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Health Intelligence: Promoting health and wellness in healthcare

In her article Health Intelligence (H.Q.): Promoting health and wellness in healthcare, Michele Chaban MSW, RSW, Phd, suggests “if we want better health care, we need health and wellness to be an integral part of our care systems. We need to embody what we are trying to achieve.” Chaban highlights a study by Dr. Bruce Barrett where patients dealing with ARI (Acute Respiratory Illness) were assigned to a control,...

Meditation can Increase Concentration- especially when Multitasking

A recent study (The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Multitasking in a High-Stress Information Environment, 2012) shows that practicing mindfulness meditation can help people stay on task longer with fewer distractions and also improves memory and reduces stress. The Experiment Three groups of Human Resource managers were tested on their ability to multitask. All were given an initial round of testing. The first group was then given 8...

Mindfulness Practice Reduces Cognitive Rigidity

The old adage “experience makes you wiser” may not always be the case.  Studies have shown that experience may actually blind you to seeing simpler more innovative solutions. According to a recent study, mindfulness meditation can help reduce this tendency also known as cognitive rigidity. In two separate studies with either experienced or novice meditators, Greenberg, Reiner and Meiran (2012) examined the impact of mindfulness meditation on cognitive rigidity....

Join Wendy for her webinar: The Mindful Workplace: Creating an Effective and Engaging Workplace – March 21st at 1 pm

Hear her talk about why teams, leaders & organizations need a more mindful workplace and the simple strategies to get there.  Become a a free member of HR.com and participate in this complimentary webinar. Be sure to read Meditating at Work: A New Approach to Managing Overload by Wendy Woods, Principal of Watershed Training Solutions

Meditating at Work: A New Approach to Managing Overload

Want to be more effective and productive at work? Simply click on Noetic Now to access the article.

Want to be more effective and productive at work?

Today eighty percent of workplace success is attributed to Emotional Intelligence (EQi).  Find out about your EQi and how it can help you at work. Join Wendy Woods on March 5th for her Emotional Intelligence workshop. In this interactive session participants examine their Emotional Intelligence to identify strengths and challenges and develop strategies for greater results. Personalized action plans are created to support continued success. (The Bar-On EQ-i is to...

Upcoming Watershed Training Events

Join Wendy Woods Monday at 8:15am to laugh away Blue Monday – Flow 93.5 Monday is called Blue Monday as it’s supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. No more as Wendy leads you in a series of laughter yoga activities on the JJ and Melanie in the morning show. Simply tune in to 93.5FM And laugh http://flow935.com/onair/shows/ Want to be more effective and productive at work?...

Experience the Mindful Workplace Course at the University of Toronto

If your workplace needs a boost from low employee engagement and productivity, our solution is the right medicine for your team, your business, and you. Join Instructor Wendy Woods at the downtown University of Toronto campus, this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 4-5, 2011) for a valuable session to explore why mindfulness is the key to overcoming bottom-line concerns and vital to developing an engaged organization. In addition attendants will...

Quotes of the Week

Bad human communication leaves us less room to grow. ~Rowan D. Williams, Poet and theologian Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success. ~Paul J. Meyer, Motivatioanl speaker Communication is about being effective, not always about being proper. ~Bo Bennett, Businessman, author and philanthropist Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing. ~Rollo May , American Existential psychologist Communication works for those...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by photostock/FreeDigitalPhotos.net When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn’t an option. It’s a necessity. ~ Steve Pavlina, Author Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top. ~J.C. Penney, Businessman Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where...

Quotes of the Week

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life, reaching far beyond the people and places you can see. ~
Earon Davis Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
~Howard Thurman, American author, philosopher, theologian, and civil...

Quotes of the Week

Images courtesy of Photography by Chaiwat/FreeDigitalPhotos.net A dream will always triumph over reality, once it is given the chance. ~Stanislaw Lem, Polish writer Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be. ~Zig Ziglar, American...

Emerson Poem

I recently discovered this poem when I was doing some de-cluttering on the Labor Day weekend.  It reminds me of what is really important in life and enables me to refocus my priorities. It inspires and grounds me; I hope you find it inspiring too. Success To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest...

Quotes of the Week

He conquers who endures.  ~Persius, Roman poet Fall seven times, stand up eight.  ~Japanese Proverb Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer.  ~André A. Jackson, Business Executive Nobody trips over mountains.  It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble.  Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.  ~Author Unknown Our greatest glory is not in never failing,...

