by Victoria Lister, Brisbane, Australia
Sadly, my experience of many of the workplaces I’ve encountered – as employee, board member and consultant – is that they are often demanding, difficult environments in which deadlines, a lack of resources and the quest for greater efficiencies and more outputs, outcomes and profits are ever-present. Often too they are unhappy places, characterised by high stress, poor health, bullying and grievances, and high rates of absenteeism or ‘unplanned leave’ – and staff turnover.
For example, in the nonprofit sector where I currently work, I regularly meet managers who are terribly ill – to the level of cancer and other critical or pervasive conditions. Many of the staff I’ve worked with or met are also unwell, exhibit signs of depression and are generally not coping with work or life. In nonprofit land, mission rather than profit is all-important (although ensuring financial viability is another, constant pressure). This often means that in many organisations – including ironically, many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there. In these environments, clients are king and occupy top spot in the care and consideration food chain.
Of course, challenging work environments abound and men and women from all sectors are dropping like flies from ill-health and stress. Most organisations’ answer to that is to push those still standing to do more, or to simply re-hire. But one day they’ll run out of people, and only then will they be forced to re-examine the issue.
In the meantime, I feel there are a few things I/we can do right now, as individuals and collectively, that might begin to change the situation.
One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work. These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.
Another is to consider the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both. On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work. And when I really sit with this, my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.
How? Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others… A workplace with men and women whose choices at work – from the food they eat to support themselves, to their ability to say ‘no’ when something doesn’t feel right – are noticed by their managers and peers; whose very ways of being challenge ‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible. I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.
If this river were allowed to flow, perhaps one day we would see businesses and organisations founded and run on a philosophy of people before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose – those people not being the customer or the client in the first instance, but the people who actually work in the organisation – that often ‘faceless’ group of people called ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’ – all of whom are our sisters, brothers, fathers, flatmates, friends… people like you and me who deserve to attend their workplace not with sadness, but with joy.
How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.
Further Related Reading:
Women & High-Profile Roles: Why do they say No?
Words on Serge Benhayon 
Stress, anxiety and depression have become the way we are feeling with the lack of self-worth as we are all taught to history, science, religion, read and write but very little if anything on True -Love.
It’s not remotely unachievable what you have shared here, in fact it’s quite simple and straightforward. Let’s put people first, care for ourselves and others, and allow our true inner qualities to be present in our day. In some of the companies I’ve dealt with the push to make profit is done with such a coldness to people, an absence of values, and a drive to achieve without sensitivity or consideration. We know one on one or family relationships like this don’t work, in fact they’re considered toxic, and business relationships should be held accountable in exactly the same way. Why should we drop all values and care just because it’s ‘business’?
Put people first, yes absolutely, ‘ put people first, care for ourselves and others, and allow our true inner qualities to be present in our day.’
The very fact we have very little companies world wide that have not taken the philosophy “people before profit” shows how desperately lost we are.
Some carers are forced to take a break from caring because of exhaustion built on an in-built pattern to give their all to clients at the expense of themselves. And yet it is possible to care for another, be re-vitalised and settled within as we work. It starts with self care – a deeply loving and nurturing way to be with ourselves as we work that has ripple effects for client, family and community.
Unless we care for ourselves, how can we care for another, ‘self care – a deeply loving and nurturing way to be with ourselves as we work’.
What I can feel is how us not accepting our power is manifesting dis-ease in the world, and all that is needed is for us to simply live the truth of who we are. And the changes in the form of human life is an after effect.
It appears that our business models are indeed a little warped when we put profit before people and their well being, but as this blog so beautifully expresses, there is a way to turn this around to make it first about people before profit. and ensuring that everyone is looked after. This is a model for us all to work with.
This is so back to front, ‘when we put profit before people and their well being’.
It does not make sense to neglect our own well being to look after others. And yet this happens time and time again, at work, in families, with friends, and I notice myself often doing this too etc. When will we stop just to see how nonsensical this is, and begin to truly care for ourselves and those around us?
It is nonsensical Henrietta, to neglect our own well being as we look after others, this will surely lead to ill health and a level of care for others that is not truly caring.
Any environment that is ruled by time has a hard, relentless quality to it. The pressure never lets up and the pressure on people’s bodies is intense. People are constantly under the pump and can be seen literally running to the loo and back. It’s a pace that can’t be sustained and one that inevitably leads to the body breaking down in some way. The body can work incredibly long hours but not under those conditions. In order for it to work long hours well it needs to be nurtured, honoured and respected not just whilst it’s at work but across all environments.
I have worked in the care industry for the last thirty years. I work with intellectually disabled clients, many of whom have very challenging behaviour but despite the fact that our clients are often challenging it has been voiced many times that it is our inter staff relationships that are even more challenging. I know from experience that many of our clients’ unsettled behaviour is heightened by the tensions that arise between staff. I have worked in many environments that can only be described as ‘toxic’, toxic to everybody that enters that space. The toxicity remains because everybody blames each other and few are prepared to look at their part. I was one such person until the penny dropped and I realised that all I had to do was to acknowledge and focus on my part and change what I could about that. My colleague who I had had the ongoing disagreements with, did the same and over time our relationship went from decidedly testy to incredibly loving. Commitment, honesty, awareness and love, powerful tools of change.
Alexis this would make a great article, it is something we all need to take responsibility for, not just in work but in life in general, which is our part of how we contribute to disharmony or harmony.
Victoria what a gorgeous read. By connecting to what you suggest I was able to feel the potential within businesses to change and how that change would (like the river you described) flow out into all facets of life, including out into the homes of the workers, clients and simply out into the surrounding streets. This is not only possible but inevitable.
People are our greatest resource and we should treat our-selves with such nurturing and loving ways as you have shared Victoria.
Greg, I love how you have worded this – people are our greatest resource, after all without them we would be completely lost.
Absolutely Henrietta, the deep-humble-appreciative-ness that humanity holds in our life deepens as a loving connection on a daily, person-by-person basis. It is an absolute Joy to feel the divinity in others and the Joy they experience from being Truly met and not re-treat as the Love is felt by all, by what we reflect to everyone equally. As reflection is our greatest form of communication, so thank you Henrietta, for so many are ‘completely lost’ and they Love connection to a True ‘resource’.
Once we start caring and nurturing ourselves, this can be seen and felt by other people, some who may choose to do similar.
This is a discussion that is much needed in the work place as people are seen as disposable income, in as much if you are sick or not performing then you are let go and there will always be someone to take your place. But if we are all getting sicker then the corporate mind set will have to change as there will come a time when there will be no replacements. And maybe we have to fall that far before we all come to our senses and understand that this way of living is not working.
It is through the consistency of deepening the relationship with self that supports me to handle and stay steady with what comes my way. Without the love for self I am left at the mercy of everything going on around me.
So true Caroline, with a deepening foundation of Love by reconnecting to our essences we are starting to live with a deep-humble-appreciative-ness of the true love we all are.
Yes we are. It is gorgeous and simply divine to begin to feel the self-worth and claim the love that we are in everything we do.
Absolutely Caroline and as we develop simple things like the way we walk this adds to our ability to Self-Love.
A paradigm shift having people put themselves first, taking care of themselves and how that would ripple out far and wide … it’s something we all need to consider for the way we currently work is not really working as too many of us are stressed or burned out, and not enjoying the work we do, but really the biggest thing we don’t enjoy in this is we know we’re not being the quality we can be, so to stop and allow ourselves the space for greater care is a gift for everyone.
Victoria, I totally agree with you that we desperately need to change the way we work and interact with each other. We are literally killing ourselves to feed the profit monster that we have made and have now become a slave too.
We can simply start bringing some small bits of care for ourselves in the workplace, ‘ as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.’
I like the metaphor of a gorgeous warm river running through a workplace, softening even the hardest of rocks. Showing the world there can be another way to be in our workplaces.
This metaphor is a much needed reminder that we can harden like the rocks and stay firmly planted on the sides or choose to jump in and swim our natural stroke in the river which in brotherhood we can continue to warm together.
Taking time to stop at work and check in with myself I have found to be a vital, simple activity as you have said. “These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.” The fact is they make a huge difference because we are no longer putting our body under additional pressure too.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace”. When we take care of ourselves it is observed by those around us. We do not have to say anything, just move with grace and gentleness. Sometimes others copy or even ask what we do too! Then there is no imposing.
We have images of what a workplace offers us. Within the picture there are some things we include. Yet, the possibility of being well and share it with others is by and large absent from those pictures.
“whose very ways of being challenge ‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible.” When we have experienced The Way of The Livingness for ourselves it is a responsibility to inspire those around us to feel that there is another way to be.
What a blessing it is for people to feel this in the workplace, ‘Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others’.
Vitaly important Elizabeth. For without care of oneself and each other — we are constantly at war.
I hosted a discussion last night on wellbeing – and what came up is the vague understanding of the word, how it is an ‘it word’ – but how are we bringing it to work. It is brilliant what you share about starting with self care and living this in the workplace.
At the end of the day we cannot ignore the fact that it is the people working within the business that determines the quality of the service the business offers or provides. Imagine the difference of being served or met by a staff member that deeply honours and cares for themselves in contrast to one that does not. I have experienced this and the quality of care and genuine willingness to offer true service makes you feel very welcomed, cared for, met and a real connection is felt. This is something I will always return for.
I love the approach that we don’t wait for our business to provide the space for us to bring that level of self care and attention to detail but that we are prepared to bring that to ourselves first and then, perhaps bring that body that lives the new foundation, to a conversation with the HR department about what would support those who worked in the business better.
Yes agreed Lucy – our living way and what we express is what set the standards in our workplaces, our homes and the world we live in.
Yes we can make a start – however small. This may then inspire others. No point in waiting for the ‘right moment’ – just begin! Others may follow – or not – and that’s all okay. Allowing space…..
Live a way that is true, that honours ourselves, ‘whose choices at work – from the food they eat to support themselves, to their ability to say ‘no’ when something doesn’t feel right – are noticed by their managers and peers; whose very ways of being challenge ‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible.’
Simple loving choices that honour our body can add up to make a big difference and set the scene for greater evolution.
Great blog, so many industries are out of balance because the demand is so high as people don’t set boundaries and don’t take care of themselves, and then also the staff is not taking care of themselves which results in a lack of productivity. The change needs to happen across the board to have true change happening I feel.
We need to set boundaries ourselves. We need to be able to say no. We need to be able to advocate on behalf of our bodies. We need to exercise self-care. Because if we don’t then we will get scribbled all over by life. Be that in our work lives, our home live or our social lives or all of them, all converging onto one mish mash of abuse. And it is our bodies that take the toll.
I feel that unfortunately we have all been affected by a monster that we have developed and grown, it’s called the ‘profit monster’ and it has an insatiable appetite, and we are literally killing ourselves trying to feed it.
