UWSP Employee
Wellness Newsletter
Volume 8
A student publication edited by: Hailey Kunavich & Kayla Ahles
The Many Dimensions of You By: Hailey Kunavich
What does wel l ness mean t o you? What
do you t hink it means t o be t rul y heal t hy?
Most minds run t o t he physical aspect s of
wel l -being such as exercising regul arl y,
sl eeping wel l , eat ing enough f ruit s and
veget abl es, and avoiding junk f oods. We
of t en f orget t hat heal t h incl udes many
dif f erent dimensions, and t he physical
dimension is just one of t hese. In t his day
and age, it is
import ant t o adopt
what can be ref erred
t o as a hol ist ic view
of wel l ness. Hol ist ic
wel l ness t akes t he
st ance t hat t he body,
mind, and spirit are
not separat e ent it ies
but rat her
int erconnect ed
component s of a
person?s wel l -being;
what af f ect s one
component af f ect s
t he ot hers. As
expl ained by t he
Nat ional Wel l ness
Inst it ut e, ?Wel l ness is
mul t idimensional and
hol ist ic,
encompassing
l if est yl e, ment al and spirit ual wel l -being,
and t he environment .?
At UWSP, we break down wel l ness int o
seven dif f erent dimensions. These
incl ude Social , Physical , Emot ional ,
Career, Int el l ect ual , Environment al , and
Spirit ual . Social wel l ness invol ves one?s
abil it y t o connect wit h ot hers and
maint ain posit ive rel at ionships wit h al l
t he peopl e in t heir l if e. The physical
dimension incl udes keeping a heal t hy
qual it y of l if e t hat al l ows one?s body t o
ef f ect ivel y accompl ish what it needs t o
t hroughout t he day by adopt ing heal t hf ul
behaviors and avoiding dest ruct ive ones.
Emot ional wel l -being deal s wit h one?s
abil it y t o l ook inward by recognizing and
sharing f eel ings such as hope, l ove, and
happiness as wel l as f ear, anger, and
sadness. Career wel l ness is gained by
achieving personal f ul f il l ment in one?s
occupat ion wit hin t heir chosen career
whil e maint aining a
bal ance bet ween work
and home. The
int el l ect ual dimension
is keeping an open mind
t o new ideas and
experiences, t he
improvement of skil l s,
and a l if el ong pursuit of
l earning. Environment al
wel l ness is not onl y
recognizing one?s
responsibil it y f or t he
heal t h of our eart h, but
al so cont ribut ing
posit ivel y t o t he
surrounding
environment which
incl udes home,
communit y, and t he
worl d. Final l y, spirit ual
wel l ness is f inding
bal ance and peace t hrough knowing one?s
val ues and purpose in l if e whil e al igning
t heir act ions wit h t hose val ues.
Each dimension represent s an int egral
part of wel l -being. The American Hol ist ic
Heal t h Associat ion cal l s t his
underst anding ?an approach t o l if e?. No
mat t er what st at e of physical heal t h a
person may be in, it is al ways possibl e t o
improve a st at e of wel l -being. Moving
t owards a bet t er wel l -being means
moving t owards a bet t er you, and t here
has never been a bet t er t ime t o st art !
Spring 2016
Dedicated to
Employee
Exploration of
the Seven
Dimensions of
Wellness
Inside this
volume:
The Many
Dimensions of
You 1
Blood Pressure
2
Sean Foy
Interview
3
Sugar
Awareness &
Text Neck 4
Social Wellness
5
How to
Exercise Your
Brain 5 & 6
Healthy as a
Dawg 7
Spring Recipes
8
1
The Sil ent Kil l er
By: Kayla Ahles
At one point in your l if e someone has checked your bl ood pressure. However, af t er get t ing t he reading,
you may not have underst ood what t he numbers meant . Bl ood pressure af f ect s your heal t h in a variet y of
ways and it is import ant t o underst and what your numbers mean.
According t o t he American Heart
Associat ion, bl ood pressure is f orce
exert ed against t he wal l s of your
art eries. A normal bl ood pressure is
l ess t han 120/ 80. The t op number is
your syst ol ic, which measures t he
pressure in t he art eries when t he
heart beat s. The diast ol ic is t he
bot t om number and measures in t he
art eries when t he heart muscl e is
rest ing bet ween beat s and ref il l ing.
