To watch this event, you can rent or buy the video here.
Tuesday 7th April saw The Future Economy Network run their first health & wellbeing event of the year in support of World Health Day, which was particularly relevant to our current situation-I.e. the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19. The event was virtually attended by Interdisciplinary Practitioner Rosalind Turner and network members Lemon Gazelle and Sustainable Results Lab to discuss the importance of sustainable health & wellbeing, and its relation to the workplace with a focus on the current context. This seminar event began with an optional beginner's yoga session, delivered by yoga teacher Aliya Mughal.
This virtual Hatha Yoga session was an hour long, and started with some casual conversation to get to know one another, followed by a breathing exercise to refocus our minds. The entire session was focused on finding purpose in our day. She reminded us to stop and think, to welcome joy and kindness, keep an open heart, be thankful for our connected space even in this time of crisis, and to cultivate this sense of purpose for the rest of the day.
We then moved on to the next part of the programme, where we were joined by the rest of the attendees and split into several breakout rooms for 15 minutes of casual networking.
Once everyone had gotten used to the space and enjoyed the novelty of something brand new, the seminars begun. Katherine Piper, Director of The Future Economy Network, welcomed attendees, highlighting the benefits of joining the Network and also sharing updates about The Future Economy Network’s Carbon Neutral Hub in Bristol, Future Leap. Katherine also briefly ran through the plans for The Festival of Sustainable Business, where you can check out the video here.
Sarah Martin, founding director of Lemon Gazelle and member of the Future Economy Network, then began her presentation. Sarah made use of her professional experience both within Lemon Gazelle, a CIC specialised in digital engagement and consultation and as a running coach, to point out the health and wellbeing crisis our society is in at the moment and to give practical tips on managing it on a personal and local level.
She also mentioned the existing paradox between sustainability and health. It is not easy being green, sustainable, and healthy without the extra cost (both financial and environmental) in our current society. Health and wellbeing have been strongly commoditised and are now seen as part of a lifestyle with trends to follow and an appearance to match. Diets, apps, subscriptions to programmes, books and fast fashion are now all deeply embedded in what we do when we think of our health and wellbeing.
However, the current viral pandemic may have given us an opportunity to reflect on these unsustainable practices and to takethe time to rethink our wellbeing. “Do we want to be disconnected from each other?” “Can we be healthy without the extra costs?” “Think global, act local”, Sarah Martin suggested. Examples include travelling to work by bike or foot, joining Good Gym, Park Runs, virtual home classes with friends and making use of various free apps such as Spotify for mediation etc.
Some tips suggested for Enterprises and Businesses included:
Taking the health and wellbeing of staff seriously
Embracing technology to reduce commutes/travel
Taking the COVID-enforced lock down
Introducing cycle to work schemes to your business
Introducing lunchtime team exercise breaks
Creating plants/ vegetable patches within your offices
Sarah Martin ended her talk by saying: “Breakaway from the common image that getting fit is a chore”. Being active and fit can be a joy that does not cost us or the planet anything.
We were then joined by Ruth Smith, business leader at Sustainable Results Lab (a marketing consultancy grow sustainably), to talk about how to manage health and wellbeing setting. She made use of her current and past career, along with personal experience to inform her talk. For her, sustainability should be looked at holistically. Any business involved in environmental sustainability should also be passionate about promoting health and wellbeing in their workplaces. Recognising the importance of mental health at work can lead to happier, healthier teams, more productive and resilient workforces, and in the long run positive financial payback. “A report by the charity Mental Health at Work found that in the past year, 39% of employees have had a poor metal health experience” says Ruth Smith. So how do we manage sustainability and wellbeing at work? Ruth shared her 10 top tips with us – read these fantastic tips on her blog!
Our final speaker was Rosalind Turner, an Interdisciplinary Practitioner, who focused her talk on giving us the tools to help us get through tough situations. She started by two exercises: first a virtual self-awareness practice session, and second an automatic writing practice, where she made us write about FEAR for five minutes without censorship. She told us that both exercises are useful tools to use to manage strong emotions and allow ourselves to express them in a safe environment. Here is her full list of tools to use during and post lockdown:
Encourage yourself with MORNING PAGES, a practice by writer Julia Cameron from The Artists Way
Explore your creative edges, 'Artist' or not, by getting yourself a copy of Julie's Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, give yourself permission to cherry pick the exercises that call you.
Experiment with dancing at home. Try 5 RHYTHMS, Leigh Tolson on FB currently prepares a weekly mix which you can stream for a donation...
Go outside everyday – it is critical for our mental health to be out in Nature.
Give yourself a project – learn something new, get out of your comfort zone.
Start your working day with a small team group check-in – use this daily team meeting as a safe space to let your team know about how you feel and what you are going through. You do not have to be specific if you do not want to be, but by sharing your personal life with your teammates, you bring humanity back into the workspace. Knowing what your teammates might be going through can help you be more supportive and understanding.
Set up work buddies.
The seminar finished with some insightful and thought-provoking questions to the panel and a chance to make 60 second pitches where attendees could talk about their own projects and make valuable connections. A huge thank you to the attendees, speakers and our yoga teacher for adapting so swiftly to the virtual world and sharing their knowledge and experience with us; without them we would not be able to do these wonderful inspiring events.
