation is how discreetly people seek wellness programs like ours. With most guests finding us online, they are preferring to research options themselves online rather than talking to health providers. This has meant we have continued to refine our online communication and will do so on an ongoing basis.

A focus on wellness today provides greater quality of life for many years to come—it’s an investment with healthy returns.

Wellness practitioners who would like to see case examples are welcome to contact me at ruth@thebanyans.com.au for these or further information.

Ruth Limkin is a leader and communicator. Ruth is passionate about creating a better tomorrow and this has led her into all sorts of interesting spaces and experiences in media, politics, charity and business. Recent professional roles have included CEO of a charity, Chief of Staff to the Speaker of Queensland Parliament and currently, the CEO of The Banyans Health and Wellness (www.thebanyans.com.au), running a Wellness Residence. Born in Japan, Ruth has lived most of her life in Brisbane, and has enjoyed travels around Southeast Asia, the Pacific, UK, Europe, and the U.S.

On the 9th June, the 6th annual Global Wellness Day took place in over 100 different countries at over 5000 different locations. As the University of Derby Buxton is a forerunner in the provision of spa and wellness education, it was only fitting that we celebrate such a day, and so a fantastic event was organised by two 3rd year students from the International Spa Management degree course. The event took place in the university’s’ historical Devonshire Dome campus – adorned in the iconic magenta colour of the Global Wellness Day brand, the Dome was the perfect setting to host such an event. The aim of the day was to the statement “One day can change your whole life” by bringing awareness to a wellness lifestyle. The Global Wellness Day manifest for 2018 was comprised of 7 elements: walk for an hour each day, drink more water, don’t use plastic bottles, eat healthy food, do a good deed, have a family dinner and sleep at 10pm each night. 

With this in mind, the event was organised to reflect these ideals and create awareness in an engaging manner. The day was filled with an ample amount of activities, some of which ran throughout the whole day, and some that were delivered in allocated time slots. This helped to create a fun atmosphere that was also structured enough so that no one got confused by the itinerary – this was a day centred on wellness after all! The team came up with a great idea to design passport-style itineraries so that guests could keep a visual record of which activities they had participated in throughout the day. With this, guests could collect stickers as an incentive to increase participation; each sticker was worth one entry to a prize draw. The event attracted guests of all ages – both adults and children – all of which appeared to enjoy the day in equal amounts. The event also fell on the same date as a university open day, so there were many additional guests that chose to join in the fun. 

The scheduled activities included the following:

• Wellness Walk. Equipped with Global Wellness Day display paddles, a party of around 20 people took part in this activity. We were led on a route past the historic St Anne’s Well – where famous Buxton mineral water is pumped from the ground – and to the scenic Pavilion Gardens. Buxton is a bustling town during the summer months and the weather was perfect, so this was certainly a highlight of the day. The walk demonstrated that the aim of walking for one hour each day is an achievable step to a healthier lifestyle. 
• Tai Chi workshop. There were two Tai Chi workshops on the day. The first one took place inside the Dome and introduced participants to a few simple movements, followed by a 5 minute demonstration from the instructor. After people had processed these simple moves, it was time to move onto something slightly more advanced, so later on in the day we gathered again, this time on the lawn outside of the building. It can’t be said that everyone mastered the moves, but it was definitely great fun!
• Healthy Food workshop and Healthy Lunch. Delivered by a professional doctor, guests were shown a presentation which introduced the concepts of healthy eating and mental techniques that can be used to switch cravings from junk food to vibrant, nutritious and healthy food. This was the ideal precursor to the healthy lunch, which was presented in a social, ‘family style’ setting with two long tables rather than many separate ones. We were treated to a wonderful array of rainbow foods which left us feeling full and satisfied, and the general consensus was that the food actually beat quick fixes such as pizza or pasta (not to say treating yourself isn’t a part of wellness too!).
• Mindfulness workshop. This pressure-free, informal workshop included an introduction into what mindfulness means, followed by a 10-minute guided mindfulness session. During this, we were taught to acknowledge our breathing and centre our thoughts to the present moment. The benefits of mindfulness for the mind, body and spirit were explained, leaving people eager to learn more. Feedback from the participants was very positive and there was a relaxed vibe in the room.

Additionally, there was a Children’s Reading Room, Plastic Awareness information stand and spa treatment demonstration stand that guests could visit throughout the day. There was also an Affirmation Board – people had the opportunity to write something that they were grateful for or happy about, and display it on a board for all to see. By the end of the day, the board was covered with over 40 affirmations, which conveyed a powerful, positive message that fittingly reflected the principles of wellness.  

The impacts the day had for me personally were profound in terms of insight – I went away from the day feeling super reflective. As for the “One day can change your life” claim? After being armed with knowledge surrounding the dangers of plastic, I have converted to bamboo cups, I haven’t bought a plastic bag in weeks, I am eating healthier and my water intake is certainly up (however, the recommendation to sleep at 10pm may take some time to implement!). But that’s the great thing about the wellness movement – it doesn’t demand a drastic overnight change, it encourages small, achievable lifestyle alterations that can have a subtle positive impact on overall wellness. With annual events set to follow, this is just the beginning!

Bob has spearheaded NWI’s International efforts, networking and recruiting wellness professionals from around the globe to become engaged in our organization. This has resulted in the formation of the NWI International Standing Committee furthering involvement by international members and developing ways to spread wellness globally. He will continue to be involved with the work of the committee as a member volunteer.

For more than forty years Bob has been contributed professionally across all areas of personal and corporate wellness. His involvement includes research, consulting and teaching.

A Ministerial appointment to the Queensland State Steering Committee on Health Promotion in the Workplace preceded his appointment as the inaugural Director of the Queensland University of Technology Wellness Matters Program. He is an accredited Workplace Wellness Director, Certified Wellness Practitioner, Certified Workplace Program manager, Wellness Culture Coach, and Wellness Coach Trainer (for Real Balance Global Wellness Services, Inc.).

While exiting the board, NWI and all of its members look forward to continuing to enjoy not only Bob’s professional contributions, but also his joyous embrace of life that we all love to experience.  Cheers mate!

Michael Arloski, Ph.D., PCC, CWP, National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach
Real Balance Global Wellness Services, Inc.
michael@realbalance.com
www.realbalance.com
1-970-568-4700
Fort Collins, Colorado

President, Board of Directors, National Wellness Institute

Wouldn’t it be amazing if…

• We could spark a body into full recovery after years and years of pain.
• We could show the brain where it needs to focus to cure its imbalance.
• We could increase athlete’s power, speed and stamina instantly.
  We could test anything’s influence on our body like car seats, food, work positions, shoes, drugs, equipment etc.
• We could quickly find imbalances in our organs, muscles, ligaments, movements, meridians, bones, spine, pelvis, cranial system, jaw, eyes, mechanics, energy, thoughts, lymph etc.
• We could quickly find imbalances in our organs, muscles, ligaments, movements, meridians, bones, spine, pelvis, cranial system, jaw, eyes, mechanics, energy, thoughts, lymph etc.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if this was available to everyone not just the doctors, if mums could test for their children’s food intolerances, coaches could test their athletes are 100% ready, soldiers could test each others' equipment fits so it won’t cause an injury, therapists can test for the root cause to their clients' pain, Pilate instructors could test if each movement is good for everyone, Personal trainers could test for old injuries and imbalance before putting a client through a bad routine, councilors could test for how much a stressful situation is affecting their client's body, or how much a clients’ body is affecting a stressful situation.

We all have the power to change, both ourselves and others. Change happens with the brains recognition of the fault or faults. By initiating a natural immune response on everybody to our imbalances and injuries we can only get stronger and stronger as the genetic blueprint of self-recovery kicks in and focuses on its real job.

When the system is alerted and focused to its own imbalances it can get on with repairing itself as it's been designed to do through the long process of evolution. In fact, the immune system in humans is one of the things that makes us very dominant in the animal world.Why not harness this and use it to our advantage? Imagine if we could give it better clarity, make it stronger and more focused.We could proactively decrease injuries, illness and poor performances globally.

Imagine the power of a system that knows what it has to repair or change before the system receives a massage, reflexology, acupuncture and even an operation. Could we increase the chance of recovery by eliciting the problem first? By making the brain more aware of the real root issue? I’m not talking of where the pain is because we all know and feel that, I’m talking ofWHY it is.

For example someone suffering from chronic back pain and their root cause to this is an imbalanced jaw (TMJ), if we made the immune system aware of the jaw fault through testing, then delivered a massage to the back and connective tissues and fascia, would this make for a better recovery?

Yes, with muscle testing.

It doesn’t matter what you do or who you are, what matters is that your body can recover.

Whether recovery from illness, injury, or fast reactions of a fighter pilot, your functional system must be balanced to allow you to be your best at it, at that exact moment in time. If you're not; it stands to reason you have a smaller chance of being successful and a bigger chance of underperformance or poor recovery. 

Who wants to take a chance when wanting to perform at their optimum? 

Who wants to accept defeat before they had even started? 

Lots of us do. When we accept the challenge and just hope that we are in a good enough state to do it. To recover you need to be in a good enough state to recover!

That means if you are trying to recover, get a treatment from someone, use someone’s skills and energy to help you recover - don’t just lay there and hope.

Everything can be tested & challenged, not only functional mechanics but also memory, relationships, positions, confidence, work stations etc. The only limits are with your imagination, not with the neurologic reaction of the person you're working with.

For example; my son told me his younger sister had been smoking at school, which she was instantly annoyed about but refused to admit that she had done anything wrong. So I asked her to be honest with me but she admitted nothing. I did a muscle test on her to feel her power, and then asked her if her name was Sophie? She replied with ‘yes’ and I tested her muscle strength again to gain a baseline of her power when telling the truth.

Then, I asked if she had been smoking, and she replied, ‘no’, so I retested the muscle power and it stayed consistent, she didn’t lie. I then asked her if she had bought any cigarettes and she replied, ‘no’, so I retested her power and it completely failed. It was a lie, and she knew it because she went bright red as she was tested and realized her weakness.

It’s simple, the nervous system reacts to all sorts of inputs, from telling lies to functional positions that are not suitable to full health and balance. The reaction is weakness in muscle power, which allows us to see and perceive faults or imbalances.

We can use natural information to our advantage, because it clarifies imbalances and effects on the body as a system. It makes the brain fully aware of what is wrong instead of it being overwhelmed by too much confusing information.

The moment we have a failed muscle test, in that second the brain is fully aware both consciously and sub-consciously of the fault and its root because it is often a shock to the system. 

Dr. John Brazier, TCM, MSc is the founder of the award winning KORE Therapy that is a highly acclaimed integrated medical system. John has spent over 30 years studying in both the Orient and West connecting East Asian medicine theories with Musculo-skeletal imbalances to find and prove the root of certain conditions and the best way to accelerate recovery. By utilizing functional muscle testing we can predict and prove various imbalances and problems in the flow and balance of the organs, lymph, blood, meridians, emotions and a wide range of illnesses. As an international speaker and training provider John has presented in China, Thailand, India, Kuwait and across Europe, and has upcoming spa projects in Saudi Arabia, Dubai & Rumania. In sports John has worked with international, national and premiership football teams, Olympic athletes, golfing champions and athletes of all levels. John also has a keen interest in executive burnout and corporate health working alongside government agencies, British Aerospace, Fiat, BP, British armed forces and other companies.

Dr. Halima Goss, PhD 
Doctor and wellness advocate

As a small town medical doctor (with a Wellness framework in mind), I am challenged daily to balance treatment models and wellness goals.  In the crafting of patient care, my intention is to patiently combine modern medicine and Wellness based ideals with compassion and kindness.  I work with nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists, optometrists and a host of other allied health professionals.  It is unfortunate in Australia that our public medical funds purse has yet to embrace Wellness coaches as allied health professionals.  The upshot is that we are unable to include Wellness coaches as part of “team care plans” for eligible patients.  If a person wishes to use a Wellness coach, they must fund 100% of the fees.  This is in contrast to other professional groups like for example psychologists, exercise physiologists, and dietitians whose fees are recoverable through our Medicare system.  With time, and greater attention to refining effective paradigms and practices in both medicine and other professions, Wellness constructs as guiding principles may flow more freely.  For now, those who adopt and practice Wellness in treating and helping patients with Illness are those individuals who strive to empathize and educate in transformative ways.

