If you are in the corporate sector, then you probably already know about corporate wellness. If you don’t, hooray for you, you’re not part of the soul crushing corporate life that can add 10 years to your mental and physical being. According to the CDC, chronic diseases account for 75% of healthcare costs, with obesity, heart disease, stroke and cancer being the most preventable types of chronic diseases. By educating employees and enabling personal accountability, corporate wellness programs help build a robust, and productive labor force, while also lowering health insurance costs. For you, this means your company may offer physical, nutritional and psychological benefits, which you can utilize so you’re not calling out sick every other week because you couldn’t rebound from your hang-over as quickly as you could in college.

If you’re lucky enough to be working for an employer who is willing to invest in you, onsite fitness centers, yoga classes, healthy lunches and snacks, and paramedical services like massage therapy are tools your employer will provide you, so that you’re running at maximum efficiency and giving your full potential back to the company. This way, you’ll stop being late for those morning meetings because you were waiting in line for your bagel and schmear, and actually verbalize your opinion about how your colleague’s onion breath is inhibiting you from sending out your morning emails.

The benefits of massage therapy are numerous. Beside the physical benefits, which include improved circulation, increased joint flexibility, reduced migraine pain, enhanced immunity and alleviation of back, neck and shoulder pain, it also helps decrease anxiety, enhance sleep quality, improve concentration and increase circulation. Having a massage therapist as part of your corporate wellness program will make sure you’re looking forward to coming to work every day, and not viewing it like summer camp at the Gulag.

In essence, corporate wellness programs are meant to improve your life and health so that you become a more motivated and productive employee. Coming back to work bright eyed and bushy tailed after a calming yoga class where you spent the hour formulating your Academy Award acceptance speech, will help you get back to the reality of your job with a more positive outlook. You’ll perceive your current job as nothing more than writing material for that outstanding screenplay you know Joe Pesci will come out of retirement to star in, once you actually start writing it.

Welcome your employer’s interest in your health! It will ensure that you’re getting the most out of the benefits your job has to offer, and who knows, you may actually stop complaining about it at happy hour every night and actually be HAPPY!

Written by Maria Schumann for bodono.

Maria Schumann is a writer living in NYC.
About Maria Schumann: “I love writing poetry, breaking a sweat at bikram yoga, and reading serial killer books while cooking. I love watching documentaries and I am always game for a crazy night of poker. Understanding the importance of a healthy relationship with my body and mind inspires me to help others come to a symbiotic relationship with their bodies and minds as well. Through writing I am able to reach people with my words and hopefully inspire positivity and change.”