Yes yes we can change the way we work – it does only require simple changes – unfortunately many of us are not ready to hear how simple it can be.
Bryony the corporations that run this world will not run out of people and so therefore be forced to look at the way we treat each other. Has anyone noticed that Robots are being used more and more in the workforce? I read an article in a trade magazine a few months ago informing the world that they now have robots at an airport in Germany to take the place of people who are there to assist at the information desk. Now when you need help you talk to the robot that has all the information required programed into its software. Who needs a human-being when you have robots! We are digging ourselves such a hole will we ever be able to climb out?
We are social creatures and we constantly clock each other’s choices – sometimes we compare, but we also get inspired by what we see. If there’s something that we find truly supports us, let’s live it and not hold back.
Well said, and I would add that appreciation is a key ingredient in allowing ourselves to be inspired rather than compare with another in a negative way.
By living what supports us, we inspire others along the way, and so bring about change.
I love the focus you bring here Victoria, to not just bringing self-care to work and making it a part of our everyday, but also on the qualities that you bring and live, and expressing those at work. If we just apply self-care, work/life balance principles, without expressing who we are, we get empty relief from the stresses and strains, at best – but it doesn’t last. What does last, and build, is expressing who we are, in every moment – absolutely being ourselves and bringing that to work, being honest about what and how we’re feeling, and connecting to others, instead of putting on a corporate mask and working in disconnection to ourselves and others. It doesn’t mean we have to get all deep and personal and indulge in one another’s dramas; simply to get real and honest about what we’re actually feeling, and not sharing on a surface level what we think the other person wants to hear.
Expressing our qualities is always important, these can be expressed in many ways, by being transparent we allow ourselves to be seen, ‘ expressing who we are, in every moment – absolutely being ourselves and bringing that to work, being honest about what and how we’re feeling, and connecting to others, instead of putting on a corporate mask and working in disconnection to ourselves and others.’
‘ On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.’ This is always deeply inspiring to read. I experience work as a place where it seems the controls are tightening each week – the demand of more cases, the consequences of drastic resource cuts means more support is required in tighter timescales. My predecessor commented this week that they didn’t know how I could do the job they once did just 4 months ago.
There is an energetic outplay going on. As soon as I have mastered a certain level of calm another level of disruption is set into motion. What’s great is I’m not giving up. Yes, sometimes I fall for overwhelm but then reconnect and feel no task is too great. The system is broken and by this, I mean the whole world we live in. I work with asylum seekers and various government departments, if I get into the trying to solve the world’s problems I’m gone. I have to seriously appreciate what it is I am bringing to the workplace when I work with space and not time.
I’ve been caught up in making the world ‘better’. I see this everywhere. The clients have risked everything for a better life in the UK, employees feel they can only rest when a client is achieving their better life and government departments are torn between who gets the money and support. But ‘better’ is a constant striving so there isn’t ever any completion or appreciation.It’s great to see through the illusion of better and start appreciating my femaleness and through this quality, know what is next and how to live honouring the rhythms that keep us connected to the grandness of life so that better loses all appeal or significance.
What a beautiful raw and real comment. I love it. Not writing around it, but actually saying as it is and with the honesty of how you go with it at the moment. I love how we all have to share our part of the piece and that by each one of us expressing what we observe and feel, we bring another dimension to earth and each other. That is brotherhood in expression.
Secondly, we need to share more what our raw insight is of life and our responsibility in it. Great start, great contribution, we need more.
It is good to be not illusional about life, but yet find a way that actually extracts the truth out of what we see and face and what there is for us to work on and move on from — so that we evolve and help each other move up to what ever is next.
Yes, to offer ourselves a space that cuts through the illusion we may well have taken as our reality up until that moment.
In my eyes if the health of an organisation takes precedence over that of the humans who work there then it’s not truly healthy. And I love how you say to not see ourselves “…as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” – truly empowering to realise this and take responsibility in this way.
The more I take moments to observe, listen and not respond to the games and issues that arise in the work place the more I am able to offer that does not talk out loud but is felt in greater volumes.
That is key Natalliya, to observe, listen and respond to life, rather than be drawn into the issues and dramas in a reaction.
When companies put the success of their business before the welfare of their employees you usually find a lot more people become sick with long term serious illnesses. Stress and lack of self-care play an important part in causing people to go sick. Employees like to feel they are appreciated and are a valued member to the company and I feel if this is shown then there would be a lot less sickness and ill health in the workplace.
Isn’t it madness that’s we have grown to accept abuse in the workplace as normal, I’m not talking physical abuse in the extreme, I’m talking about the less obvious insidious abuse which goes on. It may not be as obvious but doesn’t take away from the fact that it is still abuse.
The description of the work environment is what I see a lot of. But this: ‘ I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work,’ is very beautiful and I am inspired to keep coming back to this. I know that even the most potentially intense, busy days which have many curve balls coming at one from different angles, I can walk out of the office feeling pretty amazing.
This is something that I’ve found a little unnerving because I’ve thrived on the identity of work (and life) being a struggle so please don’t ask me to be anything more than struggling! It’s not just me that then creates struggle (and blaming the ‘issues’) to get back into the thick of being distracted from the divine quality of femaleness. I see the whole world set up for this, the systems we use etc. We may react and moan about the systems but our solutions never address the core issue: that of avoiding our femaleness.
Five years on it is shocking to see there has been little real change. True there is more talk of self-care in the work place – but what does this really consist of after a few short courses. Has a boss really altered any support mechanisms or work patterns?
If we made work about people first then work place stress would be a thing of the past.
Work place stress is harmful for all; those feeling stressed have a higher probability of being off work due to ill health, and consequently the company struggles surviving on a reduced workforce.
My understanding more and more is that the workplace is no different to anywhere else we are, a deeper level of self-care has to be our normal. If we switch on and off the way we take care of ourselves and therefore the consideration we have for others it is like living two lives, our bodies can’t do that without it having an impact in the long-term.
My sense is it would be very different because there would be so much less individuality. We would see ourselves as part of the plan, not needing to do it all but to be a vital cog in the wheel.
I can so relate to what you have shared here Victoria, and it is absolutely exposing what goes on in many so-called charitable organisiations. I experience this when working for several months for a local charity which offers a much-needed service to a very vulnerable part of society. I can’t question the work they do, it is amazing, but I was quite shocked at the lack of care and respect for the staff who work tirelessly to provide this service. How can any organisation be truly successful when every single part is not treated equally?
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” When we have no self agency it is no wonder we get stressed and sick. Taking back care and awareness of our own needs, be it in small ways, can make a huge difference to our day. This stress occurs not only in work places but can happen in homes as a caregiver – for younger or older folk.
” Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others.” Wow this would feel amazing – how could anyone resist the power of reflection such a workplace could offer?
My sense is that it would reflect a personal responsibility as well. There would be no fake or pretend. However there would need to be an honesty about the illusion of ‘slow’ when it comes to the activity and stillness! I have noticed that I can think I am staying present with myself when I am going slowly and actually I am just delaying the work that needs to be done and if I was truly present I would not need to work on going slowly to make sure I was connected!!!!
Self-care is essential to the health and well-being of our workforce and should form the foundation of all that we do.
The more we claim our value and worth and the quality of relationship we hold with ourselves, the more we bring this loving quality to our workplaces and reflecting the value we bring and the level of integrity we are not willing to compromise for ourselves, each other and our customers.
If we damage our health in order to do a high paying job that is a bit like eating our seed corn – we damage something far more valuable for a short term gain.
There is so much corruption in the workplace these days as profits become the main goal and workers are put under so much stress for more and more productivity at the expense of their own health and wellbeing. What if people were put first before profits, now that would be an amazing place to work in where everyone is looking after their own well being and the well being so the company can thrive, where no one missed out.
You can work incredibly hard and still be very precious with yourself. Having experimented with both – mainly working physically hard in a disregarding way of my body and also working hard while honouring how sacred I am and I actually reckon I am more efficient when I’m being honouring, and it feels so much more amazing too.
“Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.” I honour my body to the best I can at work, and even though just today I had one of my greatest revelations that made me cry of how much more I can honour my body and feelings, and although there is much pressure, because I honour my body I am respectfully honoured by management too. It is proof right here the more you honour yourself the more you are honoured by others.
It seems that regardless of the type of organisation or its financial structure, there is a general malaise of stress leading to serious illness amongst staff at all levels. Taking a deeper look into how each individual is, the quality of how they live their life, will reveal the issues at play.
When I make it about people there is so much flow and absolute joy to completing work. When I make it individual and about what I have to do people potentially react and it feels like all is lost.
If clients are king then I wonder how often it is that money is the actual king? After all, healthy and well staff would provide a far superior service to overworked and exhausted staff.
Stress in the workplace is an enormous issue in the world right now, something we really need to attend to as a society. Perhaps it starts with supporting individuals to work together in an harmonious way, rather than encouraging competition and win or lose behaviour as is the current trend.
Yes, long term benefits vs short term benefits. Short term usually wins until the organisation goes under.
“Most organisations’ answer to that is to push those still standing to do more, or to simply re-hire.” This is a bit like what we tend to do with our bodies, when we get ill we go to the doctor to get it fixed but do we really look at the underlying root cause of our illness or do we patch it up and keep going until it returns again?
I have noticed in one of the places I work that the turn over has dramatically increased in the last few years.We have a manager who refuses to get ruffled by pressure from the company to meet certain targets. She knows that the health of a business is down to the health of its staff and she does all she can to ensure that the people working there come first.
Making everything about people first is a great foundation to build any business on.
“Making everything about people first is a great foundation to build any”-thing on.
People before profit, numbers, figures, stats … this is what it should be. I work with young people and am increasingly seeing the pressure that instead of truly making it about them it is about ticking the right boxes to say what work is being carried out. This is crazy! Absolutely we should make it about people first everywhere in the world not about profit, figures or ticking boxes.
The ‘people first’ approach will only happen when we learn to put our self-care first, and not getting things done and achieving the whole to-do list at the expense of the body. Regularly over-working in a stressful way, taking on others’ emotions and unresolved issues, all take their toll on our bodies. I see people in their 60s and 70s who have cancer, and that was before the advent of email and standard accepted way of working now which is to feel overloaded and stressed most of the time, and constantly be fighting an overloaded inbox. But no matter how much we have to do, there is a way of working, and being with work, that means that we are just as vital at the end of the day as we were at the start – and it starts with basic self-care. We can have all the work-life balance policies in the world, but nothing will truly change unless those policies also really support people to take care of themselves in the way they are in their every day, moment to moment choices and movements.
To bring in femaleness to the workplace will change how conventional workplaces are run. It is a quality of nurturing as is shared here – where stress does not have a place. I have seen how workplaces can become busy and loud – everyone just trying to do, so they can relax at the end of the day. But what if the quality we bring throughout our day means we don’t need to wait for the relax moment and we live more consistently throughout the day?