Death By Laughter Poem

I found this poem a few years ago and loved it. I thought you would appreciate it as much as I did.  Enjoy! Death By Laughter Some people measure their lives in pulse rates and sit-ups. Far better to measure yours in licks of ice creams, well- told jokes, mad dashes to be first in water, belly laughs. And, when you die, it won’t be an erratic shift in...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by Ambro/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Nothing is that important. Just lie down. ~Natalie Goldberg, American Author The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. ~William James, American Psychologist Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one. ~
Hans Selye, Endocrinologist The time to relax is when you don’t...

Techniques for Clearing the Mind

Here are some techniques to clear your mind and calm the mental chatter. Write to Release. Reverse negative habits and mental patterns that threaten your productivity by engaging in free form writing, at least once a day for 30 days. Grab your pencil and paper and sit in a quiet private area where you won’t be interrupted. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths before you start writing....

Quotes of the Week

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.  ~John Quincy Adams, American Diplomat The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.  ~John Buchan, 15th Governor General of Canada To lead people, walk beside them … 
As for the best leaders, the people do not notice...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by jscreationzs/FreeDigitalPhotos.net Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~ William James, Philosopher Always desire to learn something useful. ~ Sophocles, Ancient Greek Tragedian Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. ~ Og Mandino, Author Either you run the day or the day runs you. ~ Jim Rohn, Author Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward. ~ Victor...

Quotes of the Week

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. ~ Theodore Roosevelt, Former President of the United States of America Change your thoughts and you change your world. ~ Norman Vincent Peale, Author Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson, Poet Mankind is made great or little by its own will. ~ Friedrich Schiller, Philosopher The power of imagination makes us infinite....

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by twobee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. ~ David Brinkley, Newscaster Action is the foundational key to all success. ~ Pablo Picasso, Painter Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. ~ Abraham Lincoln, Former President of the United States of America Success is blocked by concentrating...

Quotes of the Week

Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A “you can do it” when things are tough. ~ Richard M. DeVos, American Businessman I don’t think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy. ~ Patricia Ireland, U.S. Administrator One of the things I learned the hard way was that it...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by renjith krishnan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” ~ Anthony Robbins, Author “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ~ Epictetus, Philosopher “Communication works for those who work at it.”...

Quotes of the Week

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. ~ Winston Churchill, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. ~ Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States of America In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. ~ Bill Cosby, Comedian I can accept failure, everyone fails at...

How Work/Life Balance Drives Employee Engagement

I recently attended an HCI webinar “It’s Five O-Clock Somewhere”- Increasing Employee Engagement by Improving Work/Life Balance. Work/life balance is something we all need to maintain; it’s also strongly connected to employee engagement. Employers who do not effectively manage balance fuel burnout and demotivation- the enemies of engagement! Kevin Sheridan, the presenter and Chief Engagement Officer and Chief Consultant of HR Solutions, began the webinar by defining employee engagement. ...

Quotes of the Week

Image courtesy of Photography by jscreationzs/FreeDigitalPhotos.net An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. ~Edwin Land, Inventor Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity. ~T. S. Eliot, Poet Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties. ~Gail Sheehy, Journalist Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work. ~Rita Mae Brown, Writer Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous....

Book of the Week

We: How to Increase Performance and Profits through Full Engagement Author: Rudy Karsan and Kevin Kruse Date: January 24, 2011 Pages: 236 “We live in a new era where work and life are blended as opposed to balanced, entitlements are a thing of the past, and job satisfaction is at a record low. This is a crisis for individuals because negative emotions at work spill over to our personal...

Quotes of the Week

None of us is as smart as all of us.  ~Ken Blanchard, American Author We must all hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.  ~Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father Teamwork is the ability to work as a group toward a common vision, even if that vision becomes extremely blurry.  ~Author Unknown If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.  ~Henry Ford, Industrialist No member...

Book of the Week

Author: Daniel H. Pink Date Published: 2009 Pages: 272 The secret to high performance and satisfaction—at work, at school, and at home—is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. – Daniel H. Pink The Book Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us is an informative read that puts decades of scientific...

Bust through Stress in 3 minutes or less

The reality is that stress is an inevitable part of life. However, the key to living a more balanced life is to manage stress so it doesn’t manage you as opposed to trying to eliminate it completely. Here is a quick Watershed Training Solutions Stress Busting strategy: Take 10 Slow Deep Breaths – Why? Breathing is one of the easiest systems to control in order to relax (Dr John...