Workplace ergonomics

4 Case Studies That Support Going Upright in the Workplace

If you are considering going upright in your workplace or workspace, you are not alone. Companies large and small are recognizing the benefits of this healthy, spine friendly way of working and they are incorporating it into their employees’ work stations. It places the body in an optimal position, between standing and sitting to provide an ergonomic solution to working at a desk that saves space too. Even home offices are getting in on the movement. These case studies tell the stories of four companies that incorporated upright workspace technology for their own organizations.

ShapeUp

Rhode Island based start-up company, ShapeUp, is a health and technology centered small business with just employees. It manages the design and implementation of socially activated wellness programs in the workplace. They were looking for furniture that was high quality and tough enough to withstand a workforce that was very active. At the same time, it needed to promote good heath to remain consistent with the company’s health oriented ideals.

Their first step moving in that direction was to purchase several community upright workstations. This would allow employees to get upright at various points during the day. The feedback from employees was so positive that upright workstations were placed in each employee’s work area.  They reported reduced back pain and increased energy, attributing it to the simple act of going upright.

FLUX

FLUX, based in San Francisco, is a small tech company with fewer than 50 employees. The venture backed start-up created software that “reimagines sustainable building design.”

In 2012, Nicholas Chim, the company’s founder, began searching for body friendly workstations that would help keep his energy level up and help him maintain his focus. He purchased an upright station for himself to keep in his work area. Many of the employees expressed great interest in this strange, new workstation. Once, Chim came home from a business trip and found that one of the employees had taken over his upright station.

Chim then realized he needed to purchase upright stations for all of his employees, if he was going to keep them happy and healthy. He now offers upright work stations to all of his employees; all they have to do is request it.

Katie Rowe Mitchell

Katie Rowe Mitchell has a home office where she runs her start-up, Unfold Yoga + Wellness with her friend and partner Nicole Elipas Doherty. The company brings meditation practices and accessible yoga to organizations as a wellness measure for the companies’ employees. She left her long time corporate job that left her feeling physically uncomfortable, overstressed, and overworked due, in part, to her sedentary work style.

She recognized the link between yoga and having more energy and better focus so she left her corporate job to start her own company that would bring yoga to stressed out workers. In her own home office, Katie wanted a more active work style and an upright work station was the answer. It keeps her engaged in mind, body, and spirit. She has a newfound sense of freedom that sitting behind a desk for hours every day did not provide. Going upright opened a whole new world for Katie.

Wikimedia Foundation

Tech non-profit Wikimedia Foundation is based in San Francisco and has 200 employees. It powers several collaboratively edited projects including Wikimedia. When the company decided to redesign their office space, they decided that they wanted to create a work environment that empowered and encouraged employees to work together. They chose a dynamic environment with an open floorplan – and they included several upright stations. These workstations were grouped together so that all of the employees would have an opportunity to use the stations at different times. The upright desks also proved to be space saving and took up less room in the work area than traditional desks and chairs.

Advantages massage

7 Advantages of Getting A Massage

In a fast paced and busy world, it is important to take time out from your busy schedule to indulge in a little “me time.” Although many people decide to go on a stay-cation, others go for a dip in a pool, whereas some opt for massages. Aside from providing your body with ultimate relaxation, massages are known to have endless advantages. Even though the sole purpose may be to get instant pain relief, if massage practices are done consistently, they can bring many benefits to your health.

Here is everything you can achieve from massages:

1.     Ultimate relaxation for the body

A hot stone or a Swedish massage is the perfect combination of heat and pressure that can provide ultimate relaxation to painful muscles. If your body feels worn out or too stiff from ongoing tensions, you will need to get one of these massages.

2.     Banish headaches

Despite what type of headache you may be suffering from, massages can alleviate them. Medical research has shown how getting regular massages and staying consistent with massages can reduce and even eliminate the headache issue.

3.     Experience less joint pain

A common issue amongst many individuals would be chronic joint pain. Moreover, pregnant women face this issue mostly, which is why doctors have started recommending massage therapy. Getting a massage regularly will relieve pains.

4.     No more anxiety worries

There are at least 40 million people in the world that suffer from a type of anxiety. This mental issue is one of the most common one and is responsible for the most mental health expenses as well. Luckily, with the help of massage therapy, it is possible to reduce the stress hormones in the body, which will automatically decline the symptoms of anxiety.

5.     Lessen back pains

Another common medical complaint would be continuous back pains. Multiple studies have proven how getting massage will reduce the requirement of painkillers in the body by 36%. It is also true that massage is more beneficial for treating back pains as compared to acupuncture and chiropractic practices.

6.     Improves flexibility

Because the issue of stiffness is recurring, people are unable to reach their desired level of flexibility. This issue makes it hard to excel at sports or freely do exercises. Therefore, getting a massage will target your body’s flexibility so you can enjoy life freely.

7.     Relieves insomnia

If you ask any individual about their sleeping habits, at least one thirds will reply with “falling asleep and staying asleep is a hard task.” Since sleep is such a crucial factor in life, it is important to resort to ways that will allow an individual’s sleep to be healthy all year long. Studies have proven that getting weekly massages can reduce insomnia significantly. Moreover, since many health issues happen because of sleep (prone to depression and a weak immune system), opting for massage is crucial.

 

With these noted advantages come many others as well. This is the reason why massage therapy has rapidly increased in the world. If you want to improve your quality of life, just get a massage!