Hypert ension, or ?t he sil ent kil l er? is
when a doct or diagnoses l ong t erm,
el evat ed bl ood pressure of 140/ 90 or
http:/ / www.heart.org
above. It is cal l ed t he sil ent kil l er
because high bl ood pressure is a sympt oml ess disease. Some f act ors t hat coul d inf l uence your risk f or high
bl ood pressure incl ude:
· Smoking · Lack of physical act ivit y · High sodium diet · Being overweight or obese · Prol onged st ress
Ways t o prevent / reduce high bl ood
pressure:
This semester the
· Reduce sodium · Manage st ress
Employee Wellness
· Enjoy regul ar physical act ivit y (30
team screened 190
minut es, 3x a week) · Avoid t obacco
employees with an
average blood
pressure of
121.9/ 80.5. This
puts our campus
smoke · Maint ain a heal t hy weight
· Be inf ormed
Not onl y wil l t he act ivit ies l ist ed
above hel p reduce high bl ood
pressure, but t hey may al so impact
ot her aspect s of your l if e such as your
overal l wel l -being. Al so, be sure t o
have any changes approved by your
blood pressure in the
category of
Pictured to the right is
prehypertension .
Rob Kobiske, Technical
Operations (N&I), having his
blood pressure taken.
2
Fi n di n g You r ?W hy?: An I n t er v i ew w i t h
Sean Foy
By: Sean Puf f er
On Wednesday, April 6th, our campus was host
to the Ministry Health Care Worksite Wellness
Summit, where field-leading experts and health
professionals gathered to present and network
at a conference of wellness information and
resources. One of these experts was keynote
speaker Sean Foy. We were granted the
opportunity to conduct an interview with Sean
after his presentation in which he shared his
thoughts on how we help
the everyday person make
changes to their health.
Every country around the
world has the same issues
when it comes to wellness.
As Sean would put it,
individuals all have
problems finding the
answer to the ?why?, as in
why their health needs to
change and why it is worth
doing. He says the reason
people may have issues
finding their ?why? is
because of how
technologically advanced
we are these days.
We find ways to occupy the mind instead of
finding ?why?. We are very technologically
involved, which gives us many outlets to not
answer ?why?. We have become desensitized
when it comes to feeling sorry for our actions.
Our technology has consumed our lives and
consequently lessened our capacity for
empathy.
Sean has some insight on how to help this
technologic dependency. He says that instead of
just finding a way to distract ourselves, we
should be opening up and accepting support
rather than hiding things. It is important to have
support in all aspects of life. Try finding
someone to open up with about your life. We
may say things are all fine and dandy, but the
truth is we are a mess. Some generations
struggle more than others, but it is important to
open up none the less. We must understand the
importance of accepting where we are and
finding people that are accepting of us and our
situation.
Now there is one other thing that we seem to
lack, and that is listening. Listening could mean
that you just listen to someone without
interruption, but that is not always easy. Sean
says that when it comes to
fitness, it seems as though
people hear the same thing
about what they should do
over and over, which he
likes to call the ?blah blah
blah?. In this situation,
people need to be truly
heard and offered a
personalized solution,
rather than hearing the
stereotypical list of ways to
lose weight. Sean says,
?The best exercise is the
one you will do.? This could
be something as simple as
walking. We have to walk
during the day anyway, so
no matter what, everyone is
already exercising. He also brought attention to
the importance of keeping accountable with the
fitness goals and activities we set for ourselves.
Sean?s main message is that there are many
ways to integrate fitness activities into your
everyday routine, whether it be at home or in the
workplace. If you would like some easy ways to
get started, you can check out Fitness that Works
by Sean Foy. In this, he takes normal everyday
activities and puts a fitness spin on them. So the
next time you are thinking about starting to
workout or continuing your fitness journey,
always remember that ?the best exercise is the
one you will do?.
3
Sugar Awareness
By: Sean Puf f er
It seems as t hough we eat or drink t hings t hat we
enjoy t he t ast e of rat her t han caring about t he
nut rit ional val ue. Every day we see advert isement s
f or t hings t hat t ast e good and are not t he heal t hiest
t hing f or us, but st il l may end up eat ing or drinking
t hese at some point in t he day. When l ooking at
most of t he advert isement s we see, t hey usual l y
revol ve around being high in f at and sugar, but here
we wil l f ocus on t he sugar.
If you l ook at t he diet ary recommendat ions f or
t his year, you wil l see t hat t he USDA has now made
a new recommendat ion f or dail y sugar
consumpt ion. The new recommendat ion is f or t he
sugar cont ent of t he day t o be l ess t han 10% of your
t ot al cal ories.
Now if we t ry and make sense of t his
recommendat ion on a 2,000 cal ories diet , t hat
means t he goal is t o t ake in l ess t han 200 cal ories of
sugar every day. To make t his a l it t l e easier t o
underst and, we coul d break it down t o how many
grams of sugar t hat woul d be. A gram of sugar is
equal t o 4 cal ories, so 200 divided by 4 woul d equal
50 grams of sugar. That is roughl y t he amount of
sugar in t wo cans of soda, as a can of soda has
approximat el y 30 grams of sugar. If we want t o st ay
bel ow t his, we need t o make heal t hier choices when
it comes t o what we eat or drink on a dail y basis. A
quot e we shoul d l ive by comes f rom Jim Rohn:
?Take care of your body. It 's t he onl y pl ace you have
t o l ive.?
