Social Wellbeing, Family, and Mindfulness
Welcome to the December edition of TotalWellbeing, your guide to the 8 dimensions of wellbeing. The focus this month will be on the importance of your social wellbeing, family, mindfulness, and keeping balanced during this holiday season. We hope that you find the resources this month helpful in managing your social obligations, balancing your personal time, and maximizing your wellbeing through the end of the year. If you missed us last month you can catch up on our newsletters page. As a reminder, this newsletter is aimed at providing helpful information about various aspects of your wellbeing and then connecting it all back to important and relevant parts of our everyday life. As we near the end of the year we will continue to emphasize the concept of community and look at how our actions affect our community, country, and in some cases the rest of the world. To your total wellbeing, The MINES Team
Social Wellbeing and Your Family This is the time of year where family and friends can both be an excellent source of support as well as an abundant source of stress. It is also a time where you are seeing friends, co-workers, and family members more than you probably do during the rest of the year, so it is important to find a way to balance your time and your energy while meeting the various holiday-related obligations such as shopping, holiday parties, family dinners, and get-togethers. All of this can leave little time for yourself and make you feel drained when you want to be engaged and having fun. The key is setting expectations, being okay with saying “no” and making sure others are helping and not just relying on you for everything. To make sure you find balance and enjoy the holidays check out our guide to a stress-free holiday. If you would like to talk to a counselor or wellness coach about these topics, please call us at 1-800-873-7138 to get connected right away. Also, PersonalAdvantage has some great meditation and relaxation tips, mindfulness resources, and FREE webinars this month to focus on your wellbeing while also being productive at work.
Question of the Month What are 3 ways that your friends or family could help you with your biggest holiday stress sources?
Quote of the Month “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” – Marianne Williamson
MINES Updates/Community World View The relationship between your social wellbeing and the larger communities you live in such as your neighborhoods, your cities, your state, and your country should be pretty clear, but that is not to say that these relationships are not complex. One thing is for sure though and that is that communities large and small tend to thrive when people are willing to come together, reach out, and help each other. Helping others not only brings a community together in good times and bad, but it also boosts everyone’s social wellbeing and sense of place as individuals as well. The holiday season is a great time to do just this by reaching out and helping those that may need it. If you have time, think about helping your community by volunteering at a soup kitchen, donating some clothes you no longer want, or even donate to a charity you believe in if you can afford it. Not only will this help others in need, but it will help you reinforce your role in your community and strengthen your social ties at the same time.
If you or a member of your household needs assistance or guidance on any of these wellbeing topics, please call MINES & Associates, your EAP, today for free, confidential, 24/7 assistance at 800.873.7138.
This Month’s Focus Check out this month’s webinar: Mindfulness in the Workplace MINESblog: Throwback Blog: Finding Joy Amidst the Holiday Stress Check out this Month’s Infographic Important Links Visit our BLOG MINES and Associates 2018 Training Catalog Balanced Living Magazine LinkedIn MINEs Archives Contact Us Email MINES
		MINES does not warrant the materials (Audio, Video, Text, Applications, or any other form of media or links) included in this communication have any connection to MINES & Associates, nor does MINES seek to endorse any entity by including these materials in this communication.  MINES accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided herein, nor any additional content that may be made available through any third-party site. We found them helpful, and hope you do too!

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This month is not only packed full of holidays and events, it celebrates Weary Willie, the character played by Emmett Kelly in the mid-1900s.  Weary Willie day reminds us of the importance of laughter which is very appropriate when you think of how stressful this time of year can be with the holidays, from dealing with family to making sure you have enough money and time to buy presents for people.

Emmett who performed with Ringling Brothers and Barnum, along with other circuses, was one of the few clowns who were depicted as being sad. He was classified as a hobo clown who couldn’t do much right. However, he knew how to make people laugh but also evoked sympathy from the audience. By celebrating Weary Willie and the art of clowning this month, it reminds us to find fun and enjoyment during life’s struggles and the hardships that may happen during this time of year. Whether it is just finding ways to alleviate stress or taking time to learn to juggle or ride a unicycle, remember this season will pass and it is important to find ways to smile every day. To learn more about Weary Willie and the impact he had on the world of clowns, check out this article: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmett-Kelly

Don’t neglect your total wellbeing. Remember all 8 dimensions of your wellness are important to keep in focus during this season to help reduce stress and be able to enjoy this time of year. You need time to replenish so make sure you do! Take time to evaluate how you can make your Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, Financial, Intellectual, Occupational, Social, and Environmental wellbeing be fulfilled so you can alleviate stress around these areas.