In authoring this article, I hope to share some ideas that are inspiring and helping me develop in my role.  Whilst these ideas may not come from the Wellness literature, I am convinced that they should be essential reading for those wanting to pursue Wellness based practice.

Recently, I learned about a concept called “presence” from the field of existential analysis in psychiatry.  Author, Kirk Schneider (2015) offers this definition:  “a complex mix of appreciative openness, concerted engagement, support, and expressiveness, and it both holds and illuminates that which is palpably significant within the client and between client and therapist.”

Schneider (2015) further notes that presence “ embraces a much fuller and richer range of elements that may include a degree of discord and discomfort with another person.”

In contrast to mindfulness, presence is a mutual currency which we spend freely to grow honest and respectful  curiosity within relationships. Schneider (2015) states that “unlike conventional mindfulness, presence does not concertedly aim to dissolve the identity of self (if that is even achievable), but to expand, deepen, and redefine the identity of self. Finally, unlike conventional conceptions of mindfulness, presence aims to coexist with and integrate not necessarily detach from suffering”.

I began to reflect on how this idea fitted with those from Wellness coaching paradigms.   Wolever et al (2013) defined Health and Wellness coaching as:

A patient-centered approach wherein patients at least partially determine their goals, use self-discovery or active learning processes together with content education to work toward their goals, and self-monitor behaviors to increase accountability, all within the context of an interpersonal relationship with a coach. The coach is a health care professional trained in behavior change theory, motivational strategies, and communication techniques, which are used to assist patients to develop intrinsic motivation and obtain skills to create sustainable change for improved health and well-being.

This definition is heavily technocentric and is perhaps more closely aligned to traditional medical approaches than humanistic approaches.   Transformative learning is the hoped for outcome, but without a shared journey of transformation, is the process likely to be effective?

Schneider strongly encourages that psychotherapy training must incorporate humanistic and relational qualities to help trainees become well-rounded (engaging-empathic) people, not just competent technicians. He (2015) concludes:

 ” the optimization of presence is neither “performed” nor “enacted.” It is lived.

Wellness based practice must also consider these urging.  Perhaps a good starting point may be found in the work of Geller and Green berg (2012) who describe four dimensions that are key to therapeutic presence—

-the sense of being grounded, which includes feeling centered, steady, and integrated inside one’s own body and self;”

-the sense of being immersed “in the moment with the client;”

-the sense of “spaciousness or an expansion of awareness and sensation while being tuned into the many nuances that exist at any given moment with the client;” and

-the sense of “intention for presence to be with and for the client’s healing process” (p.109).

Knowing oneself first would seem to be the aim.  Could the spiritual dimension hold a key to unlocking personal qualities that blend to help one practice presence? Unfortunately, the spiritual dimension of wellness whilst recognized by many pioneers of wellness and certainly celebrated as integral by ancient scholars of wellness seems too often to be confused with orthodox belief systems, rituals  and structures.  It behooves us to consider re- elevating this dimension in the ranks of our training, work, research and promotion efforts.  Within it, alongside “encouragement” and “imagination”  sit so many values which hold the essence of human endeavour in the quest for optimum social, environmental and physical harmony.  Perhaps it holds a key to humanistic, relational transformative education for Wellness coaching training.  Could it be a pivot point as Eberst (1984) suggested many decades ago?

In my doctoral thesis, I had a unique opportunity to offer a synthesized description of the Wellness paradigm.  In writing this article, I decided to revisit that description (copied below for your reference)

The Wellness paradigm is concerned with the optimum functioning of individuals in society. A Well person’s awareness, understanding and active decision-making capacity align with their values and aspirations. A Wellness lifestyle is the commitment and approach adopted by an individual aiming to reach their highest potential for purposes greater than themselves. The outcome of a Wellness lifestyle is a capacity to contribute in positive and meaningful ways to one’s community, society and the welfare of the earth. An individual who adopts a Wellness lifestyle aims to seek and use knowledge to live with balance across the multiple dimensions of their health and wellbeing in concert with others and their environment. On a continuum between low-level Wellness and high-level Wellness, individuals continually move between various states of physical, psychological and spiritual harmony and vary in their capacity to reach aspirations and goals. Appropriate learning strategies, tools and techniques are necessary for one to achieve higher levels of Wellness. (Goss, 2015)

On reflection, I would probably add one more sentence which I recently heard uttered by a respected Australian (our former Governor General  Ms Quentin Bryce): The greatest journey we must make is the journey to the center of our self.

I have realized that often times the seemingly simple act of being present with my patients is the key to open the door to the healing process for them.   Whilst many of my colleagues in medicine may feel a little uncomfortable with quotations from complementary and alternative medicine or therapy,  I believe the collective wisdom is far too valuable to ignore.  I share the following quote as an acknowledgment and a reminder to those who wish to be transformed by their practice and to support others in their journeys to Wellness and Health.

Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, gave a magnificent description of health, when he wrote, ‘In the healthy condition of man, the spiritual vital force, the dynamics that animates the material body, rules with unbounded sway, and retains all the parts of the organism in admirable, harmonious, vital operation … so that our indwelling, reason-gifted mind can freely employ this living, healthy instrument for the higher purpose of our existence.’ [Aphorism 9, The Organon].

As an international wellness community, we have a unique opportunity to encourage the scholars of the future from all over the world to continue to seek integrative paradigms, methods and practices that serve to unlock the secrets to curing every disease that exists.  May your journeys be fruitful.

References

Eberst, R. (1984).  Defining Health: A Multidimensional Model.  Journal of School Health,54. 99-104.

Geller, S.M. & Greenberg, L.S. (2012). Therapeutic presence: A mindful approach to effective psychotherapy. Washington, DC: APA Press.

Goss, H.B. (2011).  Wellness education: An integrated theoretical framework for fostering Transformative Learning.  PhD Dissertation, School of Human Movement Studies, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology.

Schneider, K. (2015). Presence: the core contextual factor of effective psychotherapy. Existential Analysis, 26(2), 304-313.

Wolever RQ, Simmons LA, Sforzo GA, Dill D, Kaye M, Bechard EM, Southard ME, Kennedy M, Vosloo J, Yang N. A systematic review of the literature on health and wellness coaching: Defining a key behavioral intervention in healthcare. Global Adv Health Med. 2013;2(4):34–53.

Dr Halima Goss (PhD, MBBS, B App Sci, Grad Cert Mgt, Dip Teach) is a medical doctor and wellness advocate in Far North Queensland, Australia.  Her career has spanned a number of fields including science, education, technology, health and wellness, psychiatry and family medicine. 

 A founding member of the National Wellness Institute of Australia (NWIA) she has presented Wellness topics to wide and varied professional groups from the corporate, government, industrial, medical and education sectors.  She retains a heartfelt hope and enthusiasm for the coalescence of ideas and ideals born of cultural values which seek a kinder, more caring world with love as the most valued commodity.  She can be contacted via email at halbbgoss@gmail.com.

This workshop had two main objectives: learn some keys to enable participants to better know themselves through the wellness path and be able to identify their individual areas of improvement in order to increase personal well-being.

At the beginning, I shared wisdom from the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius, which resonates with me and was I felt a good way to introduce the topic of Wellness: “The plant which grows very easily will never flourish when exposed one day to sun and ten days to cold. To be able to grow, the plant needs to be exposed regularly to sun.”  

Before presenting the wellness concept, I first asked each participant their own definition of Wellness in one word spontaneously. I was not really surprised about the answers. The main words that emerged are the following: “balance”;  “harmony”; “well-being”.

In France, the term ‘Wellness’ is applied in many ways. In particular, it has long been used by the SPA and thalassotherapy industry. If we search for a brief definition on the internet, it is usually translated by “well-being”/“bien-être”.

This workshop was a great opportunity for me to share, with people in France, another definition of Wellness. That used by the National Wellness Institute in the United States. This is the definition that I personally use and that I support as part of my professional activity: “Wellness is, above all, an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence”.

The word ‘active’ is important since it suggests the responsibility of each of us for our individual growth.

I presented to the group the six dimensions of Wellness developed in 1976 by Dr. Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute (NWI):

• Occupational: Our personal satisfaction through work and the ability to establish balance between work and leisure time. 
• Intellectual: Our desire to open ourselves to new experiences in order to continue growing.
• Emotional: Our capacity to understand our feelings and manage behaviours related to our emotional states.
• Social: Our behaviour towards each other, our contribution in our environment. 
• Spiritual: Our capacity to discover meaning and purpose in life.
• Physical: Our capacity to take charge of our health by making conscious decisions to be healthy. 

Based on this interpretation, we can state that our flourishing on earth or our sense of well-being is a combination of each of these dimensions with our own ratios of each. Even if we all have common needs, everyone is unique, so ratios may not be the same from one human to another. It depends on multiple things, such as our identity, our personal interests, our culture etc. Nobody on earth can achieve 100% on each dimension. The most important thing is be aware that we can improve some things in our life in order to better appreciate it. 

Once the six dimensions of wellness had been presented and explained at the level of the individual, it was interesting to show how they also can be applied in the corporate environment. Indeed, as individuals should be aware of their own areas of improvement, so to companies should make the move to incorporate wellness as a core company value in the interest of both their employees and their bottom line. 

The second part of the workshop consisted of presenting successful corporate case studies of organisations which have integrated wellness as part of their being - such as SAS Institute (US) or Brocade (US).

The last part of the workshop was intended to engage participants in an enjoyable experience. Participants were first asked to complete a questionnaire in order to assess their whole-person wellness. A discussion of their results in small groups followed. A spokes person from each group then presented a brief summary of their deliberations to the entire group.

The exchange was very rich in each group. I really appreciated the whole hearted participation and enthusiasm of each participant. Everyone was able to identify their areas of improvement. Some participants were positively surprised by their results and this has encouraged them to pursue their wellness journey.

Wellness is a delightful engaging topic and in the future we will have a lot more to say about it, at both the individual and corporate level in France!

Ferroudja Meghenem (Committee Member NWI International Standing Committee) is the CEO of WELLNESS VALUES, a strategic consulting firm specialized in Wellness. Ferroudja started her career in audit and strategy & organizational consulting. For several years, she advised important and medium size groups. Ferroudja Meghenem is also a passionate Woman who actively supports the values related to health and beauty of body and mind. As part of WELLNESS VALUES mission statement, Ferroudja helps companies and brands integrate a Wellness strategy within their organization and rethink their customers and employee experience.

Martial Arts

Martial arts have been established across the world for many thousands of years. Initially they were to prepare individuals for combat, and still are, however there is an aspect that in the modern era they are as much about, fitness, mental training and long term wellbeing, as well as being able to fight or protect oneself. Indeed the act of feeling confident and being able to protect oneself is possibly as much a part of wellness and wellbeing as is the mindfulness aspect of doing martial arts. Many of the modern Japanese martial arts have developed, especially since the beginning of the 20th century to include an aspect of Zen Buddhism, it is about developing the person as much as the art. This has featured in much of the material that has been written about them as well as in movies such as the Karate Kid, also from a Chinese perspective in TV series such as Kung Fu. Elderly masters in these shows are the arbiters of exclusive knowledge and life skills that transcend the physicality of martial arts, however the ones usually doing the actual fighting are often younger and this is something that when I first undertook martial arts was the norm. Young, usually males, taking part in the weekly classes. This has started to change, but is something that could be far more frequent. What follows below is how I feel the martial arts can help the more mature practitioner or potential practitioner. Being 55 myself and still very active in martial arts I feel I can help inform, I do have a 70 year old student whose brain I also used in putting this together. He started training with me when he reached 65 for something new to do in his retirement, by the end of this year he will be striving to gain his black belt.

So, how can martial arts help with wellness? 

1. Physical wellness

Martial arts really is all-round exercise; it helps with flexibility, core strength, dependent on style of martial art, it is also works on stamina. It assists the elder student with balance as well as all who take part with hand, foot and eye co-ordination. Some would argue, alongside swimming, it is a complete physical training system.

2. Spiritual wellness

Some martial arts do have connection with Shintoism (the ethnic religion of Japan), Confucianism (some see this as a philosophy rather than a religion, but it built on ancient religious foundations to create social values and institutions for modern Chinese society)and Buddhism. However, most practised in the United Kingdom very likely only have some practices that indicate this, such as bowing in and meditation before or after practice. Through rigorous practice, an individual can move away from external problems and life issues and get away from day to day stresses. This helps get my mind into a better place, it allows me to really focus in on the act of what I am involved in, and it helps develop mindfulness. There is also beauty in the physical and developing an appreciation of the martial art enables you to see this.

