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Welcome

“Wellbeing at Work” is a deliberate play on words. On the one hand, it refers to maintaining and improving wellbeing in the workplace (organisational wellbeing), and on the other it refers to how we can proactively create greater wellbeing for ourselves, and see the effects of this ‘at work’ in all aspects of our lives (personal wellbeing).

Stop, and reflect for a moment about how your work/life experience might look and feel, if you were able to do the following:

Create and maintain a sense of vitality on a daily basis, both at work and at home.
Enjoy activities which are meaningful and engaging, and which make you feel competent and autonomous.
Draw upon a stock of inner resources to help you cope and bounce back when things go wrong, and be resilient to changes beyond your immediate control.

Believe it or not, it is possible for each and every one of us to achieve these goals, and much, much more. As the Chinese Proverb says – “ A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”, and here at Wellbeing at Work we take great pride in being able to help individuals, teams and organisations in taking that “first step”.

Through our webinars, training programmes, coaching and talks, we invite you to explore and experience some of the latest thinking, and scientific research into key areas of wellbeing, such as Energy Management, Resilience, the Mind-Body connection, Stress Management and Mindfulness, to name but a few.

If you would like to find out more about how to experience Wellbeing at Work, please get in touch.

What Is Wellbeing?

Wellbeing means many things to many people, and while academic debate continues about precisely how ‘wellbeing’ should be defined, here at W@W, we like to think of wellbeing as a constantly changing dynamic process that governs both our internal and external worlds. This dynamic process is orchestrated through the interaction between four distinctive, yet completely interrelated, “aspects of self” – or wellbeing domains – which go to make up you, the whole you.

These 4 wellbeing domains are:

Physical

The physical – explores what we do with, and to our bodies, and how our bodies are in constant communication with – and affected by – our minds and our environment.

We help you to create positive habits around:

Nutrition, exercise, sleep; establishing practical ways to nurture and restore our physical energy and resilience.

Mental

The mental – explores how we can observe and work with our thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, compulsions and imagination. We look at the emerging field of Neuroscience, and how it is possible to rewire our brains, change our habitual thinking and self-talk, and manage our cognitive processes in a way which works for us, not against us.

We help you to create positive habits around:

Managing our relationship with unhelpful thoughts; reducing mental chatter and stress; and how to work with the unconscious mind in order to bring about more effective and positive outcomes in our lives.

Emotional

The emotional – explores our relationships with emotions, both as feelings and as physical sensations, and how this dual experience reinforces the Mind Body connection.

We help you to create positive habits around:

Emotional Intelligence (EI), positivity, learned optimism, and emotional resilience.

Spiritual

The spiritual – a secular, non-religious exploration of the importance of such things as gratitude and appreciation, values, and our sense of purpose in life.

We help you to create positive habits around:

Connection to others, the world and ourselves; aesthetic and peak experiences; reflection and creativity; higher purpose; and what we can do to create rich, full and meaningful lives.

The Toolbox

Six essential tools to help you achieve greater wellbeing!

The Mind-Body Connection

Research into the Mind-Body Connection looks at how our thoughts, beliefs, external environment, social support, stress levels and coping skills can significantly affect our wellbeing – and vice versa – because we now know that the state of our wellbeing directly impacts on how we view, and relate to, the world around us.

At W@W, we deepen your understanding and experience of this two-way link, and we help you to create new habits and behaviours, which can help bring about positive changes in both Mind and Body.

Energy Management

A simple but powerful message that lies behind our journey in to wellbeing is this: we can’t be effective if we don’t pay attention to our energy levels. This means keeping a balance between our physical requirements, our mental requirements, our emotional requirements and our spiritual requirements.

We need to be sensitive to the quality and quantity of energy within each of the four spheres if we want “to fire on all cylinders”. Here at W@W, we help you to answer such questions as:

How can I identify those areas of my wellbeing that require better energy management?
How can I design and implement an action plan to help me optimize and balance my energy effectively?

“We build emotional, mental, and spiritual capacity in precisely the same way we build physical capacity” (Loehr and Schwartz)

Resilience

Resilience is that special quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes. It is our ability to bounce back from a difficult experience or situation. Psychologists have identified some of the factors that make someone resilient. These include:

A positive attitude
Optimism
The ability to regulate emotions
The ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback.

Building resilience is a different process for everyone, and what works for one person may not work for another. Each person should determine what works for them and do that.

Two important points to consider are:

The more we invest in our physiological and psychological wellbeing, the more resilient we become.
Resilience can be learned, practiced and enhanced – and it’s never too late to start

Did you know? – Emotionally resilient people have more robust immune systems!

Stress - Friend or Foe?

