Fresh start to Staff Wellness Day

This year, the annual staff development day refocused its goal to wellness. Last week, Tarleton staff was provided a day filled with sessions aimed at relaxing, hypnotizing, pampering and other activities designed to benefit the wellness of the staff.

"Staff Wellness Day derived as a new twist on our annual Staff Development Day," Director of Career Services and Staff Council President Alana Hefner said. "Staff Development Day historically has been geared more towards professional development with a few items focusing on the whole person. This year, the committee decided to make solid efforts to support the Health and Wellness initiative on-campus by focusing more on holistically on areas such as well-being, nutrition, fitness, adventure, etc."

Throughout the day, a Zen Zone and Fun Fair were open to the staff that included chair massages, oxygen bars and Mary Kay makeovers.

"Staff had a variety of options to choose from Texas Parks and Wildlife to learn about camping, hiking options around the state, grass management, massages, yoga, smoking cessation/hypnosis and several other workshops," Hefner said.

Staff members were invited to a Pinterest party where TSU library staff members introduced the virtual pinboard to organize and share recipes and workout strategies. Pigeon Road Sporting Goods also provided information about concealed handgun licenses, bow hunting and ammunition.

Dr. Diana Valdez, Assistant Professor of Psycology and Counseling, performed a session, Smoking Cessation: "Using Clinical Hypnosis to Beat the Habit" to help staff members quit smoking.

In addition, Tarleton Recreational Sports presented fitness and wellness topics, equipment rentals, Group X options and personal training. Dr. Henning Cumming's session over grass management informed the staff on what grass to plant, how to fix bare spots, how to control weeds and what type of fertilizer to use.

"Staff Council is a voluntary entity and the Staff Development Committee is in charge of developing the event each year," Hefner said. "Typically it is conference style with break-out session and a couple of main speakers. This year we were fortunate to have Kyle McGregor and Shanna Moody speak about wellness, as a holistic approach."

During a yoga session, Shanna Moody, the fitness and wellness coordinator for Tarleton Recreational Sports, demonstrated a beginner's exercise for yoga to manage stress and relaxation. The session consisted of breathing methods to help quiet the mind and control the body. Moody also instructed different physical yoga postures to increase strength and flexibility. These poses consisted of lying on the floor while completely relaxed to difficult postures stretching physical limits.

The "staff learned other avenues for stress relief, fulfilling hobbies, how to change eating habits, and things we can do on a daily basis at work and with our families so that we are the best that we can be, all the time," Hefner said.