3. Emotional wellness

Through both of the above, a more settled and peaceful emotional state can be forged. By allowing yourself to be expressed in what can be a physically challenging martial art, creates a more disciplined mind. It also allows you to get out some of the pent up emotions through the practice in the Dojo, the Dojo is the practice hall and seen as a place to focus on training and leave all the day to day baggage outside, however it is also a place where you can clear and cleanse your mind. You can focus all kinds of emotions into your practice. By establishing a daily practice, it is also possible to help balance your emotions into a more mindful self. Every day I run through several of my forms/katas, it is a kind of meditation for me, it clears my mind of clutter and enables me to be more balanced (forms/katas are prescribed sets of moves that you can run through on your own. When I do them I imagine the fight I am doing through the movements, I use imagery to really get focussed in on each movement, trying to make them as precise and effective as possible).

4. Occupational wellness

Martial arts keeps you fit and can often make you realise a bigger potential in yourself. This can really help in your work as it helps keep you healthy. It also often makes you more determined in achieving goals and targets which can translate well into your working life. However, if you do not work anymore, martial arts can encompass aspects of having a new career. My eldest student started martial arts when he was 65, now into his 70’s he uses the physical nature of martial arts to keep fit and have a focus. He uses the forms/katas to help keep his mind dexterous. 

5. Intellectual wellness

Martial arts is a study for life; it is not just about getting the next grade or achieving a black belt. I have studied martial arts for 44 years now and still feel like I am only part way through the journey. I love to learn from others and share my experiences, these are both aspects of a student. Martial arts allow you to challenge your mind and body; through use of your physicality you learn what you can do, what is hard to do and, as you get older, what is not so easy anymore. Then you have to let your mind determine how this not-so-easy stuff can be done. Martial arts makes you use your brain. You learn patterns through forms and combinations of moves that for some come easier than others. However, whichever of these types of learners you are, martial arts helps you develop skills that enables your mind to keep active.

6. Social wellness

Though martial arts can be practised alone, there is a very large social aspect. In martial arts you usually train in a group. This group, for the vast majority, becomes like a family. My clubs have a very important social aspect, a friendly sociable atmosphere creates better bonds in the club. You begin to gain trust and friendship with those you practise with. The teacher, often for junior and younger students, is like a role model or father figure, and will often become a mentor. Elder students are given respect by others, as should be expected. Often there are annual events, such as prize givings and parties, and there are also the regular events, such as gradings or competitions where bonds can be forged. You can find a new social group through the practice of martial arts. Mine is worldwide, I have friends in around 75 different countries through martial arts.

7. Community wellness

How does martial arts help the community around us? Well, through the practice of martial arts students of it develop a better mind, body and spirit linkage. This helps forge, respect, appreciation of their surroundings through opening of their mind to what is possible for themselves and recognising potential in others. It also makes them less likely to be involved in generally bad behaviour. It keeps the individual fitter and healthier and enables them to be less of a burden on others and the NHS. Wellness interventions using martial arts have shown benefits in terms of social awareness and decreases in depression, this all feeds into a healthier community generally. 

Charles Spring is a Senior Lecturer in spa and wellness management programmes at the University of Derby at the University’s Buxton campus. His research has recently been focussed in the area of wellness around the area of physical activity and especially using interventions with people with varying degrees of ability. Current lecturing duties in spa and wellness management, include specialisms in management areas around business development and entrepreneurship and contemporary issues within the discipline area. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

By Jana Stara
Doctoral student at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic

It is mid-December, a dark and cold winter evening. A group of 30 youth workers from all across Europe gather in an educational center in the middle of a Czech forest. They sit on chairs in a circle, silently they are thinking: What do I need to fully arrive here? What do I want to carry with me when I leave? What is this Well-ness? Where is the nearest restroom? They are at the beginning of The Game of Wellness, a 7-days Erasmus+ training for trainers. In this article, I will share with you how our training team introduced them to the essence of wellness through experiential training that combined the best of wellness, principles of gamification and non-formal teaching methods  - inspiring them to do things like – adopting dogs, building their own standing desks or designing their own trainings. In short - some magic happened there.

What do you envision when you imagine the worst-case youth worker? When designing the Game of Wellness, we imagined a burnt-out person who works with great passion at the start of their career, but slowly loses the energy one day after another. Common issues being: Work-life non-balance (because when you work with passion, you don’t/shouldn’t care about long working hours, right?); low social and financial recognition (because nobody truly knows what you work on and you can never show a tangible product of your work - you are just playing with kids): a work task that can possibly never be accomplished (when can you be done with making this world a better place, making youth better humans?). Then again, I guess these few examples could apply to more helping professionals than just youth workers.

So, what was the aim of the Game of Wellness? To inspire youth workers to be good living examples of what they promote – an engaged and creative human being who is joyful and satisfied with their life, is engaged in their community, and makes active steps toward “bettering it." We have combined the core ideas of the two big trends that have spanned the world in last couple of years – wellness and gamification.

But what do those two trends have in common? It is the feeling of joy and sense of meaning and accomplishment you get when you are playing a game as well as when you are living a life full of wellness.

Think with me: What makes a good game?

It has a clear goal and set of rules – a game is no fun if you break the rules, they allow you to win and experience the reward. You usually play with other people. Sometimes you don’t even have to win to experience the joy of the play…. There are many more words that describe a game, but the idea is that gamification as such, is about adding the principles of games into daily mundane tasks that by themselves make no sense at all. In the context of a wellness lifestyle, a game is then the antidote for a tedious set of health recommendations, and too often, hard to achieve behavior change action steps.

In the context of our burnt-out youthworker – it doesn’t help to advise: “Live healthier, move more, eat less, work better.” It would just add to a ‘plate’ that is already ‘too full’. In the Game of Wellness we employed wellness oriented games to inspire them to have more joy and satisfaction in their work and in their life, which will allow them to live and work better and be more inspiring and valuable to their organizations, communities, youth, families and … everybody. (A bit simplistic explanation, but I hope you follow the red line!)

To be more specific, we set the following objectives:

• to promote and explore concepts of “wellness”, work-life balance and healthy lifestyle in the context of youth work; and the dissemination of these concepts and principles among young people
• to empower and motivate youth workers to develop and organize activities that support wellbeing and healthy lifestyle of youngsters in their communities
• to introduce practical tools (such as the wellness inventory) as a framework for promoting holistic health and personal development of young people and youth workers (including experiential methods and practical principles, inspired by concepts of gamification)
• to explore strategies/methods how to make personal and professional practice of a youth worker healthier, focusing also on prevention of burnout
• add inspiration, creative tools and approaches to their practice with emphasis on the uplifting aspects of youth work and to develop specific action plan of its implementation

like a great deal of work, right? So how did we do it? First of all, we had support from the Erasmus+ program that allowed us to gather a participant group of highly motivated individuals from 9 European countries - Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom. The team of trainers consisted of Carmine Rodi Falanga (who covered the topic of games), Bara Rodi (medical doctor and expert in trainer’s skills and youth work) and myself (Introduction to wellness).

And we just locked these people together in one house, deep in a forest, for one week and the magic of learning happened by itself?

I hope you know I’m kidding! Instead, we designed a dramaturgy line that guided participants on their inside-out wellness journey that started with initial days of letting go of the burdens and re-discovering their personal wellness (wellness for me – what can I do for myself to feel and be better), to the second part of the training that was focused on community wellness (wellness for others –how to create more well-functioning workplace settings, youth programs, family spaces… how to bring wellness back home).

The training was built on non-formal teaching methods (because we know that just speaking about wellness doesn’t work) and that aspect was enhanced by the fact that our educational center was in a nature protected area. This allowed us to utilize outdoor activities– for example, introducing the 12 wellness dimensions in a nature walk was totally fun. We smelled the forest, ate leaves, searched for meaning in a nearby dark cave. Somehow automatically, nature steps in as an important factor or source of inspiration when you let people do what is good and natural to them.

On the other hand, when you tackle the topic of games, once the game starts, a great deal of chance is involved. We invited our participants to share their “wellness practices and activities” and we received so many proposals that we adjusted the training program plan. That is the magic of non-formal methods that allow for more creativity and employ the participants more than just as passive receivers of elaborate content. We were working with a resourceful group of professionals – from experienced directors of ecological centers, personal coaches, university professors, enthusiastic founders of new NGOs, artists, poets, student mentors and many others – and they came and put their skills on the table.

Our highest goal was to facilitate a “wellness experience” for the participants, so they would have physical proof that wellness is possible, that they could feel “like that”, and realize that they already had many resources in their hands. I think it is a common experience, when you start explaining wellness (or games or other theoretical concepts), speaking and thinking gets easily overwhelming. That’s why we had invited our participants to bring their own activities, and together we connected the practice of wellness and games with the theoretical context. It made them feel they were already on track, heading towards a “weller” tomorrow. More importantly, now that they knew the holistic context and had evaluated possible wellness gaps, left feeling capable and inspired to fill those gaps after going back home.

And when I say “wellness experience” you must bear in mind that we were still in Europe where wellness is at first thought related to spa and sauna. To address this topic, we visited the biggest wellness center in the Czech Republic. This we arranged in the middle of the training, as a segue from the wellness-for-me to the wellness-for-others training. It worked very well to bring deep physical relaxation and space for reflection.

Another, and from my point of view, a more important wellness experience, was the fact that for this one week, the group of 30 individuals lived in a community that was built on mutual respect, recognition, open and honest communication, support and friendship. Across the globe, these are topics that seem to have vanished from the ‘everyday’, especially in Europe in the times of Brexit and the refugee crisis. One needs to recharge one’s belief in humanity, even if it is just for a glimpse of time.

All-in-in, was this training successful? I guess I am not the one to judge, but, the feedback from our participants indicate “Yes, it was!!” But did their enthusiasm and excitement for wellness last longer than the week of training? A couple weeks after they returned home, we asked them ‘How is it going?’   Here are a few of the wellness promoting activities they reported engaging in:

• Conducting a workshop about conscious presence (Polish participant)
• Giving a talk show on TV (Irish participant)
• Developing a workshop about healthy sleep (Czech participant)
• Organizing Christmas family council (Polish participant)
• Remodeling and deepening previous workshop about watercolors (Romanian participant)
• Starting a project preparation about climbing and wellness (Romanian and Czech partnership)
• Implementing wellness ideas into therapeutic work with clients (Romanian participant)
• Promoting healthier workplace through group fitness activities and standing desks (Irish participants)
• Taking care of a homeless dog and providing her with medical treatment (Greek participant)
• Partnering a training course about employability (Czech - Hungarian partnership)
• Taking a year off to take full care of a spouse (British participant)

Conclusion: What they did back home – they did it themselves. In wellness coaching we believe that our clients are already whole, creative and resourceful and the same principle has proven itself in our training. We just held the space for them and the magic happened.

Jana Stara is a speaker, trainer and doctoral student at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. She dedicated her research and lecturing practice to promoting the concept of wellness in her country with respect to different cultural environment and traditions in Europe. She teaches at the university, empowers individuals, consults companies and believes that better times for European wellness are yet to come.

Kailani Marlow
PhD Candidate at Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australia

All of my life I have been exposed to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Those ongoing experiences fueled my desire to live in different places and led me to cultivate an interest in living overseas. I dreamed of being an international person living abroad and immersing myself in a new language and culture that was far away and foreign to everything I had ever known. I moved from Oahu, Hawaii to Sunshine Coast, Australia almost 4.5 years ago. The weather is similar enough as is the language, for the most part. Although living in Australia is comfortably similar to the United States, my lifestyle now includes more frequent international travel. Like many Aussies, extended surf trips allow me to experience immersion in other cultures where I enjoy practicing conversational Bahasa or exploring untamed Fijian landscapes alongside a briskly walking guide old enough to be my grandfather.

