Cincinnati Craniosacral Therapy | Meditation Classes | MBSR

Corporate Wellness/Workplace Stress

Workplace stress is the harmful physical and emotional reaction that occurs when it seems that there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Sometimes there really is a poor match and sometimes it is perceived as such.

Stress is a prevalent and costly problem in today’s workplace. Many workers report high levels of stress and many employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. Most of us agree that the worker has more on-the-job stress than a generation ago. Evidence also suggests that stress is the major cause of turnover in organizations.

Stress is not always a bad thing. It can stimulate creativity and productivity. According to Robert Ostermann, professor of psychology at FDU’s Teaneck-Hackensack Campus, “No one reaches peak performance without being stressed, whether an athlete, an office worker or a manager.” Natural human behavior is to experience a stress-causing event or situation, react to it with increased tension and then return to a normal, relaxed state. The problem occurs when stress is so overwhelming or constant that this pattern is broken and we no longer can return to our normal state of well-being.

Our job at First Health Works, in our Stress Reduction Programs is to help the participants learn how to return to this state of well being. We do this through instructional and experiential sessions that integrate the new tools so that the participants see and feel how they affect the mind and body.

Our programs have the backing of studies in neuroscience, that show “Mindful Awareness” and the way we choose to attend to our experiences, not only transforms our behavior and our responses but also transforms the structure and function of our brain. We bring the contemplative practice of mindfulness and other mind/body techniques to people in the workplace in a way that is designed specifically for the workplace. Our programs will work whether in a school setting, a small business, religious institution, a hospital or large corporation. Upper or middle management, technicians, employees in all walks of life can benefit when incorporating certain easy-to-learn practices into their lives.

A lot of these practices are based in moment to moment awareness which can be experienced in many ways (different meditation techniques, movement, contemplation for example). Our techniques of presentation are based on research-based and scientifically proven methods of stress reduction. Julie Kippins has extensive experience and an expert way of presentation that allows for an ease of learning and a very enjoyable experience. She will connect with each person in the class to make sure there is understanding and appreciation of these powerful yet simple techniques.

Thoughts like “I don’t have enough time” or “I’ll never get this done in time” have a factual and “fearful” quality. In Mindfulness we learn how “not enough time” is a conditioned reaction and learn new ways of looking at our lives. Participants in our Stress Reduction classes are able to focus with greater clarity, respond to stressful events with greater ease and feel more at ease. Carryover changes are realized in family and personal relationships.

A pilot study published in Health Education & Behavior and based at OSU showed that a 6 week program of guided workplace meditation and yoga improved sleep quality and decreased perceived stress and daytime dysfunction. For more research information see Research on Meditation and MBSR in this website. There are numerous studies on the 8 week MBSR program and our own research and other documentation show that even shorter programs have the positive effect of changing people’s lives.