Benefits of Incorporating Wellness into In-Person & Virtual Events

According to The American Institute of Stress, 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress, and stress causes around one million workers to miss work every day. Every year, work-related stress also causes 120,000 deaths and results in $190 billion in healthcare costs yearly. Healthcare costs are nearly 50% higher for workers who report high levels of stress (source). It’s more important than ever to implement and encourage employees to participate in wellness programs. A great place to start is with your in-person and virtual events. At Contenta Meetings & Events, we are passionate about incorporating wellness into events.

Corporate Wellness Programs Increases Productivity

A study published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine titled Improving Employee Productivity Through Improved Health found that employees who successfully improved their lifestyle and focused on healthcare gained 10.3 hours in additional productive time annually, compared with similar but non-participating employees. Another wellness program study by researchers at UCLA, UC Riverside, and Washington University in Saint Louis found that the wellness program they studied resulted in higher productivity for all participating employees (approximately equal to one additional productive work day per month for the average employee).

Bringing Wellness Programs to Life at In-Person & Virtual Events

• Fitness Activities:

  Start the day with a fitness activity, such as boot camp, yoga, or pilates. Ask attendees to sign up during registration to get a better sense of the number of participants. Include prizes for people that participate with fitness-related swag such as AirPods, headphones and subscriptions to wellness apps. Another way to encourage fitness and movement is with a philanthropic team-building activity, such as helping sort and pack food at a food bank, doing a neighborhood cleanup, or a 5K run/walk fundraiser or relay. Ensure your events align with your corporate wellness program. Oftentimes, there are resources through the corporate wellness program (onsite gym, environmental health & safety team) that you can tap into at no or low cost.

• Stretch Breaks & Yoga:

  Include a 5-10 minute stretch break every 45 to 60 minutes. According to the Mayo Clinic, “an analysis of 13 studies of sitting time and activity levels found that those who sat for more than eight hours a day with no physical activity had a risk of dying similar to the risks of dying posed by obesity and smoking.” Research has also shown that sitting for long periods of time such as at a desk or behind a screen can lead to obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels (source). Another great way to include stretching and movement into your event or meeting is to break up the day or end the day with a short 15-minute guided standing yoga session. Yoga has been shown to benefit emotional wellness, and improve strength, flexibility, balance and postural alignment.

• Mindfulness & Meditation:

  Mindfulness is defined as a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Including mindfulness as a therapeutic technique at your event is a great way to provide a few moments of serenity to your attendees so they can stay focused and energized during the rest of their time there. One of our favorite ways to integrate mindfulness into a corporate meeting or event is with breathwork and/or meditation session. The session can be 5 to 15 minutes in length. A 2018 study from Harvard found that people who meditated over an eight-week period for 15 minutes a day had a meaningful decrease in their blood pressure. Individuals with high blood pressure (hypertension) are estimated to have nearly $2,000 higher annual healthcare expenditures compared with their nonhypertensive peers, according to Journal of the American Heart Association. High blood pressure costs the United States about $131 billion each year, according to the CDC.

Your Partner in Well-Being

Contenta Meetings & Events will help your company incorporate engaging and meaningful wellness activities into your in-person and virtual events that align with your corporate wellness program. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.