Participating in an on-site or off-site stress management, meditation, or other relaxation program (multi-week program, attending at least 85% of sessions over a minimum of 8 weeks) is necessary to be eligible for this incentive. You must complete an attestation form in HCM by Nov. 30 to earn the incentive.
Why is this important?
Stress is experienced by many people on a daily basis. The American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Mental Health describe numerous effects of stress on health, including physical health issues such as cardiovascular disease. While all stress is not bad, chronic stress may affect overall health negatively. Learning how to manage the stressors that one experiences is important for good health.
HealthyLife® Thrive
The American Institute for Preventive Medicine's HealthyLife® Thrive program is a journey of self-discovery. Thrive guides participants to learn more about themselves and what well-being means for them, as well as how to make small, powerful shifts in ways of thinking and doing. Designed to empower participants with the necessary tools and skills to enhance their emotional well-being and navigate life’s challenges, Thrive will help you discover your strengths, give yourself a moment to really reflect, and take actions that support your mental and emotional health. You will come away feeling more connected to your inner voice and in control of how you respond to life’s stressors.
Topics covered during this 8-week series will include:
- Developing a growth mindset
- Noticing and changing unhelpful thought patterns
- Adapting to change
- Building confidence and self-esteem
- Connecting to purpose and values
- Managing energy and attention
- Strengthening a sense of community and connection
- Balancing different roles, work-life integration
- Moving more to support mental health
- Fueling the body to support brain health
Tuesdays, March 18 - May 13 (no session on April 1), from 12:30-1:30 pm via Zoom
Attentional Fitness: Sneaking Mindful Habits into Real Life
Physical exercises strengthen the body. Mindfulness exercises strengthen attention. Learn how exercising your attention – with or without meditation – can develop attentional capacities for relating more effectively to the challenges of daily life. Join Daron Larson as he shares how to develop attentional skills without drawing attention to yourself. This 8-week series will explore flexible ways to turn mindfulness practice into a secret mission.
Participants will:
- Learn about mindfulness as a practical, customizable, evidence-based way to develop empowering attention skills
- Discuss ways our default attention habits can undermine personal and professional satisfaction, increase internal friction, and escalate conflicts
- Discover how small attentional habits, explored discreetly lead to increased satisfaction, decreased internal friction, and empathy
Wednesdays, March 19 - May 7, from 12-1 pm via Zoom
Register for Attentional Fitness
Mental Health Matters
Mental Health Matters is an 8-session series focusing on various topics surrounding mental health, from managing personal challenges to helping your team thrive. This series is being presented to foster mental well-being in spite of the challenges we all face on a daily basis.
Tuesdays from 12-1 pm via Zoom
April 1 - Work Life Balance with Patricia Schultz, MBA, CTTS
April 8 - Realistic Optimism: Improving Life Satisfaction with Susan Fee, MEd, LPCC (V)
April 15 - Mindset 2.0: An Innovative Approach to Managing Your Mind to Reduce Costs with Tamsin Astor, PhD
April 22 - Grief at Work with Julia Ellifritt
April 29 - Help! I Can't Stop Thinking with Daron Larson, BA
May 6 - Emotional Roots of Clutter with Susan Fee, MEd, LPCC (V)
May 13 - Learning to Establish Boundaries in Order to Have Health Relationships with Co-Workers, Family members and everyone Else in Your Life! with Kelsey Loushin, BA, LICDC-CS, CDP
May 20 - Laugh for the Health of It! with Christine Smith, MA
Register for Mental Health Matters
Building Inner Resilience: Navigating Modern-Day Stress
Worldwide, the experts agree: today’s stress is a growing "public health crisis" (WHO, CDC, NIH). Stressed-out – tired but wired – is our rampant norm, and it is wreaking havoc on all aspects of our well-being. No one is immune. That said, it needn't be this way; there is a better way! Come and find out about how to feel better and be better.
Join Heidi Weiker for an engaging, fun, and impactful 8-week series that is not just another canned ‘stress-management’ class telling you what you already know – this is real-world, hands-on, and real-time. It’s jam-packed with relevant science, contemporary theory, and quick, yet powerful and proven, practices. Together, we’ll dialogue, share, practice, and enjoy moving out of unrelenting distress; breathing into relaxed, calm, peaceful, and focused energy; building greater positivity; and attuning to and affirming our inner strengths.