True. Once we are able to live that way it gives others an opportunity to choose to work with less stress as well.
Great point about consistency and quality.. I think most people seek relief at the end of the day, lunchtime or the weekend or the next holiday.. but what if we all worked in a way where we didn’t crave our time off so much, because we enjoyed what we do, and worked in a sustainable way where we left each day feeling energised and more revitalised? I think most people would probably feel like ‘that’s just not possible, because work is tiring’ but what if it’s not work that tires us, but the way we are with it, that is?
Truly caring for our body and beingness, both at home and in work life makes a big difference to the quality of work that we do and the kind of relationship that we have with it…
‘I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.’ wow this is powerful. What I notice is how people do whatever it takes to get the work done and then try to minimise the consumption of sugar and caffeine by doing healthy things like going to the gym but are they really regarding themselves? I know I do similarly – this get the job done and then care about myself. What you’re building here is that constant connection with quality, a quality that will say when it is time to finish. What is being done is being done in and with quality but also surprisingly productive because there is no slack time of needing breaks by taking focus from the job at hand. I’m inspired to build a ‘womanly work body’ for sure.
Companies or shops etc. are falsely concentrating on quantity but but not quality of success. It is all about achievements and goals and to earn as much money as possible. No wonder so many employees are “burning- out”. The innate fire of everyone needs some wood to burn, which needs to be refilled every now and then. If not refilled it will turn off slowly. In other words, if the employee does not care for his body, working from space and not time, knowing that this is more important than anything, he will collapse one day.
In a work / client situation no one is more important than the other. If you measure, you are simply giving your power away. True success of a company comes from true balance within the staff.
And be a lot more productive.
Victoria, you are describing some long-term trends like increasing ill-health and absenteeism that are not sustainable. It will be interesting to see what happens.
It is interesting to ponder the swapping of the drive for mission rather than the drive for profit. If we work in the quality of disregard or at the expense of our self care for another there is no difference in the energy.
A business, profit or not for profit, being all about people first will be a win win for clients and staff alike. It puts true care at the forefront of any business.
It is so interesting that when we don’t care for ourselves purpose becomes a goal and a means to get recognition and thus feeling good about ourselves, yet this way of doing things is exhausting and that is seen everywhere in the world at the moment. When we care deeply for ourselves and then have a purpose in life it is truly about serving people and not about recognition because we already feel that we are enough.
In the workplace one of the things that I often see that crushes people the most is the lack of care. I think that we are more affected by this than we realise. We have come to normalise a lack of decency and respect in the workplace and in our interactions with others. When love is actually our core and true nature it makes us ill to not live this.
It is interesting how colleagues respond when you start self care at a workplace where it is not encouraged – I have found that some absolutely love it and others find it very threatening as it challenges a whole paradigm that people can play victim in.
That would be awesome. Guess it’s a case of building our self worth so we feel worthy of putting ourselves first and not the business in order to get the recognition we would need as a result of not putting ourselves first.
A workplace where people are listening to their body and responding from there would be a very harmonious, joyful and productive place to work.
Money before the true good of people is the root of corruption. We then make it about self instead of the equally true good of all and that is what makes workplaces and organisations ugly.
What a great place to be able to work when they have adopted a loving, people-first approach.
This is what true business/ work is all about – when we forget people we might as well give up – nothing is worth producing/selling when we don’t make it about people first.
I so agree Sam. All work relates to people. Even if you are in a factory making a product – that will be used by a person. So the quality of what we are doing during our day is so important. And most people relate to their co-workers or customers during their day. People first..
When employers are deeply appreciated and cared for, this is where we see high numbers of long term staff and amazing teamwork at play. But sadly a lot of the companies we currently see in our society are not always putting people before profit, and this has detrimental effects and sometimes the damage is far beyond what our eyes can see.
Life is so much more than getting through and yet many of us just get througth, and stress and make ourselves ill in the process. It’s time we considered why on such a wide spread scale we have serious issues of absenteeism at work, and how it is that work where we spend the majority of our days is stressful for so many. Imagining a workplace where people and their quality come before all else might seem fanciful but this is how we can live and without this, we live as mere shadows of who we are both in and outside work and our quality suffers because of it.
If we make life about function and production instead of about connection and interaction, the quality of what we deliver in the ‘end’ will be lacking the very quality of warmth we yearn for.
Absolutely agree Doug. The current way will eventually combust itself if change doesn’t come first. The suffering people are in in their workplaces is immense.
I love this Victoria -‘ it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’ I was reflecting on this yesterday at work, how amazing, easy and productive it is when I am working in the stillness you describe and how it supports and inspires others around me. There is a clarity that comes with stillness, a focus, and unwavering detachment. At the same time, we hold who we work with in that quality – a quality that communicates, I hear you, I see you – not just as an ’employee’ but in the all that you are. To have this in our workplaces where we so often work in teams – would be monumental in the change, healing and evolution for all, that it would offer.
Reading this today I wondered about the idea of seeing the people we work with as family and if this would change the expectations we have to push through, overwork or not have the structure in place to support staff. We have to change the way we work because clients need consistency in so many of the industries where burnout is highest and therefore the ripple effect of this way of working is enormous.
‘This often means that in many organisations – including ironically, many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there’. This is very close to my heart Victoria, as I work in the elder care sector. I’ve titled a workshop offered to care agency staff, Who writes your care plan? A paradox that every client by law must have a care plan, yet the people who support clients and carers do not have one for themselves. The session is designed to raise awareness of this lack and introduce self care as equally important for staff and clients.
Our workplaces offer us an opportunity to work together in a whole different way than how we currently work. There is an opportunity for support, for harmonious work practices, for eliminating corruption (at all levels), and for working with purpose for the greater humanity. That opportunity is there today for any workplace that chooses to embark on this path.
How we take care of ourselves at work does make a difference and is noticed. Many organisations have welfare, health and wellbeing policies in place, but how many of us take our own responsibilities in looking after ourselves seriously? Overwork without self-care, getting the job done no matter the expense to wellbeing, is almost prided in working culture, yet this is having a huge effect on the health of the entire workforce. We are not putting two and two together and fully seeing the extent of which the way we work and how we live in general has an effect on our health, even if this may take many years to manifest as an illness or disease.
Brilliant comment Bryony. Another point to consider is that competitiveness is high at workplaces and I am feeling this has a huge impact in how we work. Most work places I have seen celebrate competitiveness and often forget to appreciate each other.
I have not had much experience with not for profit companies but it sounds like the great intension of helping others, can sometimes distort to disregarding self. In order to truly support others we must be able to first hold ourselves in a way that is supportive.
We’ve been so fed that caring for people isn’t profitable as being profitable it’s necessary to forfeit care. But what if this is a complete lie we’ve been fed? That actually caring for ourselves and people, putting people first is hugely profitable – then we’d have no reason not to.
Yes, it will most likely break the system. Yet I am also starting to realise that if we don’t see the value of caring for ourselves we won’t see the value of this care for others so there is alot of education needed about something as basic as self-care.
I have found that the programs offered through the Esoteric Yoga program are a great way to develop that stillness that does lie within each and everyone one of us but can often feel like an elusive notion! You can find out more here: http://www.esotericyoga.com/
Yes, these programs offer a completely different way to be in the world. A way that brings a quality that takes the complication out of life so we have more space to be. With this, I’ve found, I do my job well but if I get caught up in the frenzy of life I fall flat on my face, get stressed out and know that those around me aren’t getting the reflection of another way to be.
So many organisations claim to put people first, and we all know the catch cry ‘Customers are always right’, etc etc. But few businesses do this meaningfully. It is simply a feel good marketing tool, because the truth is, self care isn’t promoted or encouraged in most work places. It’s all about pumping out as much as possible in the hours allocated. So yes, I agree, the work place would be a completely different and dare I say 10 times more efficient place to be if we all really connected to what ‘people first’ means…and that includes us as workers.
I have seen at workplaces where there is a borrowed awareness about the importance of the wellbeing of staff members so they talk about it and put on some initiatives in place so it looks as though they are doing the right thing but the reality is that the staff members do not like perceived ‘complication’ by telling honestly how many hours they actually work, how much stress they actually feel etc. so even when they are given a chance to speak, the complacency they have resigned to wins over.
No matter what the pressures are, we do not have any legitimate excuses to put anything before people.
A very telling article, which blows the illusion that organisations like non profits are somehow better, in all profit and non-profit organisations we need to look at how people are treated and that in fact starts with people themselves taking those simple steps suggested to support themselves in the work environment and in that we all see a new way to live and be at work. Change starts with us first.
No matter how the conditions at work, it starts with every single one of us. We underestimate the power we have through simple things like taking true care of ourselves.
Having worked shift work for over 25 years now, I would never have survived my job if I didn’t begin to self-care and discover there was a different way for me to live and work where I didn’t feel exhausted or burnt out.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this in my own life recently Victoria. I am really starting to see how I prioritise schedules, agendas and plans but in doing so forget about my fellow man. I end up being cross and frustrated with them for not acting or behaving as I think they should but in this loose sight of why we are all here. It’s time I feel we all rewrote our own agendas and ‘mission statements’ then perhaps we would see our businesses and organisations behaving differently.
I love the ‘loving people first’ approach to business. Staff well-being is getting a lot of attention currently, so its great that we are having conversations around what this really means and how it impacts on the way organisations are run.
What I have come to realise is that is the basic simple things in life that I need to make sure I am doing and then the potential to go into being stressed is a lot less if not void. For example sometimes you can be so busy and have lots to do that when you need to go toilet then you hold on and put it off for the last possible moment. I used to be like this but I have started to go when I need to go or make it priority and not ignore my body’s signs. Also another one is drinking enough water and keeping my hydration up this supports with clarity and focus. There are some many things we can look at and check in to see if we can do it differently.
The quality we bring to the work place is a consequence of what we say yes to and what fuels our movements. They tend to be difficult environments. This is nothing but a reflection of the choices we all make. The choices make it very hard to move in togetherness while we work together.
It starts already with the expression ‘human resources’ as the way we speak about employees in a company. Are we saying with this expression that employees are just a means to get our business running and to make it profitable or successful without any thought on the condition we present to the ‘resources’ to work under
” I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” This is so true and nature is a good example of this once you nurture the seed, support and care for it, it will produce. Work is the same, take care of the staff and support them taking care of themselves then profit and purpose will flow naturally.
The health of the business is often placed above everything. But it runs and is dependent on the health of the people running the business. If you take care of the people (and they take care of themselves) then it is much easier for a business to be healthy for the long term.
I have found that many companies are output driven, and don’t take care of their staff, and are often even having a high staff turnover doesn’t raise a red a flag for them. When we care and look after staff their output increases because they actually care about what they produce.
I really agree with what you have shared here Victoria, we spend such a huge part of our life at work, ensuring the environment is as harmonious as possible is something we should all commit to. Because there is so much to gain from bringing a truer quality to the workplace.