TEXTNECK
By: Kayla Ahles
Text neck, a widespread overuse of
handhel d mobil e t echnol ogy is resul t ing in
a harmf ul and dangerous physical condit ion
on t he human body. If you are a regul ar cel l
phone user, f ol l ow t hese t ips t o reduce
your risk of t ext neck:
o Hol d your phone up when you t ext or
pl ay games, inst ead of l ooking down.
o Dict at e. If your phones t ext ing app has a dict at ion, use it .
o Take f requent , regul ar breaks. Avoid prol onged bout s of t ext ing, gaming, surf ing t he web, or reading
email s.
o Support your range of mot ion. When you t ake t he t ime t o exercise, f ocus on movement s t hat wil l
st rengt hen your neck, back ext ensors, rhomboids, and l at issimus dorsi muscl es.
o St ay hydrat ed. Proper hydrat ion al l day l ong eases st ress t hroughout t he body, f rom t he neck down.
o Communicat e wit h f riends and f amil y anot her way. Leave a voicemail , send an email f rom your
deskt op comput er, or bet t er yet , get t oget her in person t o enjoy a cup of cof f ee wit h your phones saf el y
st owed away.
4
Heal t h Benef it s of Sociabil it y:
Social support may have indirect effects on health
through enhanced mental health by reducing the
impact of stress or fostering a sense of meaning and
purpose in life (Cohen 2004; Thoits 1995).
Social Wel l ness
By:Wesl ey Tit us
According to worldbank.org, the United States has a
Gross Domestic Product of $17,000,000,000,000, yet
anxiety disorders which include the depression and
the feeling of isolation are the most common mental
illnesses in the U.S. These affect 40 million adults in
the United States, or 18% of the population.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health,
these anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only
one-third of those suffering receive treatment. How
can this world full of cell phones, laptops, and smart
televisions, have higher rate of having the feeling of
alone? Through technology we should be able to
engage in conversation with people around the
world. How can the reaches of communication be
greater than ever and still have people feel alone?
The benefits of being social are endless but this
isolation still haunts us.
Being social triggers physiological effects (e.g.,
reduced blood pressure, heart rate, and stress
hormones) that are beneficial to health and
minimizes unpleasant arousal that instigates risky
behavior (Uchino 2006).
Personal control refers to an individual?s beliefs that
they can control their life outcomes through their
own actions. Social ties may enhance personal
control (perhaps through social support), and, in turn,
personal control is advantageous for health habits,
mental health, and physical health (Mirowsky and
Ross 2003; Thoits 2006)
Tips t o improve Social Wel l ness:
Ask someone how their day is going today.
Do not eat lunch alone.
Call five people every week and talk for thirty
minutes. it can become fun again.
How t o Exercise your Brain
By: Jeremy Reedy
Science has shown that the brain is amazing at adapting and learning more information no matter what
age therefore, it is important to continue challenging and exercising the mind. According to
helpguide.org, a site dedicated to improving personal health and happiness, there are 4 key elements to
make a brain exercise successful:
1) It t eaches you somet hing new. No matter how intellectually demanding the activity, if it is something
you are already good at it is not a good brain exercise. The activity needs to be something that is
unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. To strengthen the brain, you need to keep learning and
developing new skills.
2) It is chal l enging. The best brain-boosting activities demand your full and close attention. It is not
enough that you found the activity challenging at one point. It must still be something that requires
mental effort. For example, learning to play a challenging new piece of music counts, while playing a
difficult piece you have already memorized does not.
3) It is a skil l you can buil d on. Look for activities that allow you to start at an easy level and work your
way up as your skills improve ? always pushing the envelope so you continue to stretch your
capabilities.
5
Continued..
Cal endar
When a previously difficult level starts to feel comfortable, that means
it is time to tackle the next level of performance.
May 7, 2016
4) It is rewarding. Rewards support the brain?s learning process. The
more interested and engaged you are in the activity, the more likely
you will be to continue doing it and the greater the benefits you will
experience. So choose activities that, while challenging, are still
enjoyable and satisfying.