Tuesdays, January 28 - March 18, from 12-1 pm via Zoom
Positively Powerful
We each have the power to create our best lives through positive intentions. Join this 9-week series, packed with powerful tools and strategies, to enhance your daily life. Each week, faculty and staff will learn about a new technique and perspective on optimism and positivity from a lineup of subject matter experts.
Wednesdays this Fall from 12-1 pm via Zoom
September 18 - The Impact of Positive Thinking on Self-Care, Healing and Healthy Aging (Amber Voorheis, LISW-S, CEAL). Session 1 Recording
September 25 - The Secret to Happiness (Judith Eugene). Session 2 Recording
October 2 - The Science of Optimism (Kim Langley, MEd). Session 3 Recording
October 9 - Making Your Attitude Your Greatest Asset (Kelsey Loushin, BA, LICDC-CS, CDP). Session 4 Recording
October 16 - Managing Perspectives (Kim Langley, MEd). Session 5 Recording
October 23 - Brain Power (Pat Schultz, MBA, CTTS). Session 6 Recording
October 30 - Humor as a Life Plan (Judith Eugene). Session 7 Recording
November 6 - Realistic Optimism (Susan Fee, MEd, LPCC-V). Session 8 Recording
November 13 - Gratitude Journaling (Judith Eugene). Session 9 Recording
Building Connection and Communication
Wouldn't it be great to be able to better manage stress in your relationships at work and at home? Learn new and transformative ways to improve response versus reaction, diplomacy and respect, verbal and non-verbal communication, and more. Join Heidi Weiker for the Building Connection and Communication (BCC) series to learn to use these tools for better success in your relationships.
2025 TBD
E.A.S.E. Into Peace of Mind
Let's E.A.S.E. into the moments at hand with this practice-based, methods-centric program. Join Heidi Weiker for a 12-week series designed to harmonize our bodies, minds and hearts in order to be more fully present. Throughout the sessions, we'll:
- Engage in quick, high-impact movement to dump distress and expand relaxation;
- Activate breathing more deeply to cultivate calm and focused energy;
- Savor moments and experiences to create peace and comfort; and
- Elevate to lift us up in delight, strengths, and joy.
Come find out how much moments matter in our lives as we E.A.S.E into them together.
This series has ended for 2024.
Release, Relax and Reach
Join Heidi Weiker for Release, Relax and ReachTM, an engaging, impacting, and interactive 8-week series. Not just another canned stress-management program repeating what you know – it’s insightful and readily applicable in your real-world.
Each week we’ll explore fun and quick, yet powerful and proven methods that you can use right in the moment. We'll discover a release out of unrelenting stress and strain. We'll relax into a deeper balance of energy and calm. And then, we'll reach into inner peace and joy, to reach up and out into the world. Join us to learn relevant science and contemporary theory, to engage and enjoy in these practices in real-time, and to reinvigorate your well-being.
May return in 2025.
Introduction to Meditation
If you’re new to meditation or want to refresh your practice, join us for this 4-week class in the fundamentals of meditation. In this short course you will learn about different styles of meditation and their benefits. You will get a chance to practice several styles in class, and gain resources for supporting you in creating a regular practice of your own.
This series will return in 2025.
Avidon Health's Stress and Resiliency Training
Online Stress Management
Avidon Health's LivingEasy program is a multi-session class which will change the way you think, feel and react to stressful situations.
Read more: LivingEasy Stress & Resiliency Program
To register, follow the prompts on the Avidon Health page of this website.
Individual Counseling through AllOne Health
All benefits eligible faculty and staff and their families can receive up to five free counseling sessions per occurrence for a variety of issues including:
- Anxiety
- Work/life balance
- Marital stress
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- and more
Contact AllOne Health (formerly Impact Solutions) at 1-800-227-6007 to request your first session.
Please note that this service covers benefits eligible CWRU faculty and staff, spouses/partners, household members, dependents living in and away from home, even parents and parents-in-law.