Living in Australia has been a life changing experience, however less foreign than I had anticipated. In the coastal suburb where I live beaches are easily accessible, the population is small but growing, people earn a reasonable wage for a high standard of living, accrue a descent amount of vacation time and generally enjoy a good quality of life. It truly is a great place to live and a seemingly safe place to raise children. I live in a regional area that easily affords local residents a lifestyle that is conducive to wellness. Our quaint beach pocket community is situated between a river mouth that fills into a small lake with the changing tides, a small creek, a coastline with a variety of surf – able beach breaks and a well maintained pathway that winds through protected national park bushland along the coast.

Nature based-physical activity is a major component of my life in Australia. There are only a few major cities and even those areas of dense urban development often feature natural landscapes, botanical gardens, harbor views and river footpaths that help to break up the intensity of city life. It appears that activity in nature is a central component of daily life that helps Aussies on the Sunshine Coast enhance their longevity and remain active as they transition across their lifespan. When I have the time, I particularly enjoy surfing with a group of mostly retiree’s who meet every morning at the beach access on my street. This group of people is representative of the active aging population that is encouraged and supported in Australia. People in these regional areas seem to remain more active because city councils maintain infrastructure for accessing beaches and national parks, participating in active recreation, and provide daily upkeep of outdoor entertainment and rest area amenities that permit people of all ages to enjoy the health enhancing features of restorative coastal landscapes.

Being a resident in Australia has helped me to live a wellness induced lifestyle. Although a train route has yet to be built connecting the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane where I attend University, my full or partial commute to the city is predominantly a tree lined highway that makes the drive much more relaxing. Oddly enough the thing that has most benefited my wellness journey is probably not what you would expect. Within the context of innumerable positive lifestyle components the thing that I feel has contributed most to improving my wellness has by far been the social impact. I am a woman of color. And whatever color my skin actually happens to be, in Australia, friends and strangers alike bring up my color as an issue or unsolicited topic of conversation. People here are probably not any different from people in the United States or any other westernized country but prior to moving here I personally had little to no experience with people who did not communicate in a reasonably politically correct manner.

In Australia, for some in all levels of society and for many in some levels, there is no such thing as political correctness; some might even say that the idea of being politically correct is laughable. For example pumpkin, cookies and cheese are openly advertised using terms that would in no way be considered politically correct in the USA. Similarly, roads and places still carry the names of historical laws and events that can be a reminder of past tragedy. While I am not suggesting support for these things, I must admit that my personal wellness has profoundly improved as a result of the Aussie way of “taking the p..s” and generally making light of, well of everything.

Initially these aspects of life in Australia were probably detrimental to my health and wellness. In recounting my experiences there are still things I have heard and experienced that I would be reluctant to repeat, but through these experiences I have connected with others and acquired more self responsibility in my wellness journey.

Admittedly I grew up a bit sheltered in a multi-ethnic family which allowed me to believe that Western societies had left certain beliefs and ideas in the past. For anyone who might have thought that was our history, I’m sure media and elections in the past decade have brought to light some surprising realities. However, I cannot speak for Australia’s Indigenous people, immigrants, refugees or various populations in Australia who might also be considered “other” like myself. Though fundamentally this speaks to an important yet neglected aspect of wellness, in western societies such as Australia or the United States the law provides a reasonable amount of protection within which individuals can explore ways to develop more wellness and specifically to break free of potentially limiting generational cultural and/or socioeconomic patterns.

Being born as a woman of color I will sometimes, maybe always, be placed in a certain social context. Beyond my lived experience there might always be a larger context that in some way pervades all aspect of my life. In recent decades such impacts have been enhanced as technology increasingly innervates life and continues to shrink our world as we establish global connectivity. As a result, our social and emotional experiences can be affected by those of others and not necessarily our own. By living in Australia where little is off limits I have gone beyond what had mostly been internalizing negative experiences of others. Aussie culture has created opportunities for me to experience what some people think and feel. Without rules about what is politically acceptable I sometimes find myself in conversations that reveal what might otherwise be obscured and provides an opportunity for me to better understand how people define and experience individuals or cultures they find different. 

This has been the most health enhancing aspect of my experience in Australia because I have been presented with beliefs and ideas that I sometimes cannot comprehend yet they exist alongside my life and in my relationships with the people who hold these beliefs. My ability to live in a place where there is little to no ethnic diversity is evidence of the luxury of exploring self-identity and self-responsibility from within a somewhat protected space and this process demonstrates how dynamic adaptation can enhance our wellness journey. For example, someone who I have developed a friendship with recently said in matter of fact way that I was of an inferior race. He then revealed that it was said as a joke, and though believed by some, not actually true. This might sound horrendous, and it is actually the second time someone in Australia has said this to me though the other person was not making a joke. In no way do I intend to offend anyone in sharing this nor am I condoning such words. In sharing this I would like to express the transformation I have been through while living in Australia. I have heard enough to understand how some people have come to hold or even just consider such ideas.

As he said those words I had the most interesting experience. I felt this energy move through my body. It was some combination of appall and other unpleasant feelings. This was not a one on one experience either; he said it in a room full of people with whom I had no emotional connection. With pause he defined me as the only person in the room who was not part of the ethnic/racial mainstream as they saw it.

As he spoke my emotions were raised, and because I have heard such things so many times, I immediately processed his comment. I had actually previously heard enough of his ideas and words that I recognized those are his ideas and might even be a consensus in the room. Though I have never had any extreme obstacles due to being a woman of color, I grew up inspired by change makers and have been affected by the inspirational words of people like Viktor E. Frankl and Nelson Mandela. Inspired by others I’ve strengthened my self-identity and I have cultivated more self-responsibility as a direct result of experiences like this that are an example of the Aussie way of “taking the p..s” or giving people a hard time.

One of the many proposed models explains wellness as the functional or dysfunctional transformation of incoming and outgoing energy. I believe that my wellness has improved because I have nature all around me and submerge myself in it regularly. Being a resident in Australia has shown me that unrestricted communication in combination with the ongoing exposure to psychologically restorative landscapes that I experience when surfing helps me to process and transform energy in ways that continually improve my overall wellness and helps me to enhance my life in each composite domain.

I hope that sharing my personal wellness journey can help others explore unconventional opportunities to cultivate a more wellness enhancing lifestyle.

Kailani Marlow is a PhD candidate at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Her thesis is an examination of the health effects of natural and built environments. She is passionate about helping people discover ways to have more vitality inducing experiences in their daily lives. In pursuit of this goal she has worked in various capacities with adults and children of all ages including infants, seniors, at risk youth, and children diagnosed with autism. Kailani is currently serving as student liaison officer for the NWI Australia. Kailani is currently a member of the National Wellness Institute of Australia Management Committee in the role of Student Liaison Officer.

Dr. John Munson
Past President, NWI Board of Directors, United States

In my avocation as an international group trip leader for the past 35 years, I have had the opportunity to visit over 30 countries around the world. This role has given me the opportunity to observe the different ways wellness has been introduced and implemented across the globe. It confirms my belief that wellness is an international language understood by all. Yet, it promotes personal lifestyle improvement activities in many forms.

More than 42 years have passed since the concept of a six-dimensional model of wellness was created by Dr. Bill Hettler. During that time, my personal journeys have allowed me to view the growth of the wellness concept in many cultures and countries. It has been an interesting and exciting journey. Wellness continues to unfold and morph in diverse formats and processes. In thinking about wellness connections to people around the world it occurs to me that now is a time where sharing our thoughts and expertise is positioned to bring great rewards. We must continue to learn from each other.

Wellness language in different cultures provides a good insight into how common themes are viewed. In the United States of America “stress management” is an accepted term while in the United Kingdom the term “resiliency training” is seen as a positive term and stress management as having a negative connotation. The terms, wellness, well-being, and health promotion may be terms more acceptable in one culture than in another. Professionals need to be aware of accepted terms in their local culture. The question becomes, should one term be replaced with another based upon shared understandings?

Climate change, natural disasters, political upheaval, and economic challenges are driving millions of people from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures to move. Finding safe havens and a place to lead productive lives and raise healthy families bring new challenges to wellness professionals who encounter these people. Wellness professionals must understand cultural norms and taboos to begin to work with people who appear at their doorsteps. Even within individual countries, people escaping natural disasters that force them to move bring with them the belief structures common in their local communities. When people move from one compass point to another, especially over long distances and perhaps across many borders, they find themselves in a community with quite different understanding about food, family planning, religious belief, and basic relationship standards, etc. This challenges wellness professionals to understand a client’s cultural differences. Engaging with people from other countries and backgrounds requires broader and in-depth knowledge and understanding. Wellness professionals gain this by experiencing face-to-face dealings with people from other countries. Building international friendships provides great rewards both on a personal and professional level.  

The advent of Multi-National Corporations that have dealings in countries around the world also requires wellness professionals to carefully analyze their wellness outreach programs. It is not unusual for a wellness professional to be located in one country and be responsible for corporate wellness programs in another country where the workforce consists of both out-of-country and in-country workers. Failure to understand in-country workforce perceptions of wellness often leads to ineffective wellness programs. The challenge is being able to deliver effective programs to all workers no matter where they “grew up.”

The rapid advance of technology and its implementation into different cultures from music to video games to teaching strategies are reflective of the cultural norms within the countries in which they abide. Failure to understand the impact of this immense new way of delivering information can lead to disastrous results. It is easy to fall into our own views and bubbles of reality. Learning about other cultures by traveling globally, or mixing locally with people from other countries will enable us as wellness professionals to be able to take advantage of the vast potential of rapidly expanding technology delivery systems. We need to be able to see, feel and understand as they see, feel and understand.

Polarization of views and beliefs provides new challenges for wellness professionals. Media often drives messages that are adopted by large segments of any given society. When these messages become main-stream and when wrong information goes unchallenged, societies harden to outside systems and beliefs. Through travel, friendship and relationship building, mutual appreciation and understandings are built. It behooves all wellness professionals to get out of their own silos, put on the shoes of other cultures and grow in their understandings.

Perhaps, on a personal level, maintaining one's international wellness connections pays back with friendships that last a lifetime. Getting to know people from other cultures broadens and deepens one's understandings of the world and enriches personal life. As such, actively expanding and growing international wellness connections have never been more important than now. One way to do this is by engaging yearly with the international speakers and attendees at the National Wellness Conference who are facilitated through the NWI International Wellness Group. NWI members are also able to access the 56 (including this one) archived International Wellness Connections articles which have appeared in the NWI monthly newsletter since January 2012, as authored by 46 wellness professionals from 17 different countries.

Dr. John W. Munson, Professor Emeritus of Health Promotion/Wellness – University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point currently serves as the Past President of the Board of Directors of the National Wellness Institute. John has over 40 years of active involvement in the wellness field. He and his colleague Anne Abbott created the nation’s first academic program to educate wellness specialists. Additionally, he helped NWI create the first process to accredit undergraduate academic health promotion and wellness programs. In addition to his roles in NWI he was recognized as a Fellow in the former Association for Fitness and Business and is currently a Distinguished Ambassador for the Medical Wellness Association. His love for travel continues to drive his knowledge about international wellness. John is also a founding member and strong supporter of the NWI International Wellness Group.

 It is imperative that the impact of work-related stress and the negative impact of distress be incorporated into the organization’s enterprise-wide risk management framework. A Bloomberg study conducted in 2013 revealed that South Africa is the second-most “stressed‟ country out of a study of 74 countries.  This is hardly surprising given the high prevalence of political instability, economic uncertainty, high unemployment and growing crime rates in South Africa.  A 2017 cabinet reshuffle and the decision of Standard & Poor’s (S&P), including Fitch rating agencies to downgrade the country’s credit rating below investment grade to BB+ further exacerbates the political and economic uncertainty in South Africa.   

In the longer term, South Africa’s downgrade to “junk status” will have a number of dire consequences that directly affect the country’s future investment, interest rates, business growth, debt repayment and employment. When considering the volatility of corporations, globalization, political activism, greater BBBEE compliance, corporate restructuring and retrenchments; all these factors add to the stress among workers, be it directly or indirectly.  Notwithstanding the fact that there are mounting socio-economic pressures being placed upon employers and employees alike, employees are still expected to produce optimal results. These expectations contribute to workplace stress. 

Growing employer demands 

High-pressure work environments increasingly demand employees to be more innovative, creative, effective and productive.  With the fast pace and competitive environment in which we live today, employees are scrutinized to ensure they provide maximum productivity and their „survival‟ in the workplace depends upon whether they have exceeded the expectations of their employer.  Most organizations -- if not all -- are built on the premise that all employees are capable of handling the stresses associated with the workplace and economy, and that employees are all natural problem solvers.  But in reality, this is not the case.  Such expectation only adds to the employee‟s stress levels as they try to appease their employers.   