It is almost as if we have come to expect that our job is supposed to be stressful. The thing is that we need to question this because stress as we know has a very detrimental effort on the body. Knowing the efforts of stress we have to start looking at the way that we are working and how we can do things differently.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others… A workplace with men and women whose choices at work – from the food they eat to support themselves, to their ability to say ‘no’ when something doesn’t feel right – are noticed by their managers and peers; whose very ways of being challenge ‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible.” This is not a pipedream. It is in the gift of every one of us to live this to the best of our ability as much as we are able. The only thing that stands between us and this way of life is choice.
Under paid, over worked and lack of appreciation is an apt discretion of a majority of workers especially the people that are meant to care for us when we get ill. We are becoming lemmings that don’t need a cliff our job is closer! But, there are people who are making a difference by showing all there is another way to live in the chaos we now call life.
“the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” No organisation can be described as ‘healthy’ if the people who work there are unwell and not enjoying being there as this ill energy goes into every letter, email and product that comes out of the organisation.
Yes Mary, and no organisation can be truly healthy, if the workers are unhappy, ill and stressed.
The beauty of self care is that this care then becomes natural for others. Our workplaces have the potential to become a team of people that support and enhance each other and our performance. They also have the potential to see clients, not as faceless numbers, but as people who deserve to receive a level of service that holds and honours them.
I love your picture of the effect of self care and femaleness as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks. No push, no drive just being the gorgeous people we are who love their work.
You offer something here that is gold, a call “to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency”. I love this as it calls us all to be the change we want to see in our lives.
When one or two people in the workplace are dropping their level of self care this has a knock on effect and soon the customers are feeling it and a general feeling of discontent creeps in. This can undermine any business. We have a responsibility not only to maintain and continually increase our level of self care but also to lovingly call out the carelessness of others.
At times I really do wonder at the lack of complete understanding we live with in this world. Doesn’t it make sense that a staff member who is still, centered and feeling vital will be more likely to be able to offer the support the businesses customers require? It really is common sense, yet in our world today, we have a reality that most businesses are run from the perspective of profit, not service. Even though true service will bring a steady flow to a companies finances.
If we are not happy with our external environment or the outcomes we achieve, we need only dig deeper within and allow more of what is there to naturally unfold out. By this simple way, we start to become less focused on the ‘outer’ yet true success here is assured and taken care of by way of the focus we have applied internally. What we breathe in, we will naturally breathe out. Our task is simply to remember to breathe in and truly appreciate the depth of stillness on offer so this quality then permeates through all that we do from this point.
When we love what we do we do it so differently than when we dislike what we do. Often we think that the problem is with the work itself but what I have discovered is that when I changed the way that I felt about myself my work changed.
Yes, it is interesting that we can be so responsible in the work place for meeting targets and the like but when it comes to our own health we fall short and end up getting ill. Taking that little extra care to be with ourselves and not race ahead, to look after ourselves at work, home or wherever we find ourselves and to give ourselves a little extra care everyday ensures a growing respect and love for ourselves that enables us to grow a foundation of health and wellbeing and a confidence within ourselves that in turn lets us put people before profit into a living way and not just a good idea or something that we might believe in and aspire to but not fully practise.
We can each bring more focus to caring for each other at work and asking that of our managers. We need to stop working to the point of exhaustion and then complaining that we weren’t supported. I have that badge and it doesn’t change anything. Communication and relationships are a good start!
Being tumbleweeds that are thrown around with the winds of change and the excessive emotional stress of our workplaces is very different to being change agents who align with the flow of purpose and the delivery of quality.
My sense is that we will ‘have’ to change the way we work at some point. I work in corporate offices and my feeling is organisations are just putting their heads in the sand, they are really just not wanting to truly know the impacts of absenteeism, productivity losses and how people are feeling more and more disconnected.
I too have seen a real focus on mission rather than people in the not-for-profit sector. People are replaceable and as much as they don’t want their people to burn out there is a back foot rather than a front foot approach which is disappointing. If we take reponsibility and bring the change we want to see in those industries, talk to each other and inspire self-care in each other, it will change the industry from the inside out.
Our working lives are a direct reflection of our home lives and show us that no matter what goes on in our workplace and how they are run, we can still bring a quality of purpose, truth and joy to the working environment by our very own movements within these organisations. Hence our movements can build a quality of integrity, equality and truth which can aid any workplace.
Over the last few days I’ve got to see in no uncertain terms that the way I currently live is not working. I allow my approach to life to be focused on completing tasks instead of maintaining and nurturing a sense of joy inside of me. It might sound far fetched but I know it’s possible to live vibrantly, free from stress and neglect. When people run their lives without Love it only makes sense I suppose that our companies and organisations are missing this part too. All the more reason as you show Victoria for us to hold our own emergency review of our structure, purpose and key performance indicators.
Any business that is run on the knowing that it is about people first stands out and is a pleasure to do business with. It is the way of the future.
I have worked in the retail sector for many years and have seen high levels of stress, anxiety, abuse, injury and illness due to the fast, driven pace to make more money and sales over the care and wellbeing of the staff who are there to service the clients spending the money they would like to make. I too fell prey to this for many years and lived in constant drive, anxiety and stress due to the constant demands and abuse placed on us from the companies that demanded monetary success. It’s great to begin to see and feel a shift for myself now that I do not feel the constant drive to push for more and can stop and connect with how I feel and when I need to eat, drink and rest when needed. It’s also great to be able to express if something doesn’t feel supportive in the workplace for others as we are now looking at new frameworks for hazards in our workplace and more breaks for staff when needed. Everything starts with us and our choice to see how much learning there is around us and how we can support ourselves at work to bring true service through the loving movements we make.
Working in retail, I can tell you now that the amount of money that is spent on Sick Pay is just obscene.
Not to mention ‘presenteeism’ Michael where even though people come to work they but aren’t productive nor committed to quality service.
Sure Victoria, the profit before people mentality can only exist because we have accepted it as a normal in our workplaces. It is not only management who are pushing this but also the employees that have bought into this idea of how work should look like. Therefore the real change will actually come bottom up, from the employees in this case as you already described as becoming more aware and caring for themselves first and in that cannot subscribe the the old way, to make the body subordinate to life and work anymore.
Something that I observed a little while ago is the more deeply I care for myself the more I enjoy all about what I do. So now if I am ever feeling discontent with work, I come back to how I am with myself. Then its not about seeking time out per say, but saying well if this is happening how do I need to be with myself. The other thing that I have observed is that its not always about what’s going on for me, as sometimes things just need to happen in our workplaces to expose what is not true in how we are working or how we are with each other, so that we return to true service.
This is such a beautiful blog about how it could be at work and indeed how it ought to be at work. People matter and the more we value and appreciate ourselves the more we will be able to bring that to our workplaces. This is what changes work culture.
In my work I find that appreciation is a great support for staff. A few words of genuine appreciation and care for another offers them a new reflection of their value to the organisation. It isn’t all about money by a long way. People love to know they are truly valued and when they are, the quality of their work changes with it.
Making some aspects of life more important than others, more deserving of our time and energy, it doesn’t work. We end up burnt out in one area which affects the rest of our live. Fact is, every aspect of our day, everything we do is connected and equally important because it has us in it. Our body and our quality should be the focus and not the task or what we do, that will always vary.
How to work hard and to still take deep and nurturing care of ourselves is something I think many people have to work on. I know I’m good at the both… separately! But when it comes to combining them both, i.e. normal life, often one gets compromised. So learning that the harder you work, the deeper your care has to be is a big one.
Beautiful prospect you write about here. True care is so rare at this moment in time that this is very important to talk about. Giving us all the opportunity to see our ways of living, beneath that the true stillness and tenderness that is there, love what you have shared here.
I just read that 50% of the nurses in the Netherlands has or had thoughts about leaving their profession because of the high pressure they are under and the stress this causes. The quality of stillness and true self care is what nursing needs and I love your term “womanly work body’, it would assist every nurse to enjoy and see the value of themselves and their job again in the busy-ness of the healthcare system.
On rereading this article this statement stood out to me “it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for”. In times of challenge or in the intensity of life, every moment that we choose to simply stop and allow ourselves to be still, we open our heart a little more and it communicates with our head. We get different thoughts, ideas and understandings, that we may not have thought of before and if we allow ourselves to be guided by them, the intensity of the moment is always lessened. Does this not clearly define that through our choice to be still, we can change the world.
Unfortunately it is becoming all too common for businesses to be short staffed. In my workplace the staff are over stretched due to this, and all for the sake of saving a bit of money. By employing the level of staff that are needed it’s possible to give the excellent customer service that leads to more sales. It’s a no brainer but often it’s not viewed that way. Over stretched staff means stressed staff which does nothing for the health of the staff or the business. It’s a shame that this is not taken into consideration.
The term ‘Human Resources’ says so much about how people are perceived in work. The word ‘personnel’ at least had a connection to the word person in it! There are those who buck this trend and who understand that the success of their business is reliant on how their staff treat their customers – and that this front line relationship is a reflection of how the management treat the staff and in fact how the managers treat themselves too. I work in Social Care and it seems so fundamental to me that we must have staff who actively put self-care into their lives so they can present their care of others with a full level of integrity. Time to end this detached view of people as ‘resources’ and value them as the sensitive, tender, loving beings we all are.
It seems that it is popular practise to appear as though one doesn’t like or appreciate one’s work. As if somehow work is a chore and only something to be suffered or got through so that one can put ones feet up and do as little as possible. or do things that are more enjoyable. This is just a front because talking individually to the same people we find that the work is actually a life saver and something they don’t want to be without. This prevalent attitude that work is hard and something to be endured creates a false atmosphere and a joyless place to be squashing our vitality and lightness.
I wonder if stress is a choice and that we choose to make life a struggle, when things are really pretty simple?
Yes Meg – I think this is a possibility. But also, the fact that we are all living life with a low level of anxiousness already in our bodies from not responding to what we energetically feel plays a big part in being stressed and not feeing adequate to deal with what we need to.
When you have a work force that is exhausted and stressed it’s no wonder they will not enjoy their job, and unfortunately there are a lot of jobs out there where this is the norm. There always seems to be this re-creating the wheel to come up with new incentives to make more money or to bring profits back up, but without asking the workforce if they are up to it. No matter what incentives are put in place this will not happen if the workforce are too exhausted to care for themselves, let alone work.
If there is a change to occur, it will have to come from the individual first by looking at the self care they award themselves, and their relationship with work.
These are such practical, self-caring tips! “These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks”… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, not just at work but any where, in the waiting room, at home, part way through a long car journey. Very fundamental but often ignored.
People before profit and people before purpose…..If there is as few as one person who does not care for him or herself in the workplace the whole thing can fall down. It is like there is a chain reaction of unsettlement.