Call (780)455-2112 or head online at www.ocwc.ca to book your appointment with one of our registered therapists!

nerve acupuncture

The Connection between Nerve Repair and Acupuncture

Nerve damage is an inconsistent and highly common problem that is present when there is long-term numbness, pain, lack of movement and similar conditions, depending on which nerves got affected. The most common method to fix nerve damage is through physiotherapy, electrical stimulation, surgery, and mostly medication. The downside to these treatments is that they do not have guaranteed results. Therefore, more and more doctors are using acupuncture as the cure to all types of nerve damage.

Classification of Nerve Damage

East Asian Medicine identifies nerve damaged based on the symptoms. The names of the classifications are given in accordance to what we see in nature. The most common kind of nerve damaged are:

1.    Phlegm

This is when the damage leads to numbness and growth.

2.    Cold

This is when the damage occurs seasonally. It comes with throbbing pain when the contraction between the muscle and sinew takes place.

3.    Damp

This is when the damage results in severe and sharp pain, tingling sensations, quick exhaustion, and swelling.

4.    Wind

The damage that occurs in muscles causes spasms, twitching, stiffness, and uncontrolled movement.

Types of Acupuncture Used

1.    Electro-acupuncture

This is when there are electrodes placed on the needles. This therapy is used to cure lack of movement, stubborn pains, and severe pain sensation. This heavy treatment motivates nerve growth and helps stimulate nerves.

2.    Moxabustion

This is heat-based therapy with the involvement of burning herbs. This is used to treat exhaustion, spasm, and inflammatory tingling sensations.

3.    Plum Blossom Treatment

In this treatment, there is a promotion of sensory nerve re-growth in smaller areas of the body. It reduces pain that is caused because of febrile conditions or inflammations.

Proof that Acupuncture Helps Repair Nerves

Acupuncture is known as an effective method of repairing damaged nerves. Studies in the Neural Regeneration Research proved that acupuncture helped upper and lower limb motor nerves to mend. A test was done on patients who had electromyographic nerve damages to check if acupuncture would be effective on them. There was a positive response with 80% of the patients participating in the study.

Electromyography gives people the confirmation that acupuncture shows significant improvements in motor nerve conduction and promotes nerve repair all over the body.

The researchers of the study made a discovery. They found out that there is set of acupuncture points that resulted in good responses at a high rate. When local points where used, there was a 35% effective response. In addition, when the Du meridian points where added, there was an 80% effective response.

What is the Du meridian?

The Du meridian is a pathway that is made of 28 acupoints plus a few more. These points are located in the midline of the back under the spine where the vertebral functions occur. When acupuncture needles are inserted in the Du meridian points, conditions such are tremors, numbness, brain ailments, infertility and febrile diseases are cured.

Acupuncture is becoming more and more popular as many people are finding effective and long-term benefits with it.

Give us a call at (780)455-2112 to schedule your initial appointment. Visit www.ocwc.ca to learn more about our registered acupuncturist.

Goals health wellness

How to Set Realistic Goals that’ll Change Your Overall Health

New Year’s Resolutions made by well-meaning but, unfortunately, less than 10 percent of people who make resolutions feel that they successfully achieve them and only 45 percent last past six months. Self-improvement goals like lose weight, eat healthier, quit smoking, and life improvement rank in the top five more popular resolutions. So, what is that 10 percent doing that makes them successful at achieving their goals? What sets them apart?

SMART Approach to Successful Goals

The SMART approach is a guide for setting realistic goals and attaining them. It is an acronym that outlines a success focused strategy for goal setting:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Accountable
  • Realistic
  • Timeframe

Each step will bring you closer to achieving your goals and improve your health.

Be SPECIFIC about your goals

Vague, ambiguous goals can’t stand up to time and temptation. Get specific.

Say you want to lose weight. How much do you want to lose? How do you plan to accomplish it? What are your reasons for setting this goal? Whatever goal you are setting, ask why and get specific about the details.

Set Goals that are MEASURABLE

If you set a goal that you can’t measure, how will you know when you reach it?

Any goal that you have can be measured in some way. Weight loss is measured in pounds, how your clothes fit, or how many inches you’ve lost. Eating healthy can be measured by what foods you incorporate into your dies, getting the junk food out of your pantry, and finding healthy recipes.

It helps to break your main goal into several smaller, attainable ones. It lets you see success very early and you keep seeing success which spurs your motivation, making you less likely to abandon your efforts.

Hold Yourself ACCOUNTABLE

Accountability is a great motivator for helping you stick to your goals. Keeping a journal has long been a great way to keep yourself accountable, but there are many website and software programs that you can use to track your efforts that may prove to be even more effective.

Partnering up with a buddy is also a great strategy. Choosing someone who has a goal similar to yours allows you to hold each other accountable. Plus, success is always better when you can share it with a friend.

Keep Your Goals REALISTIC

Unrealistic or unattainable goals are motivation killers. Even goals that are too difficult or require high pressure effort over a long period of time can be difficult to stick to.

As you sit down to set your goals, think about not only what you want to achieve, but what that looks like in your life. In other words, consider your personality and lifestyle, structuring your goals to accommodate those factors.

If your goal is to lose weight, setting a goal of 30 pounds in 30 days is not only unrealistic, but unhealthy. On the other hand, setting a 2 pound per week loss is a goal that you will likely find to be much easier.

Set a TIMEFRAME, but Keep it Flexible

Creating a timeframe for meeting your goals gives your efforts structure which helps to keep you motivated. Make sure your timeframes are realistic; give yourself enough time.

If the constraints are too tight you could find that you veer off the path and even lose sight of your goals. Stay flexible, though. If you don’t reach a goal within a given timeframe, don’t be afraid to move it a little.

As long as you are moving forward, toward your goal you don’t need to limit yourself just because you didn’t complete it within the time you originally allotted. It’s about meeting your goals and making lasting changes that will affect your overall health for the better. Cut yourself some slack.