In the case of workplace stress, the primary duty of employers is to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health of employees is not put at risk.  This duty extends to protect employees particularly from the risk of harm from stressors that negatively impact or erode their physical and psychological health.  This means that if the nature and judgment of an organization’s human capital management are tested, the Labour Court will consider the conduct of the organization in deciding whether it is are liable to employees for any harm or loss. 

In addition to workplace stress, work-life balance has become quite blurred, to the point where it is becoming more difficult to clearly delineate when work actually starts and when it ends.  As most employees tend to perform work-related duties after “normal work hours‟, both the organization and their employees are negatively affected with the stress of work-life conflict.  Incompatible demands between the work and family roles of employees make participation in both roles difficult and sometimes this may lead to substance abuse, relationship problems, divorce, single parenting and/or financial difficulty. 

“Unfortunately, many people are only conscious that a harmful stress level has been reached once its negative effects have affected their work, health and wellness.  Making employers and workers aware, informed and competent to address these new risks creates a safe and healthy working environment, builds a positive and constructive preventive culture in the organization, boosts engagement and effectiveness, protects the health and wellness of workers, and increases productivity.” (Report - Workplace Stress: A Collective Challenge (ILO) (April 2016)) 

Workplace wellness is further taxed when employees fall victim to violent crimes.  Sexual harassment, car hijackings, house break-ins and kidnappings compound the physical and psychological ill health of employees.   

Whether workplace stress transpires from work or home-life experiences, it always has some effect on the work performance of employees.  This means that the human (psychological) capital of an organization can depreciate overnight, if stress and post-traumatic stress is mistreated, leading to more managerial problems, labour disputes and downstream costs.  The financial costs associated with workplace stress can be extremely high, especially when one considers matters such as absenteeism, presenteeism, medical aid expenses, death and disability claims, including management intervention costs.  Indeed, the costs are not complete without considering the fees associated with labour-related legal and court proceedings which are typically the end result of most distressed employment relationships

Dr Dicky Els is a Lead Independent Consultant in CGF.  He specializes in Workplace Wellness and focuses predominantly on strategy development, program design and evaluation of outcome-based health promotion programs.  For more information on our Employee Wellness program Evaluation or Wellness and Disease Management Audits, contact Dr Els directly on 082 4967960 or email dicky@bewell.org.za or go to www.wellnessprogramevaluation.com

Terrance M. Booysen, the CEO of CGF has presented numerous interventions to public and private audiences in and out of South Africa and has received many accolades directly linked with corporate governance.  He is a regular podium presenter and is considered knowledgeable in the practice, having produced many governance, risk and compliance reports and articles over the years.  More information regarding CGF can be found at www.cgf.co.za

Tabatha Kellett, Australia
Master of Teaching, BEd, IT Grad Cert, Reg Fitness Leader

My husband Gavin attended his first National Wellness Conference in 2014. For two years I listened to stories about the people he met, the presentations he engaged with, and places he visited. When he talked about going back in 2016 I was disappointed to realize the conference was during term time and I would once again need to stay behind; teachers don’t take time off to travel during term time! Then my husband suggested that I apply to present on teacher wellness at the conference; I did and my proposal was accepted to present as one of the six international invited speakers during the three international breakout sessions. My school principal granted me paid professional learning leave to attend as well as some financial assistance towards the cost of travel. Before I left I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to speak with the senior executive in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Education Directorate about teacher wellness on my return. This affirmed my research and experience that teacher wellness needs to be high on the list of priorities to ensure quality teachers are attracted to and remain in the profession.

Teacher Wellness has been identified as an important focus in recent times as research links Teacher Wellness to Student Wellness that leads to improved student outcomes. This link has influenced change in Initial Teacher Education Programs, as well as Induction and ongoing Mentoring and Coaching of teachers at all stages of their career.

One of the advantages of presenting at the National Wellness Institute Conference in 2016 was that I needed to organize my research and practice in teacher wellness into presentation structure. I focused on education in the Western world with a particular spotlight on practice in my home city of Canberra, Australia.

This report includes some of the current issues around Teacher Wellness and changes I have observed since attending the 2016 National Wellness Conference:

Teachers usually enter Initial Teacher Education Programs with a strong commitment to, ”make a difference.”  Teachers stay in the profession of teaching because they can see the value of what they do; students grow physically, socially/emotionally, and academically and teachers do make a difference which makes teaching a rewarding and meaningful career. However, in Australia many teachers are leaving the profession. The issue of teacher retention is a concern throughout the Western world with the rates of teacher burnout being similar in the US, the UK and Australia. Between 25% and 50% of teachers leave the profession during their first 3-5 years. The reasons teachers give are that although their motives for entering the teaching profession remain, they feel undervalued, overwhelmed, unsupported and unheard. Somewhere the teacher’s self-efficacy is lost.

As well as the financial costs (i.e. in educating and recruiting teachers to replace those exiting the profession) this attrition has personal costs for the teacher as well as for the students who have developed a learning relationship with their teacher(s). In addition, the student’s family, staff members and the wider community are affected whenever a teacher leaves a school due to workplace stress.

Experienced teachers who stay in the profession struggle with low perceived autonomy. They may feel that they are “mice in a wheel,” with directives being imposed by policy makers rather than feeling supported and valued in their teaching practice. 

So, why are some teachers experiencing such poor self-efficacy? Teaching is a job with high ‘emotional labor’ and very high levels of occupational stress which often leads to job dissatisfaction and mental health related problems. The prevalence of stress in teaching is recognized with reports of high levels of occupational stress in Australia, similar to that in the UK and the US.

In the Australian context the Australian Council of Educational Research claim that one of the causes of teacher stress is the new Australian Curriculum which has too much content to cover in the time available. The same research also claims that overall there is more administration for teachers to complete and access to email at home means teachers now more than ever continue to work outside the physical school building. The “Report of the Expert Panel on students with complex needs and challenging behaviours” identifies the complexity of the classrooms in Australia. Teachers need to individualize the curriculum to meet a wide range of student needs.

In Australia, local and federal governments measure student outcomes, and their Return on Investment, using high stakes testing such as the Australian National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, the Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. There is inequity around funding students with the highest needs with some state governments reluctance to adjusting funding to the requirements outlined in the Gonski report.

A meme on Facebook recently stated “If you ever want to know what a teacher’s mind is like, imagine a browser with 1,324 tabs open. All. The. Time.” A teacher has multiple interactions with staff, students and members of the wider community each day. Many of these interactions require real time decision making that have an impact on student achievement and social/emotional development. Unfortunately, more often than not, the teacher will leave the physical school building and keep all 1,324 browser tabs open to mull over while engaging in the numerous other activities in their personal life. These tabs are still open well into the night causing disrupted sleep patterns leading to the physical and mental health issues caused by lack of sleep.

One of the game changers in Teacher Wellness came through the need to understand how to improve student outcomes. Researchers examined the relationship between the teacher and student and the impact this relationship has on student outcomes. Not surprisingly the research shows that this relationship is important. In 2009, educational researcher John Hattie found that beyond the student themselves, teachers have the greatest impact on student outcomes.

For example research into the link between Teacher and Student Wellness, found that when a teacher feels good about themselves and what they do “they have a high self-efficacy…[and] student cognitive outcomes are higher” (Scheerens 2010). In 2014 research conducted by Vesely, Saklofske and Nordstokke concluded that teacher wellbeing directly impacts the educational, personal, social, and emotional outcomes of their students.

In the past decade there has been a positive change in approach to Wellness in Australia and an increasing awareness of the need to promote wellness in the workplace. Most recently, at the National Workplace Wellness Symposium in Canberra, May 2016, Dr Kerryn Phelps called for businesses to ‘embrace a “wellness culture.”

In the ACT there are two positive, practical resources that schools can utilize to promote Teacher Wellness.

The ACT Department of Health has designed a proactive approach to wellness through its ‘HealthierWork’ program. This is available to organizations in the ACT that employ more than 50 staff. The service provides a free online survey to identify the unique needs of each workplace and support to design a 12 month plan.

Financial assistance to promote a Wellness Program is available through the MindMatters program.  MindMatters is a health initiative for secondary schools that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people and their community. As a framework MindMatters provides structure, guidance and support while enabling schools to build their own mental health strategy to suit their unique setting. Schools that complete the online course receive government funding to support their Wellness Program. The school I teach at provides a unique program for staff developed from data and feedback through HealthierWork and MindMatters. This includes free massages for staff, a student recognition program, community events, guest presenters and a healthy eating program. All of this is designed not only to help staff look after themselves, but to let them know that their dedication to meeting the needs of each individual student is recognized.

At the end of the 2016 National Wellness Conference I had a clear goal: to promote Teacher Wellness. I was inspired by the practitioners I spoke to and researchers I listened to and was optimistic that I could ‘make a difference’. I mentioned to one of my new conference friends that I would like to return to the US in 2018 to present on what I believe would happen in the next two years. I have optimistically called my 2018 presentation “Riding the Winds of Change”. Below is a summary of what has happened since the end of the NWC 2016 conference:

• In July 2016 I met with senior managers within the ACT Education Directorate to talk about my presentation and what I learned while I was in the USA. This affirmed some of the information they had gathered and provided some context on a wider scale on how to promote Teacher Wellness.
• In October 2016 I sat on an Occupational Violence (OV) reference group to analyze possible causes, impact and how to avoid OV (OV is student and/or parental violence towards teachers). This led to the design of a Risk Register to be implemented in 2017 on minimizing the risk of OV.
• As part of that reference group I was paired with a non-teaching manager; the manager of Health, Safety and Wellbeing. We examined the Education Directorate’s current Wellbeing Framework, and noted that it was reactive, with a focus on supporting teachers who had been affected by workplace injury, stress or violence. The need for a proactive approach to Wellbeing was obvious and I was asked to participate in the design of the framework.

Our staff is currently writing the school’s 2017-2021 Strategic Plan and has placed Staff Wellbeing as one of the four priorities over the next four years.

What an amazing opportunity awaits me in 2017; to complete the ACT Education Directorate Wellbeing Framework and put it into practice! I look forward to measuring improvements in teacher wellness and retention rates, as well as improved student wellness and student outcomes, and presenting updates at NWC 2018.

Tabatha Kellett is an educator with over 20 years’ experience. She has taught ESL, mainstream and special needs students from pre-school to Year 12 as well as lecturing in teacher education at the University of Canberra (Australia). Tabatha has a passion for mentoring early career teachers, working with experienced teachers to develop a sustainable approach to teaching. Her experience in the fitness industry and work with social/emotional literacy provides a balanced approach to wellness. Tabatha led her workplace to becoming the first government school in Canberra recognized as a ‘Healthier Work’ environment. Tabatha is currently the Year 11 and 12 Executive Teacher at a special needs school in Canberra, Australia. 

Early Days

Working for a well-recognized company renowned for its achievements in the health and wellness field had to be one of my all-time career goals. So you can imagine my excitement when I got the call to say I was successful in my bid in becoming the next Wellness Coordinator for Greenslopes Private Hospital in Brisbane. I had initially heard of and admired this program back in my university days. While my focus was more about personal training and musculoskeletal rehabilitation in those days, little did I know then that I would eventually become the coordinator of this program, and working in a role that made me far more satisfied and happier than ever before. It felt as though my career up until that point had only ‘prepped’ me for such a role.  

On the outside, the Greenslopes Staff Wellness program was an impressive award-winning program (Best Health and Wellbeing Strategy twice and runner up once) achieved by the implementation of a diverse range of health and wellness activities that took influence from the Hewitt 7 dimensions of wellness model. A program that grew from its initiation by a 4^th year student from the QUT School of Human Movement Studies as her 4^th year, 12-week final practicum (internship) in the early 2000s.

On the inside was a busy little team of Exercise Physiologists and Health Promotion officers, working tirelessly and frantically to make an indent in the staff culture and encourage any sort of engagement from the busy hospital workforce. 

The diversity of the program extended far beyond what I originally knew about the program; and yet, we were still able to add further depth to the program across my five years with the company.