Here are some great tips while preparing yourself for this Holiday Season:

1. Maintain your health. Watch what you eat and drink, get enough sleep, and don’t neglect doing your exercise program. By focusing your energy towards your wellness goals, you will feel better and be able to accomplish more.
2. Be easy on yourself. It is ok to feel sad or grieve the loss of someone who isn’t here to enjoy the holidays with you. Acknowledge those feelings and express these normal feelings. It is natural during the holidays to feel blue sometimes. However, remember if your workplace offers an EAP they are there to help if you do want to talk to a professional about what you are feeling and if you want help processing those emotions.
3. Carefully choose the events to attend that will bring the most joy to you. Focus on what the true meaning of the holidays are for you so your celebrations are the most meaningful. Celebrate each event you do this season so you can look back on this time as a good time verses something you have to do. This includes baking, decorating, writing a meaningful letter to someone, or choosing the perfect gift.
4. Shop within your budget and plan in advance when, how, and where you will shop. Don’t let money worries add any stress. Giving from the heart is more important that giving an expensive gift.
5. Be more realistic about holiday expectations – both yours and the ones others may have of you. Whether it is managing your time wisely and figuring out what you can cut out to reduce the stress or being reasonable about what you can accomplish by limiting your baking, decorating, and gift-giving. Make sure to give yourself and others a break if things don’t go according to plan.
6. Find ways to experience happiness this season at work and at home. No matter what happens around you or who is a “Grinch”, don’t get ruffled by others’ behaviors and keep that smile on your face. Consider including your co-workers in your plans if they don’t have any or helping out in a soup kitchen, sharing something funny with someone every day, or buying yourself a gift no one will think of getting you to help make this season the best yet.
7. Recognize that family differences won’t disappear just because it is the holidays. Work on building a relationship by finding common ground or starting a new tradition. Share fun stories and start to heal those past hurts through forgiveness and love.
8. Take time to sit, enjoy your surroundings, and relax. Take in the weather, your home, and focus on finding a moment each day to enjoy the activities happening around you whether it is going snowboarding or sitting by the fireplace reading a good book.

We hope this list will help you have a successful, joyous, and wonderful holiday season that is stress-free!

To Your Wellbeing,

Raena Chatwin

Happy Holidays from the MINES Team

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The cornerstone of our recommendation about coping or thriving with holiday stress has to do with setting balanced and reasonable expectations of ourselves and of others. There are cultural expectations that can lead to stress and disillusionment, i.e. “we should all be blissfully happy, have beautiful and significant presents for all, and be ever cheerful.” This probably does not work for all of us 100%. We can, however make meaning, be grateful, have authentic interactions, and celebrate what we believe in. One of the ways we can accomplish this is to set meaningful and realistic expectations for the holidays.

A number of years ago I worked out an optimal holiday stress management strategy formula called “Holiday Stress Math.” It is not rocket science, so please enjoy:

If E are H (High)    and    >   WRH   =   HS (High Stress Holiday)
If E are L (Low)     and    <   WRH   =   LS but DOL (Low Stress) (Depends on Luck)
If E are L (Low)     and    =   WRH   =   LS but NGT! (Low Stress) (Negative Good Time)
If E are H (High)    and    =   WRH   =   MS, PGT but HRI(Medium Stress) (Positive Good Time) (High Risk Investment)

BPRE (Best Possible, Realistic Expectation)     =     WRH(What Really Happens)     =     GRE (Good, Realistic Holiday)

Have a meaningful and reasonable stress holiday.
Peace and Joy,
Patrick Hiester
Vice President, BizPsych

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I can smell the aroma of turkey, ham and pie as well as hear all the activities running through the house. And don’t forget the dogs following every step you make in the kitchen waiting for that scrap of food that just happens to fall on the floor.

It is the end of Fall and in many parts of the country orange and yellow leaves are still dropping from the trees. After dinner activities will include walks to exercise off some of that great food. In other parts of the country, such as Denver where MINES & Associates is based, we have already had 2 heavy snows; 10 and 20 inches each. Which brings me to some traditions. While many people head off to start their Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, also known as “Black Friday”, many of us have another tradition…..head up the mountain for the first skiing and boarding of the season. Most of the Rocky Mountain ski resorts are open for this long weekend. Yes, I can smell the fresh scent of snow, the clean brisk air of the mountains and see the beautiful blue ski and white snow covered mountains.

No matter what the activity or tradition you are going to follow this next weekend, please think of the people that are less fortunate than us. Provide some food this weekend to your local food bank or donate some money to help provide food for all.

And last, this is the begining of a fun and exciting, yet hectic time of the year. We all try to do too much and easily start running around in frantic style. Take a few minutes to check out the MINES & Associates web site www.minesandassociates.com for ideas on how to cope with these hectic holidays. We have lots of ideas that will help make the holidays go more smoothly for you and your family. After all, the objective is to enjoy the holidays, not be stressed out over them.

Happy Holidays!

Allan Benson
apbenson@minesandassciates.com

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