Work Wellness: Educating Yourself on Yourself

It’s a new year which means a new you and resolutions galore. As a corporate meeting planner, my resolution was to increase my knowledge of wellness or my work-life-ism relax-YOU-cation.

What is relax-YOU-cation.? It is simply educating myself on myself. The more I take care of myself, the better I am for my family, friends, co-workers and MPI-CAC community. According to Health.com and Kathi Heffner, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Rochester Center for Mind-Body Research at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, “There are studies to show that stress is comparable to other risk factors that we traditionally think of as major, like hypertension, poor diet and lack of exercise.”

I had the opportunity to talk with Cheyenne Bowers, Spa Director, Spa at Loews Chicago on tips and tricks from the professionals on how to keep my new year self-going throughout the busy first quarter. With 3 spa treatment rooms, 400 guests rooms and 29,000 square feet of meeting space, Cheyenne was the perfect person to help me stay focused on my New Year’s Resolution and continue to educate myself on myself.

Working in a meeting hotel, you see attendees and planners come through your door? What is the most common stress guests have during a meeting and their reason to come to your spa to relax?

The most common issue our guests have is they are sitting in these meeting for a long period of time, they have back pain and they need to release stress. Often this back pain is caused from sitting incorrectly, and then having the stress build. Being cramp on a plane during traveling can also cause tension. 

• With everyone on their phones and computers, how as this changed relaxation techniques? Do your therapists notice anything different?

It is slightly harder for people to relax on their own because their lives revolve around technology. The best advice is to turn electronics off for a few minutes/hours and enjoy life without it. Our therapists do notice that some of our clients have to have their phone with them at all times, even when they are receiving a treatment. We customize every massage to each guest’s specific needs.

• How does relaxation change your brain and ability to absorb new information?

When our clients come to a complete relaxation, their minds shuts down and their stress goes away - even if this means the relaxation is only for a few hours. Studies have shown that taking breaks during the day allows you to be more productive and helps you focus to complete tasks.

• What do you recommend for the road warrior when the most common position they are in is a plane seat?

For road warriors who are constantly on the go and often found sitting in a plane seat, we recommend focusing on posture. Keeping your back straight is important to avoid feeling uncomfortable and creating more tension, and ultimately stress on your body. It is also great to do leg stretches while on the plane – or getting up to walk up and down the aisle if it is a long flight. Layovers are a great opportunity to stretch your legs, focus on tense parts of your body, and get some extra steps in!

• Do your therapists ever get stressed? How do they relax?

Our therapists do get stressed because they are regular people, too. They also get massages to de-stress. They also ensure they exercise and maintain a healthy diet focusing on food that helps boost their energy.