The resultant program consisted of:

• Pay for service onsite gym equipped with a full range of cardio equipment, free weights, and pin-loaded resistance equipment (all uniquely fitted with the innovative My Wellness system from Technogym), as well as plyometric, abdominal and stretching equipment
• Onsite yoga, Pilates, meditation, and fitness group classes
• Injury prevention education and activity sessions
• Pre-work warm up education and activity sessions
• Team unity and building sessions that promoted movement and social connection
• Onsite Exercise Physiology service, delivering rehabilitation and work strengthening of injured workers, and oncology patients
• Onsite Cooking classes and Nutrition and Dietetic service
• Onsite Physiotherapy service
• Offsite and confidential access to free 24/7 counselling service
• Lifestyle recreational courses
• First aid and CPR workshops
• Onsite Corporate chair massage reward sessions, and in-house massage service
• Onsite Financial planning, mortgage brokering, bank @ work, health insurance, and superannuation services
• Facilitation of the corporate team for various Community fitness events i.e. Gold Coast Marathon, Bridge to Brisbane, Triathlon Pink, Kokoda Challenge, Colour Run
• Promotion and delivery of community health initiatives (i.e. R U Ok Day, Breast Cancer Awareness, Movember, Diabetes week, Stroke week, Quit Smoking campaigns)
• Delivery of wellness program promotion at monthly new staff orientation sessions
• Annual step/pedometer and bi-annual weight loss challenges
•  Weekly educational and promotional wellness newsletters
• Facilitation of the Annual onsite wellness expo
• Development and production of Staff Wellness Guide publications
• Management and upkeep of our own intranet site for hospital staff.

My early days in the Greenslopes Wellness program seemed fruitful. A busy and dedicated five-person wellness team engaging with a 2500+ workforce. The majority of the workforce were aware of and utilized the wellness program regularly, particularly the wellness education modules of injury prevention, nutrition, body awareness workshops. We were constantly busy juggling the facilitation of the above-mentioned list of activities. We had aprominent and supportive voice at the top executive table. This assisted us in remaining engaged by the workforce via top-down influence, and we were trusted and strongly supported in our attempts to try new initiatives. Little did I know then, that in fact this influential executive member was the lynchpin of the entire program.

As I’m sure you’ve worked out by now, that there is a recent unfortunate conclusion (of sorts) for this program (or at least a disassembly of its former great framework). 

Reflecting back on this impressive list of services and activities (mentioned above), it’s hard to believe that any top executive would want to downsize such a program, particularly in a period where other organisations are expanding their staff wellness commitments, and particularly considering the program having the reputation of being leaders in this field. The frustrating thing is being aware that the program (even in its final days in its former 

framework) still surpassed the majority of programs currently being run by large businesses by means of innovation, diversity, and engagement. But corporate Wellness 101is proving a measurable return on investment, and in this particular case it came down to bottom line 

financials. And I get that. We all need to ensure we are moving forward and are maintaining a profitable bottom line. However for a program with an initial goal to be a service for staff and not a revenue stream is really a tough challenge. Deciding to disassemble a program based on financial outcomes and excluding the value of the indirect return on investment, the creation and transformation of healthy workers from unhealthy workers, and the flow on effect thathas on their co-workers, family, community, the reductions to sick leave, worksite injuries, staff morale, staff productivity, staff turnover (or what I prefer staff retainment) etc… what chance does a wellness program have?

Executive support is critical

Well the chances are high and in your favor, when you have an executive and leadership team who understand these associations, and are willing to model a wellness culture in their own immediate work environments, which in turn inspire their colleagues and workforce to foster this among their respective work departments too. 

Whereby yoga, meditation, and stretching sessions and the presentation of wellness program statistics were regular agenda items at leadership team meetings; wellness representatives were committee members in a number of hospital committees, and executive team members were regular attendees at a standalone wellness committee meetings; whereby wellness program induction sessions were typical items on a new managers orientation schedule; whereby a hospital wide staff health risk assessment was costed into strategic planning budgets and business plans and actioned to ensure the wellness program was maintaining relevance and direction in addressing identified staff health issues; where 

executive leaders were regular attending members of onsite fitness services, who participated in community team events alongside their workers… How could an organisational wellness culture not be fostered from this? This was once a reality for Greenslopes Private Hospital.

From my recent experience, I liken the impact of an executive turnover event on a wellness program to a perpetual hand-me-down jigsaw puzzle. A piece always seems to get lost in hand over.

Losing our ‘lynchpin’ or our greatest wellness ambassador from the executive team, an executive leader who understood the benefits of investing in wellness strategies, who could educate their fellow executive peers about these investments, and help ensure that future strategic planning and operations maintained a wellness representation, and the inability to fill those shoes in their replacement, left a substantial hole in the wellness sphere, and subsequently altered the wellness culture of the hospital from there onwards. 

The wellness program became more about checking boxes than maintaining the innovator and industry leader title we had so proudly claimed. Wellness activities began to disappear and be discussed less from leadership meetings, and eventually the workplace culture began to change, seeing less investment in staff development and wellness initiatives. Wellness orientations were dropped from new manager inductions, and team leaders/managers became too busy to investigate how wellness could work for their teams, let alone afford the staff hours to put towards wellness in-service sessions. Wellness became an onsite gym, corporate chair massage rewards, and a corporate fun run team; well at least that’s how the program became to be perceived by the majority of staff. 

Despite the wellness team being downsized (to just 2.2FTE), the change in strategic direction of the hospital, and the diminishing executive support to invest in the program, the wellness team’s enthusiasm for making an impact on hospital wellness culture and connecting with staff, remained unwavering. We found ourselves continually remodelling our programs’ approach to become less intrusive be trustingly just as effective in an effort to appeal to more managers and encourage more engagement.

Ordinarily a team that is downsized is encouraged to also downsize their scope of practice. We were that’s for sure. But with a disappearing wellness culture that could potentially (and evidently did in the end) threaten our future, I was determined to hang on to all facets of the program. The reputation of the wellness program and the depth of diversity it had achieved was something to proudly hang on to. Our (the wellness team) philosophy was that if we could make genuine connections with even one member of staff in whatever avenue of the program, then we would be returned with patronage in other dimensions of the business. This rang true for us. New gym memberships, greater participation in corporate chair massage services, and even greater participation in team fun run events, all eventuated from initial hallway conversations, post wellness education session conversations, casual customer patronage, free meditation sessions and return to work initial rehabilitation consultations. 

And so, this returns us to the ongoing debate of Wellness return on investment. Yes, Participation statistics are direct proof of engagement. And yes you can report on how many people you get to a meditation class, how many people participated in a step challenge, how many members used the gym today. However, how do you report on the thousands of hallway conversations you have with staff; where those conversations might actually be relating to that staff member seeking help and advice for a family member, and who in turn can now worry less and focus more on their work because their problem that clouded their every thought has been heard and even solved? And now that employee decides to stay in their job, their morale improves, they take the brave step to start exercising at home, all because they feel that the hospital values them enough to provide such a service, and friendly fellow staff members (wellness staff) who genuinely care about their wellbeing? Is that not an indirect impact which consequently provides financial gain for the business? Is that not Value on Investment?

The Greenslopes Wellness program engagement statistics (on paper) actually seemed to improve over the course of my five years, fluctuating between 40% and 80%. We certainly had significant growth in uptake of some activities like step challenges (300+ participants), fun run events, massage services. And while we (the wellness team) believed that every engagement statistic in any of the wellness programs or services was positive indicator that staff were taking action in becoming more well, it was the diminishing uptake of injury prevention education and work strengthening interventions by the departments that seemed to impact us the most. This I believe to be a direct consequence of the changing work environment instigated by a change in corporate strategic direction.

A wellness program is evidently only a small snippet in the big picture of an organisation, and although I believe is integral in the success of worker productivity and eventual financial gains for the business (as outlined above), in my experience it is often viewed as an expendable item and seems to take the hits first. Its sustainability security relies heavily on the right executive support. One who understands that that small snippet is essential to the big picture. One who values their own total wellness and understands how each dimension can influence another and one who with this knowledge sees a place for it in their work environment for the betterment of their workforce and evidently their business’s bottom line. And one who is willing to be the iconic stone that starts the ripple.

Sadly the program has now been disassembled to just a shadow of its former glory. An unsupervised onsite gym with restricted access, community health campaigning (R U OK Day and Movember initiatives) and team fun run events, all added to a select few employee’s existing work portfolios instead of the dedicated wellness team/staff that formerly promoted and facilitated these operations. 

This case study demonstrates the impact that executive leadership has on the successes and downfalls of their worksite wellness program and ultimately its bottom line.

To this day I’m very proud of the program we and the previous wellness staff helped create. The accolades we received for the program are trivial in comparison to the satisfaction and reward received in witnessing someone overhaul their life (instigated by a simple conversation with you or your team), and who now have essentially become a new wellness ambassador creating their own ripples in their own world, is second to none, and one that I will profoundly miss.

Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Science (Human Movement Studies) in 2001 from QUT, Michelle initiated her health, wellness, and fitness career in personal training and group fitness instruction at a local gym before becoming an Accredited Exercise Physiologist and subcontracted by KINNECT rehabilitation for the delivery of return to work and work strengthening musculoskeletal rehabilitation for WorkCover Qld. She then worked in health promotion and lifestyle education with Health By Design, before accepting a role with UQ Sport at the University of Queensland that saw her become the assistant manager for the UQ Sport & Fitness centre. Five years ago she became the Wellness Coordinator for the Greenslopes Private Hospital Staff Wellness Program. At present she is stay-at-home mum to a 10-month-old and has a passionate interest in nutritional medicine around which she is looking to pursue further study in this area. 

Feedback from participants;
“Your caring nature is infectious, keep up your efforts.”

“Chris is an amazing ball of energy and authenticity which shows what mindfulness can do for you.”

“Well done again…it was a lovely presentation and will definitely get folk thinking and taking action!”

“I have taken a lot away from this session. Lots to think about and handy tips to improve my mindfulness.”
  

Boost your wellbeing with Laughter Yoga

Employees of a corporate client laughed with Personal Touch Fitness’ Associate Elizabeth Saunders who taught the ‘Laughter Yoga class’. Before/after surveys completed by participants showed the benefits of Laughter Yoga with better mood, enthusiasm, energy, relaxed muscle and more awareness of breathing.

Feedback from participants;
“Feel totally energised and much more positive mood!!”

“Brilliant we should have it as part of our weekly offer and encourage more people to do.”

Chris has been the MD of Personal Touch Fitness (PTF) for 16 years in the UK, 

Let’s talk about electronic devices and social media. Have you encountered someone nearly bumping into you walking down the street because their head was looking at their mobile device and not concentrating on where they were going? Instead, their concentration is on a perceived important message that they ‘need’ to reply right then and there. It seems extraordinary if you think about it without even mentioning the strain on the muscles in the neck, eyes, and fingers. Give your body a break. Prevent an accident or incident by enjoying the surroundings and appreciate your environment.

Your health and wellbeing is more important and we should all consider where, when, and why you need to be on an electronic device for a majority of waking hours. Do you really want to be available 24/7? I wouldn’t recommend it. There is a time and place for their use. Are you overusing it? Before the mobile phone, people were able to connect. Yes, it took longer but was that a bad thing? The stress contributes to mental wellbeing problems due to over-use. Now, it is ruling our lives and eventually, it will take a toll on our health. The young generation is on electronic devices at an early age. Whilst we need to know how to use devices to keep up with the ever-changing world, we need to consider the impact on our health and wellbeing. It will affect us all. Eventually. One way or another. Issues can be emotional, physical or even financial by keeping up with the latest version.

We need to talk to one another face-to-face and engage in a conversation. Take note how many family gatherings everyone is glued to their electronic devices. You may have children over to play or for a sleep-over and they are all on their phones taking selfies, playing games, or searching the internet. If boundaries are given or devices taken away–you are a “mean” parent.

Have you taken time to understand how many hours you or your children spend on electronic devices and do you have a cut-off time each day when you turn-off? Do you lead by example? Is it time to take stock and digitally detox for your health and wellbeing?

1. Time Apart: Put your devices out of sight instead of leaving it on the counter where you can see messages and notifications. Put them in a cupboard or drawer.
2. Holidays: These are what they say. A holiday is to relax and recharge ourselves. Put the phone away.
3. Buy an alarm clock: Don’t rely on a phone to wake you up otherwise it becomes the first thing you check morning and night.
4. Have a cut-off time in the evening when you switch-off devices stick to it.