Reading your blog and the possibility of love, joy and respect in the workplace makes my body feel all warm. We can all do our bit to make this a reality.
I noticed that people (staff) can be thanked for their hard work on a project, but rarely are they checked in on to see how they are during or after that project. What is the state of their wellbeing after working on that project? That would be an interesting KPI to adhere to….Ensure staff’s wellbeing is looked after on this project. I’d like to see that.
With the demands to succeed in business it is initially challenging to put people first before profit. However, Universal Medicine demonstrates that in fact that this is a highly successful approach.
Self care was once almost a dirty word scoffed at by those who believed managing their lives with coping mechanisms was enough to get you through life. So it is great to hear of more and more people embracing it into their lives. The power of self care cannot be denied in the face of the stressors of work and home life today. It makes sense that a company would naturally benefit from staff that look after their mind and body… not only in their productivity but the quality in which things are done. I look forward to the day where it is promoted and lay at the foundation of all businesses, for people matter first before anything else and this should not be forgotten for the bottom dollar.
The way we do everything needs a total overhaul not only are we going to run out of healthy people, but also clean air, water and resources if we don’t start putting people, all of us, before profit and purpose.
It’s sad that so many people don’t enjoy their work, what if this could be simply resolved by teaching people how vital simple self care is, and to value themselves and how much potential they have to make a true difference in the world, and their work place.
I think it is important not to underestimate the difference we can make by truly developing care in the way that we look after ourselves and are in our workplaces – it’s something that is not just about us as individuals but about everyone around us too as they get to see that there is another way to approach work and life as a whole, a way that is harmonious and considering of everyone equally.
We haven’t established a way of life that supports us to work – with a healthy and vital body because we often are not connected to our purpose in our work (and life) and all that it really means for us to play our part.
‘I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks’. A beautiful and powerful image of the potential within us all.
From my own experience, dishonouring of self is the slippery slope to stress, anxiety and exhaustion. We have to stop associating work solely with jobs we do for a living. True work begins in the home, our inner self. The quality of relationship we have with ourselves supports us to hold our own in the workplace, remain steady, purposeful, loving and not driven to the ground by drive, deadlines competition and pressure.
“…the health of the organisation takes precedence over the health of the humans who work there.” Sadly so true and very visible in the health and education systems in the UK. People are leaving the professions within these organizations in droves, yet the powers that be still have to wake up and make fundamental changes. Taking responsibility for our own health even within such uncaring systems is so important, to avoid burn-out.
“This often means that in many organisations – including ironically, many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.”
This is so true. And it can be easy for employees to slip into that almost de-humanised mode and just become functional to get the job done. I like your call to us all, is that even in these environments, it is up to us to bring our full selves to the job, making it about people first.
‘Challenging work environments abound and men and women from all sectors are dropping like flies from ill-health and stress. Most organisations’ answer to that is to push those still standing to do more, or to simply re-hire. But one day they’ll run out of people, and only then will they be forced to re-examine the issue.’ This is true…there surely will come a tipping point when they can’t hire others fast enough to replace those that have left. In the teaching profession, it is estimated that roughly half the profession will have left in the UK in about 3 years’ time. The dropout rate is huge and recruitment is now becoming a challenge. To know there are simple steps we can take like self-care is great step forward to managing our stressful conditions at work.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves”.
I agree with you Victoria; in this crazy world we live in a people-first approach is the only way to bring humanity back to true purpose and a way of living that supports all equally.
I find it really interesting how you share that in your experience in “…many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” which really begs the question what kind of ‘human service’ is it that the organisation is chasing where some humans are less important than others?!
Sadly my experience of the workplace is the same, there is such a high level of dissatisfaction that comes from an organisations focus on the outcome rather than nurturing those who produce the outcome. Whilst I appreciate this worth must be something we each work on for ourselves, to value who we are and what we bring, the lack of offering any value to that feeds the lack of attention to it and the focus pull to profits our basic outcomes.
Stress and discontent at work start with the notion that life and work are two different things and that they need to be balanced against each other. But work is life and life is work and your self care strategies are a great way to true balance between our physicality and our delivery to the greater all.
I agree Gabriel. The distinction made between life and work is false and creates a divide.. There is one life and we commit fully to all life, not just the jobs we do. Self care is the key. True care loves, honours and nurtures self and supports us to live balanced, harmonious lives.
A great understanding and expose of what is really going on in the world in our places of work and also our own homes. It shows the importance of self care honouring and appreciation for ourselves we need to develop more and within ourselves, companies and work places to follow also.
I love how you show Victoria, that our workplaces become physical representations of our interior state. Change may not seem possible to effect, but when we change the quality of energy we work in this definitely changes our level of stress. What you say applies to men too – for we all benefit when we cherish stillness and what we know to be true.
It’s great to read this blog again. Since I last read it I have gone from being a Customer Advisor to a Team Leader. There is a great deal more pressure on me to perform in a variety of roles. I can feel this in my body. As a Customer Advisor I was beginning to discover how to bring this ‘warm river’ to my job. As a Team Leader I am yet to discover how to bring this with me to work. I am loving the purpose to my job, and am fully committed to my job, but reading what you say about ‘people before purpose’ I realise that I need to be fully committed to me before I am committed to my job. Committed to connecting to and feeling that ‘warm flowing river’ in my body and then bringing it with me into everything I do.
Have we stopped and asked what are the working places telling us about our living places?
A great reminder to bring self care and a deep honouring of ourselves first and foremost and then to bring this to all areas of our life – to family, to the workplace and beyond. This is evolution.
“I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks”.
The quality of output would be amazing to feel and experience. Everything we purchase from food, to furnishings, to buildings or services, all would carry the most amazing light. The other thing that stands out for me is the interaction of people, the connection fostered and the health experienced would be off the scale. It is not what we do but the quality we bring to the sector in the way we are. This will change when we bring more self love into our lives.
There definitely needs to be the conversation to inspire the people within the organisation to call for that change by being and living that change. So many are unaware there is a different way to be or understand why they feel the way they do. Great conversation to have!
Quality of work=quality of people. Although we may espouse this idea of people first if those people are sick or struggling then we have no quality. It is vital for us to begin to take deeper care of ourselves and stop pushing only to collapse later on. We really know that our health comes first but do we take the steps necessary to ensure that we nourish and nurture ourselves, get gentle exercise like a short walk in nature every day? And do we, as we get healthier continue on this path or do we say at a certain point “that is enough” and stop giving our bodies and minds the clarity and vibrancy that can keep on expanding it if we allow it.
High stress and poor health in our workplaces are increasing and people are simply not enjoying work. If you were to randomly select a group of people to ask if they love going to work, probably the answer would be ‘no’. This is no surprise because we seem to have lost something very important in our work places, i.e, respect, equality, putting people before profit, true purpose and the list goes on. So, thank you Victoria for sharing with us that there is another way.
This week at work I could feel how exhausted I was becoming and realised that although I was busy and had a lot on, I didn’t need to take it on and carry it or walk it in the way I was. Going into anxiousness didn’t help me get things done – it just wasted a lot of energy and I wasn’t as productive.
There is indeed a river that flows deep with the heart of man, and that river can always, when we choose, carry us home.
Just as poor soil cannot yield a good harvest, there can be no true health in an organisation if there is poor health in those who work there. It is the integrity of the bud that allows the flower to open and bloom. We would do well to heed that which nature consistently reflects to us by virtue of its simple ways.
“Ironically, many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there. In these environments, clients are king and occupy top spot in the care and consideration food chain”. I find any industry where there is care of people or projects and the focus is looking out to them, there is a high level of disregard for and amongst the workers. It’s almost like there is an unwritten rule, based on sympathy or the drive to change the world that the staff feel they cannot or do not deserve to care for themselves. This has to change for the wellbeing of all, especially the energy of sympathy that laces many of our ‘good intentions’.
People so often feel in overwhelm, with work and life. Work becomes a chore rather than an enriching experience. How we approach, plan, prepare for the task we deliver is more important than the task itself….shall we consider the quality we express, it offers a whole other angle concerning our perception of work and life.
Introducing self-care into our workplace has immense benefits on our health and wellbeing as well as our level of productivity as what we do is not something that comes from a drive or burden but the fullness of who we are and that is priceless.
I am sure many organisations ardently know that their people are their greatest asset. Having said that they don’t really know how to support their people to grow, expand and be the best they can be. Millions are spent on staff development, but making the space to support staff to be the best they can be in themselves, for their whole life will be a great start.
I read this week about robots potentially replacing humans in many jobs, it seems we are headed to a place where we want to dispose of human connection where we can, but what that shows is that for many if not most business leaders there is no connection to the purpose of life, which I feel is to understand how interconnected we are and live accordingly with care for humanity, but instead business is being driven more and more by profits and loss, and it is heading for a tipping point where human life is held in the utmost disregard.
‘One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.’ This is very important, there is such a harming dependence on the organisation because there is no self love and certainly no appreciation for themselves and what each individual worker is bringing to the workplace.
Really great to revisit this blog this morning, as I noticed recently how much stress and moodiness is around at my current workplace and I was clocking some degree of contraction in myself when I make what I think would be ‘self-loving’ choices. It’s a huge organization and I can see many faults with how things are, but I know my first call is to really claim the love that I choose to live with and not let it dent just because I am at work.
Appreciation makes a huge difference in the workplace. Noticing the way people are and the way they work and expressing our appreciation for this down to the minutest detail can be very uplifting in the work environment. We shift the focus from what is not working to what is and build on that. Being self-aware is also a brilliant support. I noticed recently that when I am in a hurry I begin to write carelessly, in fact if I let myself get speedy at any time the quality of what I am doing can suffer so making sure that I am connected and centred in myself as much as possible when going fast is crucial.
“many ‘human service’ organisations – the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” So clearly put Victoria, and so true. Organisations can be so focused on the output and rarely look at what is the quality of energy that has gone into this output.
Whilst the importance of outcomes supersedes the importance of the well-being of the people delivering the outcomes, there will continue to be the loveless and abusive work culture that exists today in many businesses. What you have described here Victoria is the way of the future, a future where we honor and respect ourselves and each other first, a future we can begin to live today through the choices we make this very instant to honor ourselves first.
It’s so easy to bemoan ‘bad’ employers or ‘impossible’ work situations, but isn’t the truth that it’s us who are truly the boss of our bodily state? Is it possible we still have a choice to choose this stillness you mention Victoria over the intensity and stress? For I can see today that the workplace can be this way but I can still be grand, loving and super delicate.
The ‘womanly work body’. I like that! I feel like that’s something I’ve been working on of late. Really watching myself go into a frenzy and reminding myself that it’s not necessary. Also going to the bathroom when i need to and not only that, not rushing when I’m there. The more I take my time and the less anxious I am the better practice I get at re-imprinting the way I am at work. I’ve spent most of my life in complete overdrive, and I’m enjoying the fact that I am finally choosing to change that.
