meditation

14 October 2014

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Want a Break from Work…..at Work?

New Business Creating third spaces within the workplace^®

The World Health Organization (WHO) claims: “A healthy working environment is one in which there is not only an absence of harmful conditions but an abundance of health-promoting ones.”¹ The American Institute of Stress adds, “Numerous studies show that job stress is far and away the major source of stress for American adults and that it has escalated progressively over the past few decades.”² “According to the WHO, the cost of stress to American businesses is as high as $300 billion, and unless we change course, this will only get worse,” says Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post.³

CHAPEL HILL, NC – October 14, 2014 — Easterling Consulting is a new business whose principal, Melinda Easterling, has a specific focus: seeing the workplace change through creating “third spaces” in large companies. And she’s done her homework.

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06 October 2014

Corporate Wellness Programs…Do They Really Work?

Imagine if your employer asked you what your cholesterol level is, your BP (blood pressure), how often you exercise, what your reproductive plans are, if you’re happy at home…oh wait, they do!

Corporate Wellness programs often include questionnaires with very personal questions that seemingly have nothing to do with your work life. Employers want to reduce health care costs and, with good intentions to improve employee health, they engage corporate wellness firms to put wellness programs in place. Do these wellness programs improve well-being?

Some say yes:

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29 September 2014

Open Letter… Dear CEOs,

Dear CEOs,

If it’s true that actively disengaged workers are costing the US $550 billion (Gallup) in economic activity annually and stress is costing American businesses $300 billion per year (World Health Organization), doesn’t it follow that even if we make slight improvements in employees’ lives, the net savings or contributions to economic activity could be in the hundreds of millions, if not in the billions?

How do we do this? There’s no pill…no single solution; however, small steps add up to big changes. One small step is tweaking how we view our employees. Whole beings who have whole lives walk through the office doors each morning with whole stuff going on…stuff from home, stuff from yesterday at work…emotional stuff, mental stuff, physical stuff, spiritual stuff, social stuff (some add environmental). How can you, as a CEO, address each of these facets of health in each of your employees?

You cannot. What can you do?

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22 September 2014

Creating Third Spaces within the Workplace

What are Third Spaces? And how do they affect you?

The first space is home. The second space is work. All other spaces in between that build community are often called Third Spaces.

In The Great Good Place, urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg discussed the power of third places, “informal public gathering places [like]…cafes, coffee shops, bookstores and bars.” According to Oldenburg, “social well-being and psychological health depend upon community.”

We spend most of our waking hours at work, so it follows that we incorporate these Third Spaces into the work setting to encourage social and psychological health.

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08 September 2014

Quiet Spaces in the Workplace: When do We Go?

Images often speak louder than words…

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25 August 2014

Meditation vs. Prayer in the Workplace

“If our office has a Meditation Room, shouldn’t we also have a Prayer Room or a chapel?”

prayer: an address (as a petition) to God or a god in word or thought

meditation: the act or process of spending time in quiet thought

Merriam-Webster may have strict definitions for prayer and meditation, but for the sake of this blog, we will more loosely use meditation as quieting the mind.

The idea behind a Meditation Room is not to introduce religion into the workplace.

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18 August 2014

The Secret to Productivity while Working from Home

Working from home? Don’t think you’re exempt from meditating. We working-from-home folks need it more than ever. The doorbell, the phone, the whiff of toast, or dog, scream for your attention distracting you from your memo (do people still write memos?).

Momentum is huge first thing in the morning. It wanes slightly as our stomach gurgles, desperate for nutrition, and plummets as the afternoon lull sets in. We have hours left before the kids burst through the door…prime working time. Good time to meditate. What?!

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21 July 2014

The Secret to Improving Focus: Quieting the Mind

I am so in the now. It took four airports and 16 hours of travel, but I am present now. I have been to Norway 25 times, and this is the first time I realized why I love it here so much. In Norway, I live in the present. I savor the juice in every strawberry. I notice the cool, dry air on my face. I feel the softest, greenest grass slide between my toes. I listen to the pigeons and the magpies. I watch as the sun dips behind the mountains (unless it’s cloudy).

What if every day, every moment was like this…if we were immersed in each activity…if we moved from task to task, focusing completely on one while leaving the other behind and letting that one go as we focus totally on the next. As Eckhart Tolle says it best, it’s the Power of Now.

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16 June 2014

Welcome to Easterling Consulting!

I want to create a corporate culture that values its employees. While building meditation rooms in the workplace is cutting edge, meditation is age-old. Bringing meditation to the workplace is a new idea for America but a centuries-old tradition in other parts of the world. I want to create space for employees to quiet their minds, encouraging employees to meditate, so they can be healthier people. We don’t want people as widgets. We want whole people. Everyone benefits. The company benefits because happier, healthier people equals more creative, more productive employees. Health costs decrease. Sick days decrease. Focus improves. Desire and engagement improves. The company gets good PR…both for their product or service and for potential and current employees as a perk for working at the company. We’re not just creating a better working environment, we’re creating better communities, a better country. We’re always competing with other countries to be the best, this is the answer. It is not The Secret, or The Purple Pill, but it is as Samsung says it, The Next Big Thing. One company, one room at a time.

I have been studying adult health and wellness since 1995. I studied business in healthcare in graduate school while specializing in health behavior and health education. I worked on Crisis and Suicide Hotlines in South Carolina and Indiana in the late 90s. I was introduced to a mindfulness class in 2004 and worked individually with clients pro bono and for pay years later, coaching them and writing visualizations for them to find relief. Creating meditation rooms for the workplace is just an extension of all of my experiences and insights.

I want this for the employees. I want it for the companies. I want if for my community. I want it for our country. I want it for everyone.

Melinda Easterling

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