Stress is not all bad. The right amount of stress – “eustress”- helps us to perform well, and with enthusiasm. Too much stress– “distress” – however, not only holds us back cognitively and creatively, but it also can be harmful to our health. Nowadays, we tend not to be faced with the same sorts of life-threatening situations our primitive ancestors were faced with. Nevertheless, in today’s world, there are still plenty of triggers that can set off the stress response. What is more, the brain cannot distinguish between a real threat and an imagined one, and will fire up the “fight or flight” response in either scenario.

Researchers at Harvard University describe stress as:

“The perception of a threat to our physiological or psychological wellbeing, and the perception that there is nothing we can do about it”

Understanding how we perceive things is a key factor helping us manage our stress. Also vital to this, is reminding ourselves that there is something “we can do about it”. At W@W we work with you to help you to explore ways of reassessing your perceptions, thereby helping you to respond – rather than react – to potentially stressful triggers.

And now for the good news….

There is a physiological, neurological, hormonal, psychological, and emotional state which we can create for ourselves – anytime, anyplace, anywhere – which is the exact opposite to the stress response. It is called the “Relaxation Response”.

Whereas the stress response can “kick in” at a moment´s notice, we often have to be more conscious, about eliciting the Relaxation Response – to begin with, we need to choose to elicit this response deliberately. The good news is that the more we practice eliciting the Relaxation Response, the easier it gets. We also begin build up a reservoir of calm and clarity, which we can draw upon when life starts to challenge us.

The Relaxation Response can be elicited by a number of techniques that involve mental focusing. These techniques include:

Some exciting research results!

Evidence from published studies shows that self-induced relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, qigong, yoga, and meditation, all measurably help to:

reduce stress
increase resilience
increase emotional intelligence
raise self-awareness
raise awareness of others
increase interpersonal sensitivity and communication skills
lower rates of health-related absenteeism
increase concentration
extend attention span
enhance creativity
improve capacity to hold and manipulate information
reduce impulsivity
lower levels of psychological distress
raise levels of well-being and overall work and life satisfaction

If elicited regularly, the Relaxation Response can have lasting positive effects – on our bodies, on our minds, and even on the way our genes express themselves!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness, both as a meditation, and as a quality to draw upon, is a great way to help elicit the relaxation response. Put simply, mindfulness is the practice of paying attention and focussing awareness.

The practice of Mindfulness can be traced back to ancient religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism. However, there are an increasing number of business leaders in today´s hectic and high-pressured world, who are using Mindfulness to enhance their own and others´ creativity and innovation, to nurture resonant relationships, and to build resilient, heart-led teams.

Lots of academic and scientific research has been done on mindfulness over the years, and much compelling evidence is coming forward to show the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace. For example:

It lowers: Abesenteeism, conflict, employee turnover.

And increases: Engagement, productivity, job satisfaction, creativity and innovation.

Here at W@W we help de-mystify mindfulness and meditation, and look at it from a scientifically researched standpoint. We help our clients increase their experience and deepen their practice, often with amazing results. As one busy executive described her experience:

“For me, mindfulness is like pressing the ‘reset’ button” – HR Director

The Triple "A" Approach

Awake, Aware, Attentive

Here at W@W, we have designed and developed a unique system called the Triple “A” approach to wellbeing. This approach entails three sequential steps, where our clients learn, practice and embody the skills to become more awake, aware and attentive in everything they do.

AWAKE – Many of us want to create positive changes to our lives, but we cannot do this if we are operating on “automatic pilot”, or “asleep at the wheel”. Step number one in the Triple A approach is to become awake and alert to the present moment.

AWARE – Once we have woken out of our slumber, we are in a much better position to take step number two – to be able to see “what is”, right here, right now. Leading our lives from a position of awareness empowers us in so many ways. We increase our self-awareness and our awareness of others, and we gain a greater sensitivity to what is happening in the world.

ATTENTIVE – From a position of greater awareness, we are able to choose who, where and what we pay our attention to. We become more focused – sometimes focusing like a laser beam to deal with specific tasks and ideas, and other times focusing with a broad and expansive lens in order to take a considered overview of things, depending what is required.

What We Offer

Webinars
From blue-chip companies and HR consortia, to self-help and interested individuals, we create bespoke webinars to engage every audience on a wide range of topics relating to wellbeing, including mindfulness, the mind-body connection, stress, relaxation and resilience.
Training Programmes
Training and workshops covering all aspects of wellbeing – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Programmes are designed and tailor-made to your specific needs, and can range in length from half a day to four days, depending on your requirements.
Online Coaching
Using a variety of communication platforms, both individual and group coaching can be arranged covering a variety of subjects, including mindfulness, stress management, and resilience.
Public Speaking
Engaging and inspirational presentations and talks, covering all of our areas of expertise and knowledge, can be provided upon request for conferences, events and after-dinner engagements.