Challenge yourself on your behaviors and why you may spend a lot of time on devices and how does it make you feel? Things can be easily misconstrued and come across completely different on texts, email, and social media. If someone really is interested in you, they should speak to you.

If you start changing behaviors slowly you might be surprised the amount of time you originally spent on electronic devices. You may find that the time you save can amount to a few hours a day. This will enable valuable family and friends time actually talking to one another, playing ‘real’ games or going on a cycle ride. You may find you are able to fit in more exercise or mediate, read your favourite book or plan and prepare healthy meals. Takeaways and unhealthy diets are usually blamed on a lack of time. Think about the changes that you could make in your lifestyle for your health & wellbeing as you grow older and prevent that accident on the pavement or stresses and strains on the body! The answer isn’t always, "There is an app for that"!

Chris has been the MD of Personal Touch Fitness (PTF) for 16 years in the UK, 

As Chair of the recently constituted NWI International Standing Committee I welcome you to the newly launched  International web page.

The International Standing Committee has developed out of an informal meeting of International arranged by the then Conference Committee at a NWI conference many years ago. What has transpired since then to the current day is best seen in this reprint of an International Wellness Connections article I wrote for the NWI November 2015 Newsletter, titled Evolution of the NWI International Wellness Group (reproduced at the bottom of this post). The International Standing Committee will be the voice of the continuing to function informal NWI International Wellness Group network.

Brazil

Cecilia Negrini

Cecilia Negrini (Brazil) is a business consultant, businesswoman, coach and speaker. She has more than 13 years of experience assisting health professionals to obtain better outcomes in their work. Founder and owner of the company Cecilia Negrini - Consulting and Consulting in the Health Area that operates throughout Brazil providing services in Financial Management, People Management, Operational Management, Marketing, Architectural Management and Strategic Planning. She offers lectures and trainings throughout the country fostering the personal and professional development of people working in the health area, assisting and guiding best practices for achieving wellness and success through actions directed towards progress and development through ethics, commitment, study, organization, and servant leadership concepts. It also assists individual health professionals by fostering best practices in their care and the consequent well-being of their patients, the entire work team and also their family. She is a member of the Harvard Institute of Coaching and a member of the National Wellness Institute - USA. She has an MBA in Business Management from FGV - Fundação Getúlio Varga, MBA in Marketing in the Health Area, Personal Coaching training from SLAC - Sociedade Latino America de Coaching and is a specialist in Linguistics from UNESP – Universidade Estaudal de São Paulo. She participated as facilitator of the training "The Monk and the Executive" inspired by the book "The Servant" of James Hunter for last three years.

E-Mail: cecilianegrini@outlook.com
Ph: 3014-0558/017 9 96482904
www.cecilianegrini.com

Mexico

Alex Lobo

Wellness and Prevention Specialist
Social Entrepreneur
Founder & CEO, Empowering the Change-Makers
Speaker, Author, Researcher, Coach

My mission is to solve social problems through innovative business models.

Using research, coaching and education, we empower change-makers, high achievers, and motivated individuals and organizations to improve their lives, careers, businesses and social contributions.

My expertise encompasses social-emotional learning, wellness, prevention science, resiliency, coaching, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Problems addressed include obesity, addiction, depression, violence, and crime from a positive perspective.

My credentials, education and experience derive from three areas:

As a Business Owner and MBA from the most prestigious business school in Latin America, with over 20 years in top management positions in corporate, social and government sectors, and more than one million beneficiaries of my programs in private schools, companies and federal and local government.

As a Prevention Specialist, family therapist, addiction counselor, and life- performance and wellness coach. 

As a Flourishing, Productive Human Being, who overcame health, personal and family issues to create a meaningful life of contribution and become a loving husband and father, eternal student, and successful educator and businessman.

Enjoy your Wellness Lifestyle
Think, Feel and Act, always from your deepest Love.
www.alexlobo.com
alobo@imepi.org
Facebook:@alexlobofan
SKYPE: alexlobomx 

United Kingdom

Chris Andrews

MD of Personal Touch Fitness (PTF) 

Chris is a 1993 graduate in the Health Promotion & Wellness programme at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (UWSP). Determined to spread her wings, grow, learn, and be challenged she set out to do her Internship abroad. She went to the UK in November 1993, did her Internship and stayed. Now, mother of two, wife, and MD. She is involved in many local events at the tennis& rowing club, church, and schools on different levels.

Personal Touch Fitness has grown organically over 18 years and have worked with all sectors to help with their Wellbeing programmes. Chris prides herself in her passion, enthusiasm and expertise in providing fitness services in environments which is extended through the company values, ethos and to the employees. 

Chris enjoys hosting UWSP interns to the UK and sharing her knowledge. She finds the students engaging and they find it a wonderful hands on learning experience. 

Health & Wellbeing is about sharing, learning, awareness, mindfulness, and always working towards making small adjustments to ones wellbeing for a healthier life. Chris truly believe this and wants to continually share and encourage others to share. After all that is what Health &Wellbeing is all about. Her energy inspires students and people of all ages. Chris loves making a ripple into a wave.

T: +44 (0)0844 344 0034
M: +44 (0) 7977 497 551
E: chris.andrews@personaltouchfitness.co.uk
Skype: personaltouchfitness

South Africa

Dr. Dicky Els

Managing Director
Be Well Program®

Dr Dicky Els is a registered Industrial Psychologist who specialises in employee wellness and disease management. Dr Els predominantly focuses on employee wellness strategy development, programme design, and the effective implementation and evaluation of outcome-based health promotion programmes. Dicky serves as a member of the International Standing Committee of the National Wellness Institute (NWI) of the United States of America that promotes international health and wellness practices. He is a member of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Technical Committee and Work Group that developed the SANS:16001 Wellness and Disease Management Standard Requirements (including HIV, TB and non-occupational diseases). Dicky is trained as a Neuro-Semantics Meta Coach and he is the project leader of the South African Wellness Programme Evaluation research initiative.

As an Employee Wellness Consultant, Dicky’s passion vests in the optimisation of human capital, productivity and business performance. During the last three decades he has gained extensive experience in executive coaching, human resources, change management and employee wellness and disease management. Dicky is a dynamic and innovative individual who was key to the successful development of several sustainable employee wellness programmes for prominent organisations in the banking, insurance, mining, agriculture and telecommunication sectors. He regularly trains and mentors successful employee wellness managers on local and global workplace wellness management practices and consults to various corporations. He completed his D. Phil (Leadership in Performance and Change) degree at the University of Johannesburg while his quantitative research focused on the development of a work wellness model that integrates motivational job characteristics, work engagement, burnout and wellness. This evidence-based workplace wellness model clearly explains the importance of employee wellness and its impact on human capital development. Dr Els regularly presents workplace wellness papers at conferences, publishes articles in scientific and other popular journals, and has appeared on several radio talk shows.

Cell: +27(82) 496 7960  
E-mail: dicky@bewell.org.za 
Websites: www.bewell.org.za | www.wellnessprogramevaluation.com 
SKYPE: dickyels9914

The Philippines

CONRADO S. PERRERAS

An economist by training, a marketer by profession and an entrepreneur by choice, Conrad Perreras started his wellness advocacy at the turn of the century when the wellness revolution which started in the United States began to spread like wild fire to the rest of the world.  

He established a commercial venture to help people live a healthy lifestyle and organized an advocacy to build a well nation and live a life that matters.  He now conducts wellness education programs both in the public and the private sector through his seminar-workshops as part of the wellness awareness campaign, performs wellness assessments and recommends lifestyle interventions in nutrition, exercise and energy management.  

He is a member of various associations in different non-government organizations to promote happiness and wellbeing of individuals, families, companies and communities around the country.  He speaks on "Building a Well Nation and Living a Life That Matters" based on the life Filipinos want:  what they want to be, what they want to have,  what they want to do.  He is responsible for hosting the Philippine Wellness Congress which is now on its third year of implementation.  He represents the Philippines in major international spa and wellness events in the Asia Pacific Region.

He lives in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines with his wife of 38 years and two children who are both professionals.  He plays golf regularly on weekends with friends and goes to the gym every other day to stay fit and trim.  

He is a Rotarian, a Toastmaster and an Advocate of Good Governance both in the public and the private sector.

249 Langka Drive, Ayala Alabang Village
Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Mobile:  +63915-113-8245  
Email:  csperreras@gmail.com
SKYPE: conrado.s.perreras

France

Ferroudja Meghenem

CEO WELLNESS VALUES

Engineer of the highly reputed “EcoleNationaleSupérieure des Mines” based in Nancy (France), Ferroudja Meghenem started her career in audit and strategy & organizational consulting within Mazars group. For several years, she advised important and medium size groups.

Ferroudja Meghenem is also a passionated Woman who actively supports the values related to health and beauty of body and mind. She founded theF@ME Days®concept, a new approach of Wellness taking inspiration from fashion codes then she founded the company WELLNESS VALUES, a strategic consulting firm specialized in Wellness which helps companies and brands integrate a Wellness strategy within their organization and rethink their customers and employee experience. 

+33 (6) 75.95.39.53 | ferroudja@wellnessvalues.com 
91 rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré 75008 Paris. 
www.wellnessvalues.com | Inspire your brand strategy

Czech Republic

Jana Stara 

Jana Stara is a PhD. candidate at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, where she developed and delivers the first experiential wellness course for Czech and international students. She dedicated her research and lecturing practice to promoting the concept of wellness in her country with respect to different cultural environment and traditions in Europe. During her professional, she has studied wellness practices and philosophies in Denmark, Turkey and USA. She is a certified Wellness Inventory Coach.

Jana founded an NGO Dobroti, which organizes educational seminars and public wellness-oriented events for local community. Another of their man activities is organizing training courses for European youth workers under the Erasmus+ program. One of their pilot trainings was “Game of Wellness” which combined the wellness ideas and strategies with gamification as principle that makes wellness more engaging and fun than necessary daily routine. The training has already had two editions in Czech Republic, in December 2016 and July 2017, and currently we work on other editions in Scotland, Romania and Iran. 

The positive feedback from students, youth workers and other trainers support Jana’s belief that better times for European wellness are yet to come. So far it is mostly related to the strong spa tradition in Europe.

email: stara.jana@gmail.com
tel: +420 776614121
skype: mladicee
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/janastara/

India

Preeti Rao

Founder & CEO, Welljii
ICHWC Mentor Coach

Preeti Rao's vision is to facilitate sustainable lifestyle behavioral changes that lead to better health outcomes and wellbeing. Preeti’s career path spanning a decade in executive management roles across several countries has provided her an understanding of the global health care system crisis and the importance of preventive strategies in health promotion. She is the Founder and CEO of Weljii. Welljii, is the recipient of "50 Best Wellness Companies Listings- Global Listing" by the World Health and Wellness Congress and it comprises of India's only Health and Wellness Coaching Centre and Institute.

She completed her MA in Integrated Health Studies from California Institute of Integral Studies, USA in 2013 and holds several fitness, yoga and health related certificates. Her expertise lies in exercise physiology, nutrition, health & wellness coaching, stress management, and corporate wellness programs to name a few. Her previous professional work includes UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Atena Wellness Coaching Program, and Charlotte Maxwell Complimentary Clinic in California, USA, Max Healthcare, India and Reebok India as their Fitness Brand Ambassador. Her authored articles regularly get featured in leading newspapers and magazines.

She is the leading internationally certified health and wellness coach and consultant in India. She is also India’s only ICHWC (International Consortium for Health & Wellness Coaches, USA) Mentor Coach nominee to mentor others in the profession of Health and Wellness Coaching. Her mission is to make a difference in people’s lives by helping them make lifestyle behavioral changes that last a lifetime.

founder@weljii.com
http://www.welljii.com/
http://www.preetirao.com/
Phone: 91-8800885482
SKYPE: preetiraok

Japan

SHINJI, MIZUMURA

Professor, Laboratory of Wellness& Sports Education, Meiji University, Tokyo
Shinji is a long time NWI member and attendee and presenter at the National Wellness Conference. He is currently Professor at the Laboratory of Wellness & Sports Education, School of Arts and Letters, Meiji University, Tokyo (2011 -)  From 1994 to 2011 he rose from Assistant Professor to Professor at Laboratory of Health Science and Physical Education, School of Arts and Letters, Meiji His Doctoral studies were through the University of Tokyo, Department of Life Sciences, Graduate school of Arts and Sciences University. 