People first – oh my goodness, what a difference that would make. Imagine that in national and local Government, in education, in health, in business. This is what would change the world because before we can put other people first we have to first care for ourselves. Then it is easy to care for others.
Our whole approach to work is wrong, work is somewhere where we can learn and grow, naturally we need money to live but it offers us so much more than that. And the people we work with are our family too, we’re all in this together and if we approach work as an unwanted necessity no wonder we get sick and ill and don’t enjoy it, but if we appreciate everything it can offer us and everything we can offer too it becomes something we can’t wait to do.
I can really relate with what you have shared here with workplaces mostly being in demanding environments with a lack of resources. I currently work for the public sector and although this is a service for people I can feel the continual pressure being put on staff with regards to severe cutbacks in finances yet a drive for more services/targets to be met, which makes it extremely hard. At times I have forgot what it is I am actually there to do (provide a service to young people) because of this. I know what I am seeing in the service I am in is is happening everywhere else. It is important during this time not only attain the quality of service provided to service users but also look after our own health. I love what you have shared here ‘On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work. And when I really sit with this, my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’ That regardless what is going on around us we can be the true change we are looking for through self-love, self-care and by living this quality on a day to day basis.
I have noticed that for some it is considered not cool to display obvious signs of love and care, especially with objects or the way they move. Sometimes this apparent detachment extends to people according to gender or race or even sexual preference. It can show itself in belittling others for the clothes they wear, the food they eat or the car they drive. It is as if treating things roughly and other people with disdain makes the other feel slight;y superior and thus secure. I have watched this in myself also and can see how harmful it is. If we really want a harmonious work situation we need to take a little time to reflect on these things and begin to change the way we are with things and with people.
One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work. If we all took responsibility for our part in our lack of true health and feeling less than inspired at work, and had a real discussion about this in staff meetings, we may get to seeing that our lifestyle choices and lack of self care are a big contributor. I know a while back the question was asked during a staff meeting, what is self care, and no-one really had an answer. We are all caught up in the drive to achieve, perform and get results at our bodies’ expense. This model is not working and our bodies are reflecting that big time.
I appreciate your description of employees as “discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work”. I have found that there is always room for change even if at first, it doesn’t look likely, as long as we are consistent and steady and don’t let frustration or expectations rule the process.
Yesterday I realised the work consciousness got me, I realised I was taken and speaking from inside of the problem. Its great to hear what you feel could be possible if we approached things another way.
Everything we are fed that is “normal” about work places actually doesn’t have to be if we make a collective shift.
Check out these statistics of illness and anxiety….
“The estimated prevalence of stress and stress-related conditions in the United Kingdom rose from 829 cases per 100,000 workers in 1990 to 1,700 per 100,000 in 2001/2002. In that year, 13.4 million lost working days were attributed to stress, anxiety or depression, with an estimate 265,000 new cases of stress. The latest HSE (Health and Safety Executive) analysis of self-reported illnesses rate revealed that stress, depression or anxiety affects 1.3% of the workforce (5). It is estimated that 80% to 90% of all industrial accidents are related to personal problem and employees’ inability to handle stress (6). The European Agency for Safety and Health at work reported that about 50% of job absenteeism is caused by stress (7) ”
These are old stats, back in the good old days but you can imagine that things have only gotten steadily worse as it has become more fast pace and more demanding since then and so what for our faceless staff?
Is it time we approached this issue more seriously? And I don’t mean throwing a zen water fountain at the problem or offering a trust building yoga program into the office activities. I mean true change in what we value from our staff, those that push through at any cost or those that are balanced in their mind body and soul?
Selling out to the bottom line or to a mission is bad for our health and doesn’t advance or truly support anyone.
Re-visiting this three and a half years on, what has changed at work? From what I can see and hear, very little at this point in time. Other than more women (like Elizabeth above), and men, re-connecting with themselves and bringing something different to the workplace. Ladies in particular – it is up to us to set the tone with our beautiful stillness. The rest will follow.
There is definitely a way to work that does not involve us going into disregarding and abusive behaviour towards ourselves. I have been practicing this other way of working for many years and it works. It starts by connecting with ourselves and making a commitment to remain connected with ourselves regardless of what is going on around us. Through connecting with ourselves we then have all of us to deal with any situation that is before us and this reduces stress and anxiety and allows us to be much more present with anything that we are doing.
We are so used to stress, in our relationships… at home , that it has become the norm …. It is not normal, it is an aberration of what our lives could truly be IF we re-connected to our inner hearts
Thank you for reminding me of my own”innate stillness and loveliness” and that I can bring this to all who I come across and to myself.
We really have to be the change that we wish to see in the world, no-one can make the choices for us, and who knows who may be inspired to change their living choices just by one moment in time, where you reflected a truer way to move, speak or be, and they felt it to the core and were inspired to change something within themselves. Love has the power to do that, no question.
I was really surprised when I found out that it is the accepted normal in most work places in Japan to lose your annual leave if you are sick and have to take a day off from work. No wonder we are saturated with so many variations of fix and boost to get through a day and then life, and act shocked and angry when someone kills themselves because of the apparent overwork/overwhelm/stress/exhaustion.
Hello Victoria and it’s great to see the work place and or life like you do. In this awareness it is up to us or you to lead this awareness at every point. At times we may see something and expect the world to change, expect the world to be different and yet there is no change. Many of us see things and then it is up to us to make the change in how we are from what we have seen. In other words bringing what we see needs to change in the world back to a change we make in ourselves that then goes back out into the world. If we don’t do it this way then we just add to the endless ideas and thoughts about what should be or how it should be. It’s great to talk about what needs to change but making the change ourselves or leading the change that is where things will be different. Thank you.
Working for a large company I see evidence of all you have written about Victoria – the push, the drive the unspoken pressure and expectations of it’s workers. It is often forgotten that as you have stated – ‘that often ‘faceless’ group of people called ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’ – all of whom are our sisters, brothers, fathers, flatmates, friends…’. I too, feel the answer lies in how we all choose to hold ourselves in the office and the simple choices we can make that change our working experience and the space around us. I loved your comment – ‘Another is to consider the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both’. From my current observations things are not improving and if anything the pressure and mixed messages are increasing. Self-care is essential particularly in all the little things like how we physically move, the prepared food we bring, toilet stops and breaks from the desk, even choosing to connect back in with our breath as we sit at our desks. We can change our office environments for ourselves and show others there is another way to be.
Victoria this is a powerful message you share, as when we value only the ‘mission’ of the company or workplace we forgo the implementing and engaging the wisdom and value that is available through honoring the people in the workplace. This does come firstly from how we are with ourselves at work, through which we have the opportunity to offer a loving reflection to all we work with. With honoring ourselves first we develop a solid foundation through which a greater level of service can be offered to clients as the quality of service would reflect a greater level of love present.
Self-care at work is our responsibility. Quite often we stand back and complain about/blame the system but do little to take care for ourselves Workplaces are often driven by time pressures and dynamics can run amuck. It is therefore essential to have the steadiness, centeredness and care within our selves to deal with these many pressures. I used to think there was nothing I could do about my workplace or the stresses I found. Yet everything changes when you take responsibility and take care of yourself.
It is sad that we often mark the health of an organisation by its profits, rather than the state of its work force. A ‘successful’ workplace should include the vitality, engagement and health of its staff. Like any organism, a business needs all its cells and systems to be working optimally and in harmony with each other to be considered successful.
Self care should be the priority of everyone, everywhere as if you don’t look after yourself nobody else will.
To answer the question as you have asked in the title; I can truly understand a yes, after reading this blog.. We are not here to walk in the same momentum (living in a certain pattern) that is unhealthy and we are not getting out off. It is time to turn the tide and make changes that start with us first. Like you shared in this blog… It is people first before any purpose or profit. Thank you for sharing this.
This is beautiful Victoria. It is in fact femaleness that is hugely missing from our workplaces and what is sorely needed. All it needs is one person within a working team to be deeply connected to their stillness, their femaleness and it is noticed by everyone – whether they admit it or not. For you see before you, feel them as they get on with their work, and what you feel is the grace in their movements, the space that surrounds them, and the fact that the work that needs to be done gets done not with a fight upstream but in and with a natural flow.
We are designed to work, to produce, to collaborate. There is an immense joy to be had in this when we let ourselves connect with ourselves first and bring this connection, our stillness, to our workplaces.
In society we have prided ourselves on the doing in everything we do. We are not seen as doing a good job unless we are stressed, working overtime, putting ourselves out for others. It only takes one to create a ripple of change in any environment. Showing people that self love is all that’s needed for one to do an incredible job would create a massive ripple through many a work place.
The concept of ‘people before profit’ is a such a glorious one, but business models that are currently at play today are far away from that at the moment, or that is my experience anyway. There is still a huge drive in organisations to make profit at the expense of people, how they feel, what they work on and the way in which we interact. I see this every day, however, I counter this, I work in a way that is the opposite to that, working with purpose, working with respect for others and seeing everyone as equals and not part of the hierarchy that which is imposed upon at an organisation.
It makes complete sense to me to make the people working in any company or organisation the priority as surely this will influence the quality of the end product or service? I have never understood the short term approach of pushing staff hard and neglecting them all to eek out slightly more profit or production. So even on a basic business model level it does not make sense, let alone on an ethical level.
What you’ve shared here about ‘self-agency’ strikes a chord Victoria. We are indeed capable of making our own choices, and contributing to a work culture and environment that is self-caring and that is also considerate of others – clearly to a far greater capacity than most currently operate at.
The bigger drivers of profit and ‘mission’ as you say, are going to take time – but bolster people with self-worth and the responsibility for self-determination, and the larger factors will, in time, eventually erode and break down. With current escalating rates of not only absenteeism, but presenteeism (showing up for work but being largely ineffective…), I suspect that many industries are already cracking at the seams…
A very real assessment of where things are at Victoria, thank-you. And with that, what you have suggested is no ‘pie in the sky’ solution, but rather a focussed cultural change that considers the true well-being of all staff, that values each person for who they are.
I agree Victoria and this is very important and awesome reminder because we live in a society where we tend to forget to value and appreciate each other.
We have done this to a magnitude that is shocking, if we truly want to see chanly88, I agree. A strong foundation of self-appreciation is needed, that we may then extend this to truly appreciating the qualities another brings, inclusive of the way he or she works when truly committed and flowing in the way that befits who they are.
In a world where everyone moved with self love, many things would change. The beginning of this movement begins within us leading a new way for the many to follow.
When I worked in a corporate role with responsibility for employee development and learning, I observed the very same things you describe: all eyes on customer service and results and near neglect of the people providing services to customers. There is now new understanding ‘ internal customer’ to be supported and nurtured equally to external ones. In essence why not delete divisions of internal/external and simply see everyone as people deserving of absolute care, attention and love,
Victoria its clear that many of the ways we work are not actually working, in fact quite the opposite the way we go about work is actually making us sicker. For most, myself included, it was easier to blame work yet the truth is working is great for us – so whats going on? I’ve come to also understand that unless I bring the full and complete me to work then everything I do is hurting my body. From the way that I type, speak to the way I walk through the office. It’s time to re-address everything.