“You can always tell whether a person can work with a company on a question as profound as wellbeing by how they act themselves. Those that truly understand wellbeing act it in their everyday life and habits. Mark is such a person. He is insightful, compassionate and thoughtful and he brings these inner qualities into his practice with people and with companies.”

Lynda GrattonProfessor of Management Practice, Organisational Behaviour Department,  London Business School

Meet The Team

Elizabeth Carter

Consultant & Facilitator

Liz is a change leader and skilled enabler, whose track record crosses different cultures, sectors and organisations. She is able to nurture and enable others to self-direct to achieve the strongest results for themselves and their organisation. She has achieved demonstrable impact in the fields of leadserhip development, personal wellbeing and transformation, and a values based approach to large scale culture change. An outstanding communicator with high energy levels she is able to motivate at the most senior level.

Recent achievements include developing and testing methodologies applying powerful models and learning from Social Movements thinking and community organising into healthcare settings and healthcare improvement efforts. She is currently faculty member for the NHS School for Health and Care Radicals, working as part of the design and delivery team and leading the coaching and mentoring strategy.

Liz has experience in leading academic and practical Masters accredited leadership development initiatives, designing and delivering programme content and leading cohorts through their developmental journey. She uses storytelling and coaches in public narrative at the most strategic levels to ensure leaders are able to inspire, mobilise and bring about large scale change.

An International speaker, engagements include a one week residence (2012) at Kennedy School of Executive Development. During this time she led a seminar at Harvard School of Public Health Women in Leadership Programme and showcased the NHS work on Call to Action to an invited, senior and international audience at Harvard School of Public Health.

Mark Edgerton

Director

Mark is dynamic, engaging and emotionally intelligent facilitator and coach. He is a highly qualified complementary therapist, and therapies teacher, with a track record in Mindfulness, wellbeing and resilience, energy management and personal development. Mark works with individuals and organisations to maximise potential for personal and business productivity.

In 2008, Mark completed a clinical training at Harvard University, in the groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting subject of Mind Body Medicine. Mind Body Medicine explores and examines the two-way connection between our physical bodies and the functioning of the mind – how we think and feel affects our physiology, and what we do to, and with our bodies, affects the way we think and feel. If we know this, then we can start to work intelligently and mindfully with this connection, and begin to design for ourselves lives where stress can be managed successfully, and where we feel calm and think clearly.

One of Mark’s core values is “helping people to help themselves”. In his work, Mark draws upon years of study and experience, and has a gift for distilling the essence of complex science and research, and delivering this information in a way that is both compelling and relevant for his clients. He believes that each and every one of us can be – and must be – responsible for our own wellbeing, and he enjoys working with clients to identify, develop and embed positive behaviours and habits, and helping them to enhance their physical and psychological wellbeing and resilience.

Meryem Hassan

Consultant & Facilitator

Meryem is a qualified psychologist, counsellor and coach, with over twenty years of experience working in mental health and wellbeing services, and is an expert in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Positive Psychology.

She is skilled in organisational and leadership development, team management, programme design and project management, and has invaluable experience working with diverse and complex groups. Bringing warmth, integrity and charisma to her work, Meryem provides teams and individuals with tools, guidance and support, enabling them to tap into their potential, and to implement positive and lasting changes around crucial areas such as wellbeing, resilience and work-life balance.

Meryem marries expertise, insight and intuition in her work, putting “the person” at centre of everything she does. She believes that each of us is our very own “wellbeing expert”, and that we can all successfully learn to develop the skills, resources, habits and behaviours needed in order to flourish and thrive.

Personable and engaging, Meryem aims to bring out the best in the people she works with, and she is recognised for designing and delivering meaningful and memorable wellbeing programmes. Drawing upon a wealth of sound academic theory and scientific research, Meryem is able to share her knowledge and experience, and she infuses her work with a winning combination of enthusiasm, sensitivity and awareness.

Contact Us

We’d love to hear from you, so don’t wait! Get in touch with us today!

Email

info(at)wellbeingatwork.org

Phone

UK: +44 (0)7779 59 79 10

Spain: +34 627 568 273

Skype

wellbeing-at-work

Welcome

What Is Wellbeing?

These 4 wellbeing domains are:

The Toolbox

What We Offer

Meet The Team

Elizabeth Carter

Mark Edgerton

Meryem Hassan

Contact Us

Don’t be shy! Send us an email