Shinji is the current Vice-president of the Japan Wellness Society. He is also a Member of Board of Directors of Japan Wellness Walking Association, President of Japan University Sport Climbing Association, Chairman of Sport Climbing Section of Tokyo Mountaineering Federation, a Member of Japanese University Sports Board, on the Strengthening Staff of Japanese Olympic Committee and Coach of Speed Climbing for the Japan National Sport Climbing team. His academic publications and research interests revolve around Japanese Student Wellness Education, Sport Climbing, Sports Injury Prevention, Sports Performance Improvement, Motor Control and Life Long Sports.

水村信二 [mizumuras2@gmail.com]
Cell phone:+81-80-4070-9025
Skype: mizumuras2

USA

Dr. John W. Munson

Professor Emeritus of Health Promotion -School of Health Promotion and Human Development, College of Professional Studies, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Current Roles
Past - President – Board of Directors, National Wellness Institute
Senior Consultant, Academic Accreditation – National Wellness Institute
Board of Advisors, Distinguished Ambassador – Medical Wellness Association
Board of Directors – Vesuvius Press Inc. Phoenix, AZ.
Trainer – Personality Resources Inc., New York, Toronto
Owner – Triple L Associates LLC, Wellness Consulting, Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Ph.D.  The Ohio State University 1979
M.S. & C.A.G.S.  Springfield College 1970
B.S.  The Ohio State University 1967

Leadership
Head Coaching, 18 years - Responsible for recruiting, budgeting, counseling, marketing, organizing and teaching in a variety of varsity programs at five universities, 1967-1985  (Lifetime record 212-82-4). NCAA Division I Head Coach in Wrestling and Lacrosse.

Acting Head, School of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics, 1983-84 and 1985-86.  Associate Dean, College of Professional Studies 1986-96.

Created the first academic wellness program in the United States working with colleagues, Dr. Anne Abbott and Dr. Joan North, UW-Stevens Point, 1989.

Professor of Health Promotion, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point 

Associate Dean, College of Professional Studies, Head, School of Health Promotion and Human Development, July 1, 1996 to 2002.

Professional Recognition and Awards

Board of Trustees – National Wellness Association, appointed 1990

Fellow, Association for Fitness in Business, inducted 1994.

Elected to National Wellness Institute, Circle of Leadership 1995

Vice President for Education – National Board, Association for Worksite Health Promotion 1994-96.

Past President – Association for Worksite Health Promotion Region IV (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky) 1997

Chair – Association for Worksite Health Promotion Undergraduate National Standards Taskforce 1996-2001.

Founding Member, Board of Advisors  –  Medical Wellness Association, 2002. 

Taskforce chair charged with starting nationwide student chapters in the National Wellness Institute, 2002-2004.

Taskforce chair National Accreditation of Undergraduate Health Promotion/Wellness Programs, 2004-2008.

Board of Directors  –  National Wellness Institute 2011-2017

Distinguished Medical Wellness Association Ambasador, March 2014

Co-President – National Wellness Institute Board of Directors June 2014-2016

Board of Directors – Vesuvius Press Incorporated 2014-2018

Triple L Associates, LLC
1101 Brawley Street
Stevens Point, Wisconsin 54481
Johnmnsn@yahoo.com
715-340-4855 Cell
john.walter.munson SKYPE

Australia

Bob Boyd

 
Wellness Consultant, Educator, Mentor, Coach
Founder Wellness Communication Solutions and Wellness Constructs 

Bob brings 40 years’ experience across all areas of Personal and Corporate Wellness. His involvement includes research, consulting and teaching. A Ministerial appointment to the Queensland State Steering Committee on Health Promotion in the Workplace preceded his appointment as the inaugural Director of the QUT Wellness Matters Program. Founding President of the National Wellness Institute of Australia he has also chaired a number of State and National professional association. He currently sits on the National Wellness Institute (USA) Board of Directors and is the Chair of the International Committee. He is an accredited Workplace Wellness Director, Certified Workplace Wellness Specialist, Wellness Culture Coach, Certified Facilitator Identity Mapping & The Four Ways System, and Wellness Coach Trainer who has delivered conference presentations, workshops, and training programs and consulted to businesses, associations, governments, and community groups internationally and nationally.

36 Jackson St | Indooroopilly
Brisbane | Australia | 4068
Mobile: +61(0)414.645.837
E-Mail: bobboyd4@bigpond.com
SKYPE: robertlawsonboyd 

I trust that all members will take the opportunity presented to share Wellness information from around the globe and reach out and connect with members of the NWI International Wellness network group who reside in many countries around the world. If you also wish to be part of the NWI International Wellness network group please email me your contact details (bobboyd4@bigpond.com) and I will add you to our contact list.   


Cheers,

Bob Boyd
Chair International Standing Committee
Member NWI Board of Directors
President National Wellness Institute of Australia

Evolution of the NWI International Wellness Group

Reproduced from November 2015 post on the International Wellness Connection blog

By Bob Boyd, OAM, PACHPER, LMQFHA
President of the National Wellness Institute of Australia
Lecturer for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, School of Health Sciences

If you have been an ardent or even perhaps an occasional reader of this segment of the monthly NWI member newsletter, you may have been wondering, “How did this come about?” Or then again, perhaps not. If you have been wondering, then I know you will probably at least start to read a little further. If you have not been wondering, or are a first time visitor to this space, then all I can say is please be my guest as you may find my spiel on the historical origins of this group interesting—no guarantee provided.

Despite being a National Wellness Institute member for many years previously, my initial attendance at the annual National Wellness Conference (NWC) was not until 2004. I had joined NWI after attending the first Australian Wellness Conference in Perth in 1990, organised by Australian wellness researcher and author Grant Donovan. There I met and spent time with NWI stalwarts such as Bill Hettler, Don Ardell, Sandy Queen, and others.

Distance, cost and academic timetabling had prevented attendance in Stevens Point before 2004. The weird thing was, I had by 2004 encouraged a few of my QUT Human Movement Studies students, who had shown in-depth interest in the Wellness courses we taught, to attend the conference as part of their ‘tour the world’ post-graduation vacation. That Australian Wellness Conference was not the first time that significant NWI members had visited Australia. A number had done so previously by being invited to work with a number of health professionals in various states. My attendance at the NWI conference in 2004 was not the first by an Australian either. Grant and others had been presenter attendees as early as the 1980s.

After attending NWC in 2005 as a presenter, in 2006 I attended as a volunteer worker. This enabled me to meet with and spend more time with other internationals in attendance. I found that we had common issues in getting to attend the conference. The following year the Conference Programming Committee scheduled a number of special interest focus groups during the conference aimed at involving more attending members in the feedback and recommendations for future NWI and NWC actions.

The majority of International attendees at that conference met with the NWI facilitator, Don Ardell, and discussed the pros and cons of attending the conference—travel distance, costs, lack of institution or company support, English as a second language, etc. The two largest contingents were from Brazil and Japan, some members of which had been attending for a number of years. We agreed to keep in contact with each other via email and Skype over the next 12 months, and this took place to a degree.

The following year International attendees met again over a lunch and similar topics were raised. It was decided to make a request to the NWI Board of Directors to provide a system on the NWI site whereby special interest groups such as ourselves could interact and support one another to share resources and ideas. For our group that was to improve the status of wellness in our respective countries as well as create a conversation with the Board of Directors to discuss ways to encourage more International presenters and attendees to the conference.

The NWI website at the time was unable to accommodate the presence of special interest groups. With the assistance of Michaela Conley a website for Internationals was developed on an outside server and that was partly instrumental in ensuring that beside a few English speaking Internationals (a good number from my part of the world due in part to the formation of the National Wellness Institute of Australia the previous year) there was the next year a presentation by co-presenters from Brazil for whom English was a second language. This was well attended and well supported by many American attendees including a number of NWI Board of Directors members.

Setting the scene for future Conferences, the continuing discussion of issues around International attendance at the Conference was conducted at a BBQ for Internationals hosted by long time NWI stalwart John Munson and his wife Barbara at their home. This encouraged others of our group to provide short presentations the following year as part of a scheduled half day International Forum. With the assistance of John Munson this took the form of a number of ‘Wellness in my country’ presentations by International Conference attendees interspersed by Skyped-in virtual presentations (managed by Michaela Conley from afar) by speakers in a number of countries around the world (Philippines, Chile, Venezuela, Germany, Australia). The International group was complemented by the Board of Directors for their involvement in the conference.

Two 1.5 hour scheduled workshop sessions featuring 4 international speakers, including one for whom English was a second language for the first time, with a scheduled 30 min forum was the group’s conference input the next year. The Board of Directors had implemented a scheme to support International attendees that year with a small reduction in Conference fees. That year was also the first year a formal dinner for International attendees was held at a local restaurant. The friendship between John Munson and Jim Miller (former Stevens Point community member lecturing in Austria) was instrumental in the initiation of the International Wellness Connection Segment in the NWI monthly newsletter which continues to this month with this article.

Authors are requested to provide to me an article between 1000 and 1500 words, centred around the theme “Wellness, generally in your country, or a specific Wellness issue /service/program in your country or a Wellness Issue of International interest.” Since the first article appeared in the NWI January 2012 newsletter (Jim Miller - Austria) there have been 43 articles published up to last month (missing Jan 2014, June 2014, July 2015). Readers have been treated to twenty-eight articles specific to wellness in 15 different countries – Australia (6), Austria (1), Canada (1), Chile (2), Czech Republic (1), Germany (1), India (2), Italy (1), Japan (1), Philippines (2), South Africa (4), Taiwan (1), Thailand (1), Trinidad/Tobago (2), United Kingdom (2).

There have also been eleven articles written by eight different authors on a wide range of wellness topics. These topics covered areas such as mental health, wellness benefits of outdoor experiences, core Workplace Wellness Program issues, Wellness and the aged, origins of Wellness, modern-world Wellness, and more. There have also been articles from Wellness Pioneers Don Ardell (“In the Beginning: Reflections of a Visiting Pioneer”), Sandy Queen (“In the beginning…My Genesis of Wellness”) and Jack Travis (“Wellness in Australia Compared to the US”). Altogether there have been 38 contributors with one person providing 3 articles (2 co-authored) and 5 providing two articles each. Countries from which more than a single author had contributed are Australia 10, South Africa 5, USA 3, Germany 2, Canada 2, Trinidad/Tobago 2. All these articles are archived in full and available to NWI members in the International Wellness Connection web page on the NWI website (Publications, NWI Professional Publications, International Connection).

Over the last few years the group’s conference involvement each year has been 3 scheduled International workshops involving a total of six 30-min presentations, two 45-min International forums involving two 5-min/3-slide “poster” presentations, mostly by those for whom English is a second language, and audience discussions of international wellness topics. Both these types of sessions have been very well attended and appreciated by conference attendees from all over the globe. A very pleasing outcome of these “wet-the-toe” presentations is that often the speakers become full workshop presenters the following year, or move up to 30-min presenters from the poster talk ranks.

Group members each conference attempt to meet and greet any first time International attendee, provide them with an International conference badge tag, invite them to become part of the group and attend the group’s activities at the conference and to stay connected post conference. Unfortunately, due to the ever present issue of cost of travel to attend, a number of the group members find it impossible to attend the conference annually, and it may be a number of years in between physical connection. However, the revamp of the NWI website a number of years ago included a provision of a connection and support portal for International members and other interested members through the My Groups function. The Board of Directors also continue to discuss ways and means to attract International presenters and attendees to the conference.

Next time at the conference remember to check the program for the International sessions and come along, experience the group’s culture and broaden your International Wellness Horizons and connections.

Bob is an on-line Workplace Wellness Lecturer for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, School of Health Sciences. Co-Founder and Director of the inaugural wellness-aligned Health Centre in Queensland in 1976, he is the founding and current President of the National Wellness Institute of Australia. Inducted into the NWI Service and Leadership Circle in 2008, Bob is a member of the NWI Board of Directors and the facilitator of the International Wellness Group at NWI. His academic wellness career commenced in 1990, being involved in the development and introduction of wellness courses in a number of Australian universities while also managing the staff wellness program at one. His personal goal is to work closely with international wellness practitioners and organizations to progress wellness around the globe.