“the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” Isn’t that so often the way women approach life, putting the needs of others well before her self? Yet our innate nurturing nature, our stillness as women, hold the quality of femaleness which has the potential to change the way we are with ourselves as women and therefore the way we are in our jobs– no matter how high powered, or seemingly fast paced they may be.
“I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.” I can relate to this, something I have been working on, and the impact is amazing. Staff feel the difference, they are reflected another way and feel inspired to look at their lives. I have been so amazed at the simplicity of bringing the innate stillness to my movements at work and really started the ripple effect.
Recently I have been shown the deeper responsibility towards self-care. In a world, a city, a community or even a project if one person takes the responsibility unwaveringly in caring for his/herself, this offers a reflection. It does not mean the strong force of not caring for ourselves generally will change in one day, but what it has allowed me to experience is a step by step process in taking off the protection towards commiting myself to work or to living in a place where work is life. I am nowhere near perfection and at times I allow myself to be controlled by rush and drive, but every time I am reminded to take more care for myself, and I find I enjoy more and more being and working in this place.
In our present day, most of us work according to the belief that work takes precedence over our own bodies, whether it is working for money, mission, recognition or even escape. There is a common saying in where I live that, working is an activity solely for money, because the purpose that we work very hard is so that we do not have to work anymore (because sufficient money can support us in doing what we like). What we are in effect saying is money will buy us the power to exercise self-agency. We can be tossed around until we have power, that is having money, and suddenly we can exercise this power over our lives and others. But wait, is this really true? If we have never honored our bodies while we accept being pushed around, the energy of being pushed around would only be then used on another—if we do not choose to be honest and stop. Many of us when we have worked relentlessly in being pushed or in pushing find that our bodies make us stop — we get sick.
I want that. I want to be that stillness at work and at home. I can feel how that would be and I can feel how I have held back from this. What an awesome way that would be to work.
I am super fortunate and have chosen my place of work very well as true health and the body always comes first for us. We understand if the quality of work is to be of precision, love and about people then we have to make it about the way we are living and how we care for our bodies first, before we can deliver what we need to. It’s such a huge support to work in this sort of environment because it’s the place we spend the most time!
It is my experience that when we put people first, the profits and the purpose do take care of themselves. People are the bedrock of any organisation. If we are not supported to support ourselves then we see what has become the norm in so many organisations -stress, illness, absenteeism, presenteeism (yes that is a thing!).
I love what you propose here Victoria around what could be possible and what a workplace could be one day. We are far away from what you are sharing today, but there are many who are living this way today, so by way of reflection, already showing that there can be another way to work.
That people identify with their jobs so deeply that they would sacrifice themselves literally to the job brings us even more inexorably to the realization that true self care is essential for our society, and through this practice understand that we are not our jobs, this is just something that we do.
What you have described as common practice in the work place is very real on a global scale and well observed. Bringing a few practical tools of reconnection to work can change everything, shutting your eyes for a moment maybe when you visit the bathroom, keeping yourself hydrated. Its so easy to get caught up in the ‘demands’ of work but sometimes we have to step back and look at the whole picture, thank you for reminding me of this.
I love this Victoria ‘ it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’ Very true, if women honour their stillness and divinity in the workplace what a game changer this will be and a flow on effect that will support and inspire others to also choose their natural loving ways.
The more we look after ourselves the more we look after all those around us. It ought to be a question at interviews -” how do you care for yourself?”
It’s like in business we make the client/customer king and in the hospitality industry as I work a pleasing at all costs mentality is very strong (although no doubt this is everywhere) the customer expects utmost focus and care and at times it feels like not just in the service being provided but there is an undertone of wanting more from others. Yet I have seen this in the staff as well wanting others to fill in or care for them or do the work for them, be that others at their level or from above, blaming management for how work is. All of this produces profit regardless of quality and for those profit driven why change the system if they are getting what they want?
But what you’ve shared here Victoria is that if each of us self-cares at work that brings a greater quality that the profit driven model can never ever match. And this has certainly been my experience as bringing a focus to the quality of care I bring to myself that I feel that this can never be matched, only confirmed, by any material gains.
The more care I bring to myself that brings a deeper quality to my work and thats worth more than any service visually received. It’s a secret service thats not so secret if we are willing to feel the quality that goes into our products and service industries.
Work places can be stressful and for good reason, but it is all about how we respond or react to this stress that is key. Stress and the stress response is after all a normal and natural part of life, without which we would die (consider if our stress response did not work, how would we ever run away or fight a tiger?). So stress is actually normal. Excess stress is not normal and how we handle each situation comes down to how we bad or severe we perceive a situation to be, and how we can express how we feel and seek the right support to get through it all. Life is full of stresses outside of the workplace too – such as moving house, a close family member dying or diagnosed with a severe disease, etc etc the list is endless – but this is LIFE. What I love about Victoria’s presentation is that she is sharing that there are key things that have supported her in her ability to cope with the various situations that crop up. This stillness and inner strength is not some mind-made up concept, but one that is work connecting to and developing a relationship with, for much power comes with it.
I have found that the more you look after and listen to your staff the more you get back, implementing things like breaks might mean that no work gets done for 15-20 minutes but the work rate and quality are always of a much higher standard afterwards.
“Another is to consider the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both. On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work. And when I really sit with this, my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.” – Victoria, what you share here is so powerful. This power of femaleness is indeed a ‘change agent’ and is something we can all learn eventually to embrace. Interestingly many of us hold onto old habits and change can be hard to accept, but when change is delivered with loving support and understanding, which comes with the power of femaleness then we are far more likely to adopt it and embrace it.
And this femaleness that you talk about Victoria, is something that I have discovered within myself too, only I feel I am still developing my relationship with it and learning to trust and allow it out more and more. It is a beautiful process, though at times it is like I can feel a part of me resisting it – this part is the part that lacks the trust, and so it is about being even more loving and understanding towards myself.
Your question ‘Can we change the way we work’ is a definite yes by changing the way we live, when we naturally look after ourselves we are healthier, less tired and less drained, and if when we are at work we are still able to do this everyone ends up better off.
When ‘the health of the organisation takes precedence over that of the humans who work there’ you have to question the quality of the foundations of such organisations and subsequently the quality of product or service being built from those foundations. Self-Care is something we all need to consider collectively as the ripple effect of our disregard for ourselves affects not only our own workplaces but also many other workplaces and the world around us as a whole.
Our societies, our lives and our humanity is founded on people and the quality of relationship we have with ourselves and others. When we put ‘people before profit’, and ‘people before purpose’ we can too easily lose sight of this fact.
It is amazing when we have a purpose at work what we can do and what can be achieved. We are designed to work and so it is a very natural thing for us to be doing. The question we have to ask ourselves is why are we doing it, what do we want to get out of it? For many it becomes mundane because it comes down to the pay check so we can pay the bills, our mortgage, holidays etc.. but what if there was so much more. I know for me one thing I love about work is that it gets me to meet so many different people that otherwise I would never have the chance to meet. And so it is then my responsibility what quality I present to them. And i know people feel it. I certainly do and feel when someone is there actually wanting to be there rather than be-grudgingly being there.
In order to change the culture of work in general, we need to understand what work truly is. Work is where we interact with society, and is reflective of how we contribute to the whole. The fact that so many businesses are plagued by ethical problems, dynamics, and corruption, is therefore indicative of the deeply self centred attitude most of us carry into all of life. And yes, most will claim that they do no harm by being that way – that there life is their own. And true, your life is your own, until you go to work. Then, the way you are at home, which forms the foundation for the way you become at work, effects everybody you meet and interact with.
To mobilise a workplace and deliver quality service is only possible when people are supported to do so. Support is the responsibility of the individual, which impacts greatly on work quality and volume and organisational support. Together when in sync, the teamwork and productivity is unstoppable. This is rare and what every CEO must address for the term ‘service’ to be experienced as such. Great blog Victoria Lister
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What I’m noticing is that because employees are not putting themselves first and the workplace does not allow room for making it about people first, that most are reaching for sugar, caffeine and stimulates to get them through the day. I see colleagues walk through the door and their shoulders slump and their whole demeanour changes. I must admit that its been so busy that I’ve been walking in doing the same lately and it feels awful. The thing is, that if you do well you are usually given more work to do because someone has left under the pressure or on stress or illness leave. I definitely agree that something needs to change and we can’t just keep looking for the next person to replace.
Thank you Victoria – I love how you have emphasised that people do come first, over and above purpose and profit. We have a very bad habit in our society to do the opposite and put ourselves and others welfare last. Often this is perhaps not the intention, but somehow it gets buried under all the other things, and hence self care becomes the thing we neglect – and since self care is all about us and our true well being, then we are essentially neglecting ourselves. To come back to that innate level of stillness and care that you have talked about, Victoria, is key in making change in our microcosm, and with spillover effects in the macrocosm! If we connect to the capacity that lies within us all, much change can infold from here. I certainly love this as a reminder, and want to work on this for myself on a more consistent basis!
‘Self-Care’ has become a bit of a buzz word it seems, but what you’ve described here is what self-care truly entails. It would indeed be amazing to have an entire corporation supporting their employees at every level to embody these principles.
In today’s society, the simple act of introducing self care into the work environment can cause a ruckus and an uproar – there seems to be an attitude of self sacrifice that is looked up to, in other words if you sacrifice your self care for work it seems to be the proof that you are dedicated. However, thankfully there are individuals around who realise that this does not work in the long run, and that it is time to introduce this self care in various ways so that long term working is indeed sustainable. But the self care is something that needs to be developed over time and consistently so in all ares (work, home, play time etc). And in my experience the more I have worked on the self care and the quality with which I care for myself, the more my capacity and energy and vitality for all things in life have increased! What a bonus!
Yes it’s important to remember that we need to take care of ourselves when we work. Without our bodies it would be hard to do any kind of job, so looking after it would be a very wise thing.
These are really good, practical examples of what we can do to make a difference at work and they are incredibly logical – we can all work really hard but if we all work to exhaustion then nobody wins.
Over the past few years, since this blog was first published, I have been exploring my relationship with work. At first I noticed how stress was an innate part of my working day, which would extend in to all of my day regardless of where I was or what I was doing – so even just preparing dinner could be stressful. This made me stop and consider that maybe the stress is coming from me, and not from the job at all. And if this is so, then maybe I could work and live free from stress? To investigate this possibility further, I began to take better care of myself, especially at night and in the mornings, giving myself time to wind down and to wake up. This then extended in to the days, where taking a stop moment at some point would bring me back to the sweetness of that time in the morning when I was feeling settled and complete. Slowly, slowly over time and with very gradual changes, work is now not so stressful. there are challenges and stressful elements to it, but with all the love and care and attention that I have given to myself over these years there has been a deep well created that seems bountiful and endless. A well of care that can handle anything – perhaps this is where the settlement comes from. The affect of this on my colleagues has been noticeable too, as when everything looks as though it is falling apart, it is always nice to have someone with you who is not being swept up by the storm.