The key point to exercising your brain is to improve learning and
memory. There are some practical tips that can be applied for this: pay
at t ent ion, invol ve as many senses as possibl e, rel at e inf ormat ion t o
what you al ready know, f ocus on basic ideas when l earning compl ex
mat erial , rehearse inf ormat ion you?ve al ready l earned, and use
mnemonic devices t o make memorizat ion easier. Here are some
examples of mnemonic devices:
Por tage County Cultur al
Festival at SPASH,
10a.m . to 5 p.m .
j une4, 2016
Walk W isconsin
Stevens Point, All Day
JUne 14. 2016
Far m shed Com m unity Potluck,
6:30-8:30 PM
August 6, 2016
Boys and Gir ls Club
Bike-a-thon at
ATG/Tr avel Guar d,
7 a.m . to 1p.m .
http:/ / www.helpguide.org/ articles/ memory/ how-to-improve-your-memory.htm,
http:/ / www.aarp.org/ health/ brain-health/ brain_games/ ?intcmp=AE-HEA-BH-TERTNAV-BG
6
daw g
a
s
a
y
h
Hea l t
By: Cassie Dewey
The Wel l ness Rol e Model program
recognizes deserving empl oyees and f acul t y
who demonst rat e except ional wel l ness
pract ices by engaging in al l of t he seven
dimensions, being spirit ual , physical ,
emot ional , career, int el l ect ual ,
environment al , and social wel l ness. This
semest er, we had out st anding nominat ions
and are recognizing not one, but
t wo wel l ness rol e model s: Ann Klosinski
(l ef t ) and Tammy Naczek (right ).
Ann has been wit h UWSP f or 31 years and
is t he Universit y Conf erence Coordinat or.
She is a f ormer vol l eybal l pl ayer but was
injured and required surgery. Real izing she
was becoming discouraged because of her
injury, she decided it was in her best int erest
t o keep moving. Ann part icipat es in group
f it ness cl asses at t he Al l en Cent er. Her
f avorit es are Insanit y, cycl ing, and body
scul pt ing. Addit ional l y, she organizes a
workout group f or ot her f acul t y members
during t heir l unch hour. Ann al so comment s
on her spirit ual wel l ness pract ices, st at ing
t hat she bel ieves t hat we al l have
opport unit ies which we need t o f eel are
f ul f il l ed. In her spare t ime, she is a guardian
f or at -risk el derl y in Port age Count y. This
program hel ps keep her busy and keep
perspect ive. Ann is a great ment or t o al l t hat
surround her, spreading kindness wherever
she may go. She not es t hat wel l ness hel ps
her be a bet t er mom, wif e, worker, and most
import ant l y happier.
Tammy is a part of t he CNR at t he
universit y. Tammy t akes pride in pract icing
physical and social wel l ness. She
part icipat es in f it ness cl asses at t he l ocal
YMCA and enjoys t aking wal ks on her breaks
on campus. "Moving is amazing," Tammy
expl ains. Career connect ions are somet hing
t hat Tammy is al so known f or; she greet s
everyone she meet s and int roduces ot hers
whil e creat ing a posit ive environment
wherever she goes. A big part of Tammy's
l if e is medit at ion. Medit at ion has hel ped
decrease her st ress l evel s as wel l as f ood
cravings, giving her a more posit ive out l ook
on l if e. Wel l ness is a goal t hat Tammy has
int rinsical l y been mot ivat ed t o improve. She
has met many of her goal s, but is al so
excit ed t o see what t he f ut ure hol ds. Tammy
st at es, "It is never t oo l at e t o st art change."
These are just t wo exampl es of wel l ness
l if est yl es on campus. The numerous
nominat ions t hat we received t his semest er
were wonderf ul . Theref ore, we woul d l ike t o
give honorabl e ment ion t o George Heeres III.
7
Cheesy Caul if l ower Soup
Ingredient s
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets*
1 medium carrot, shredded*
1/ 4 cup chopped celery*
2-1/ 2 cups water*
3 tablespoons butter*
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour*
3/ 4 teaspoon salt*
1/ 8 teaspoon pepper*
2 cups 2% milk*
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese*
1/ 2 to 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, optional*
Direct ions
In a large bowl, combine the cauliflower, carrot, celery, water and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Reduce
heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender (do not drain).
In another large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add
milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat.
Stir in the cheese until melted. Add hot pepper sauce if desired. Stir into the cauliflower mixture.
Yield: 8 servings (about 2 quarts).
Greek Quinoa and Avocado Sal ad
Ingredient s
½ cup uncooked quinoa, (rinsed and drained)
1 cup water*
2 roma tomatoes, (seeded and finely chopped)
? cup finely chopped red onions (1 small)*
½ cup shredded fresh spinach*
2 cup fresh spinach (for presentation)*
2 tablespoons olive oil*
2 tablespoons lemon juice*
½ teaspoon salt*
2 ripe avocados, (halved, seeded, peeled and sliced)
? cup crumbled feta cheese*
8