Make March Matter: 1-month to change your life

Take Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing with daily motivational tips to boost energy, build resilience and feel great forever

The year is off to a flying start and our mission is to help as many people as possible maintain their energy and focus so they can feel great throughout 2015 and beyond by making lifestyle changes that last forever.

To achieve this goal, we're launching a month long programme of daily inspirational lifestyle tips called ‘Make March Matter’. 

We know from experience that positive daily action leads to powerful new habits and dramatic improvements in how people look and feel.  Our tips will ensure that a month of progress springboards into long-lasting results.  The daily tips will cover how to:

·                Maintain health and wellbeing as a priority

·                Plan and execute healthy lifestyle choices that get results

·                Boost daily energy and resilience

·                Increase personal effectiveness

·                Eat well, sleep well and get active

·                Balance life and enjoy everything you do

The March initiative follows on from last year’s ‘Be the Boss of February’ campaign of regular motivational messages, which proved hugely successful according to those who took part:

'I’ve found your emails truly inspiring and helpful. It’s been one of the best things about my mornings in February – starting off with the daily tips.

'The Tonic absolutely made a difference to my February!  This is normally the most difficult time of year for me….for some reason, it’s always the last week of February but this year was different.  With the daily ‘Be The Boss of February’ updates, I felt motivated, hopeful and as we have moved into March, I have started to regain control of life, paying particularly attention to healthy eating and a biggie for me, re-introducing exercise!! Thank you!!'

Make March the beginning of a fantastic wellness routine that will have you feeling great for years to come.  

You can sign up to the daily motivation tips for free by sending an email to info@the-tonic.com and write ‘Make March Matter’ in the subject line.  Encourage as many people from your office as you want to join in - it's a great way to keep everyone motivated and get some great results.

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Boost Energy, Focus & Creativity with Mindfulness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeff Archer

Tel: 020 8995 1302

Email: jeff@the-tonic.com

Madgex Enlists The Tonic to Launch Mindfulness Workshops

Madgex has launched a series of Mindfulness Workshops for its staff.

The workshops which are designed and run by wellness company, The Tonic, provide participants with the opportunity to understand what mindful living is and how it will benefit them both in and out of the workplace.

Workshop participants are introduced to some practical techniques including mindful meditation. They explore how to manage their mental and physical state with breathing techniques and various levels of meditation and, by the end of the programme, they will be able to employ mindfulness as a simple skill to regenerate their energy, reduce stress and anxiety, increase enjoyment of life, develop an enquiring mind, and understand how to add greater creativity, quality and value to everything they do. 

As part of the process, The Tonic will follow up with mindful reminders to help everyone make time each day for mindful living and to help them establish it as a regular habit.

Hanna Smith, HR Director of Madgex said, ‘We already provide a range of other health & wellbeing activities for staff to participate in. This year we decided to add mindfulness to our program because of its many benefits. In today’s world and certainly working in a technical business, things happen so fast you can often forget to take note of what’s going on around you or be busy thinking what’s the next thing to do. Living like this is not sustainable long-term, so educating those that wanted about mindfulness can help everyone cope with the everyday work/ family life.

Our ethos has always been, look after the whole person, not just the work person, and mindfulness is an excellent tool to help you appreciate that.  We’ve worked with Jeff from The Tonic before and really like the way his workshops can fit into our culture. He has a very personable style that has been receptive to our staff and the feedback has been wonderful.’

Mindfulness is on the rise as a recognised technique for business leaders and organisations. Research has linked meditation to boosts in focus and productivity, and mindfulness practice has also been associated with emotional stability and improved sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mental clarity.

Tonic Director, Jeff Archer said, ‘The purpose of the programme is to help everyone add balance and also engage at a deeper level with everyday life in an attempt to maximise creativity, focus, and quality of experience.’

About The Tonic

The Tonic team specialises in helping businesses raise the performance of their people through wellbeing days, lifestyle coaching and wellness initiatives for training, development and leadership programmes.

If you’d like more information about this topic or to discuss corporate health and wellbeing with Jeff Archer, please call him on 020 8995 1302, email jeff@the-tonic.com or get more information at visit www.the-tonic.com

Image by Flickr: Moyan Brenn

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Forget Blue Monday: Top tips to boost wellbeing for 2015

Monday 19th January is 'Blue Monday' - supposedly the most depressing day of the year.  Well, let's not dwell on that.  We prefer to be optimistic.

So for all those in need of some inspiration, motivation and practical advice to sharpen up their health, wellbeing and performance for 2015, here are 9 top wellness tips that will benefit any organisation.  Feel free to share these with your colleagues and if you'd like any help with designing a fantastic wellbeing programme for your business we'd be happy to help.

Be clear on individual objectives and specific deadlines
Most people have vague ideas about what they’d like to achieve with their wellbeing. Providing staff with regular coaching and advice will really help them firm up these vague ideas, get to the heart of why they want to make changes, inject motivation, add accountability, and ensure they put together an effective plan to achieve lasting success.

For dramatic results, be consistent
Remind everyone that even a small amount of daily activity will create a positive mind-set, and that completing just a couple of exercise sessions each week will add up to 100 workouts a year. That’s enough to keep anyone feeling positive about their fitness routine, and achieve great results.

Fuel yourself regularly
Grazing throughout the day on well-chosen meals and snacks stabilises energy levels and is the most effective strategy for weight management. Encourage the habit of healthy choices, little and often.

Make a plan and follow it
Help individuals establish what a specific healthy eating plan looks like for their routine and their objectives, and then provide the resources they need to follow this plan. Simple information on how to plan recipes, prepare a selection of meals, and shop effectively can save staff time, anxiety and money.

Take regular breaks throughout the day
Many people run through their day at a million miles an hour only to find that by the end of it they feel exhausted and have spent valuable time in the wrong areas. Regular review moments ensure attention is focused on appropriate priorities and create time to refuel, recharge and ensure consistent energy. Prioritising time for yourself can minimise stress and maximise effectiveness in all areas.

Set boundaries
Every individual needs to establish what work-life balance means for them so they can plan their schedule and set their priorities. Without an idea of what you’re aiming for with your time management and life balance, you risk a lack of focus and tasks taking longer than they need to. Be proactive in this area. Decide how much time you want each week for yourself, your family, exercise, sleep, hobbies, socialising etc and also be very clear on how much time you feel is optimum for you to spend working. Without a plan work may encroach onto other areas and leave you frustrated. Knowing your boundaries also helps you operate most effectively during your work time and ensures you plan and delegate efficiently.

Take charge of technology
Technology can make our lives easier or it can take over our routine and eat time. It’s up to each individual to design an approach to making the best use of their phone, email and the internet. And remember, there is an off switch!

Prioritise sleep and recovery
Our mind and body need recovery time so rather than stealing time from sleep to pack more into each day, prioritise your rest and recovery. You’ll become more efficient at using time wisely when you’re well rested rather than tasks taking longer than necessary because you feel fatigued.

Make fitness a resolution for the year, not just for January
For busy workers it’s far better to be realistic and complete 1 or 2 quality workouts per week, every week, than to aim to exercise 4-5 times a week and then end up squeezing activity in when you’re distracted, wasting energy on ineffective training time, or feeling that you’ve let yourself down if you don’t manage to fit in everything you planned. Bear this in mind when thinking about New Year resolutions and plan to feel great for the entire year, not just for the first two weeks of January! 

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