To answer your question Yes we can change the way we work and by doing that become part of the ‘gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.’ In the past I have been very imposing when trying to bring about change and it is beautiful to feel that all that is required is a commitment to look after ourselves and in doing so to be a reflection to others.
Thank you Victoria I love how you offer that ‘it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’ We can all choose to connect to this quality of stillness wherever we are and it is so greatly needed in most working situations and we have the power to reflect that to our colleagues. Building a consistency with my level of self-care has supported me to connect to my sense of purpose at work, in a joyful way and one that does not deplete me. However I can still get caught up in the ‘there’s too much to do mentality’ and for example not take a proper break at lunch but it opens up lovely opportunities for conversations with colleagues about how we can look after ourselves better confirming for me that it is about our intention and perfection is not required just a willingness to come back to that quality of stillness and feel what is the next true movement.
People first business – a very rare occurrence as most companies seek solutions and not relationships.
Having been in a stressful work situation of late, without divulging too much detail. One of the things that was highlighted was how every member of staff expressed their truth of how we would like to work and what improvements could be made to suit everyone equally, only to be ignored and told that the new impositions to our working conditions would remain as they are. Every single person felt as though they were not listened to and that there is no where else to go but to another company – is it any wonder that there is a high turnover in some companies.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” The quality in which we work is so important. If i take myself into my day being all of me. loving and caring for myself and everyone around me, then the whole world can benefit, as the (unseen) ripples spread out far and wide.
I have been caught in the trap of high stress, intense pressure and crazyness for the last 12 months. I’m moving on to start a new job soon and all I can say, is I have learnt a lot about what not to repeat. I have been completely burnt out, alongside everyone else around me. Work has not been a joy to spend so much of my life at. But, as I close one door and open another, I am ready for the opportunity to do it differently. I’m excited at the prospect of getting my power back and re-setting myself to be more honouring and more gentle as well as firm with myself. After all, there is simply no point whatsoever to be living a life that is less than joyful.
The most important point you’re making here Victoria is that we are all individually responsible for bringing harmony to the workplace. Until more recently, I have placed a lot of responsibility on the organisation I have worked for to provide an environment that is conducive to good health and joy. The reality is, that most organisations are completely unaware of what is required to achieve that. So the responsibility must fall back on those that do know what it takes to care for oneself, and not hold back in doing that as the flow on affect of that could be huge.
When we focus on nurturing the individual part without losing sense of the whole from which it comes, the whole will flourish without needing to be addressed in the same way. In this sense, simple acts of self-nurture in the workplace improve not only the health of the workers and the quality of the work produced but also the health of the entire organism that is the organisation.
I’m noticing that more and more organisations are now becoming aware of the importance of people as a part of their overall success. The question is what is success, and for almost every organisation on the planet, success is measured in primarily financial ways. So part of the evolutionary path for an organisation is to redefine success in a way that includes the care and fostering of its staff.
People before profit or purpose, how far we are from this, and as others have said it may seem Utopian, but the truth is, our current way does not work and all the machines, gadgets and initiatives are not cutting it, as they’re all outcome driven and not about putting people first. The business models which do work we need to learn to apply that no matter where we go or work.
I agree Stephen that we have accepted a level of normal that is not true to our bodies naturally harmonious state, we have dropped so far that we think being cancer free is a sign of good health even if you have any number of aliments including being over weight etc.
It may seem utopian thinking what you present but in my experience of groups that hold this quality and intention dear much is possible on the harmonious and purpose front – always without perfection! But we really can live lives that are much more successful in a temporal sense and infinitely more in line with our divine origins than is seen in the world today.
If we tend to the people the rest takes care of itself. I can’t help but feel this is true and an ethos every business should follow. After all a contented and supported workforce is also a motivated one. There is too much we accept in work life that we need not, exhaustion and overwhelm should never be a normal part of working life.
The biggest issue facing the workplace is that people for the most part don’t want to be there. To me that is an illness in itself.
Yes Adam Warburton this is true in many work places and the illness then streams out the customers who are supposed to be getting the quality care and service.
It seems to me that self care is a missing tool at our workplaces. Most of us are used to working until we get ill and to show others through living how we can care for ourselves and to work not until we are ill is huge not only for the business but also for our health system.
When I work with people in stressful workplaces they always appreciate the conversations that remind them to reconnect to themselves and offer basic supports like breath awareness, slowing down, hydrating etc,. I too can feel the marked difference when I choose to stop and take stock of where I am and what I am doing. The next moment is then revealed as another choice.
What’s important about self-care at work is it is an active approach that is not only empowering for yourself, but also inspiring for those around you. Working in a corporate office I know the intense pressures, and have found self-care to be a way of supporting myself when everything around me seems to be crazy.
It’s interesting that an organisation is able to separate it’s own health from that of it’s employees, however they are intrinsically linked – poor health of employees = lowered organisational health. The only reason that this can be the case, ie. the intellectual separation of the two, is down to us, the employees who put ourselves last in a long line of demands on our time. Unless we start to self-care and make this our priority, the powers that be where we work will be able to continue to sacrifice employee health for that of the organisations health.
I totally agree with what you have written Victoria, as we spend such a big part of our life at work, ensuring the environment is as harmonious as possible is a requirement we should all commit to
Yes it would be a very beautiful change to make it about the quality people work in in the companies instead of about the amount of output alone.
I love the fact that you have pointed that in whatever little way any one of us choose to take extra care and responsibility for ourself at work, it has an overall impact on not just how the business within which we work runs, but adds a bit more momentum to that ‘gorgeous, warm river, ‘ you envisage that is ‘slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.’
Even when you dig underneath the underlying purpose of “HR”, you realise it is not about people. Human Resources was developed as the world tried to understand how to get the most out of people. In other words, it has always been about productivity, not people. So, in other words, HR makes it about people in order to increase levels of productivity, not realising of course that if you genuinely make it about people, productivity is a natural side effect of such connection.
Yesterday at work, I could feel how stress was building up in my body. I could feel I was becoming grumpy, and my body was getting harder and tighter, it was awful. In my mind, I was complaining about how slow my computer was, how small its screen was, how little information I was given to start with… I could list so many things that were ‘wrong’. Then I remembered I didn’t go to the bathroom when I wanted to, and I didn’t even take lunch break either. In fact, I haven’t been taking a proper lunch break since I started working for this company a few weeks ago – this is so not like the way I have been treating myself for the past few years. Why would I abandon that way of being? What did I place more importance than taking care of my self? I know this so well, yet I am back again to deal with it. And this time, I feel like I am seeing it from a different perspective, which feels awesome actually.
‘it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’ I completely agree Victoria, The more I bring this quality to my work the more I am able to care and nurture not only myself but also the people I work with, being consistently still is very powerful and the tension of the time factor I am often aware of is not there when I choose to be with me in my stillness.
We are all capable of making supportive loving decisions whilst at work, we can choose to not go into stress and tension that is around us. The more I look after myself inside and outside work the more I am able to say no to that which harms and instead keep strong and still when the world around is spinning.
Great article Victoria, when the world gets to a point where it can see that everything is not all about profit and people are actually put first it will be a grand point in our evolution.
In many work places staff sees self-care as taking time out to go outside for a cigarette and a coffee and see stopping for a few minutes to close their eyes and reconnect with themselves as a waste of time and lack of productivity. We are all responsible for our own self-care in the workplace and can model this for our colleagues.
I like how you say “people before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose, as we have learned to always make the goal matter more greatly than the path we are walking on and most importantly the equality we are walking in.
“I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.” Most beautifully said and this is how it works, step by loving step with consistency walking through life connected to our hearts and not determined by our minds.
“…to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” – This is truly empowering and of support for all, something that we can apply to all areas of our life.
Personally I have worked in many, many places and never had all the workplace issues people speak about. Certainly I see them around the place and have for example noticed how abused the employees of a certain bank are, but I have not received that kind of abuse myself. Well actually on reflection abuse of this nature has been offered to me but I have not accepted it so it seems employees have a responsibility in not accepting abuse as much as employers have in not giving it or passing it down the line.
I have always noticed how when I work in an energetic quality where I am very present with myself and what I am doing, from the outside it may look as if I am going slowly (compared to actions carried out in drive and rush) but in practice I actually get a huge amount more done and even accomplish what you might call miraculous amounts. The racy, driven way of doing things is actually not productive and does not provide a quality outcome.
I love what you say here, Victoria, about ‘people before profits’ and ‘people before purpose’. I work in HR and have often been asked in interviews if I see the role of HR is to support the employees or to support the company. The fact that this question even gets asked is very telling!
My answer: I support the company which is made up of xxx number of employees and without these employees, the company would be nothing. In our workplaces, we’ve got to stop seeing it as either one or the other, and start honestly appreciating each person for who they truly are and what they offer simply by being themselves.
I can very much relate to the pattern in workplaces of putting everything else first ahead of the people who make the business operate, and who are actually collectively the sole reason a company – whether for profit or no – is in business at all. Here in the U.S. it can be seen as a badge of honor to be the one to put in countless work hours at the expense of the body and physical, emotional and mental health. I’ve seen in many cases, that the person is working in this way out of a personal sense of self worth and or job security that is dependent on how much they sacrifice themselves for the company. This is clearly not healthy and leaders who participate in, support, or ignore this trend, are not only inviting larger workplace problems – i.e. that eventually hit the bottom line – they are also not acting as true leaders by not taking responsibility for something that is fundamental to the success of the business.
The power of femaleness, such an important aspect of life and one that we would do well as both men and women to acknowledge and live to the quality of. We have made femaleness about gender, but it is so much more, it is a quality that resides in us all, that stillness and nurturing gentleness that we need much more of in the world, not a separation of men and women but something that binds us as a one humanity, a way of being that will make our workplaces over time that much more harmonious and caring for all than they currently are.
Thank you Victoria for such an example you have put forward here. It sounds to me like a wonderfully nurturing environment if this was the case, and I guess it starts first with one person and one workplace.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”
I agree Victoria.
It feels like we need to redefine work and have a close look at how we are at work rather than fiddling around with and trying to fix the outer manifestations of what is clearly not working. Shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic has not ever worked and never will, it only gives momentary symptom relief.
Yes indeed Victoria we can change the way we work. With the work that you, and many others, are doing in the workplace the balance is shifting to a deeper purpose, stillness, rhythm and person centred environment. Let’s keep looking after ourselves and putting divinity out there.
“it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.” The quality of stillness is within each and every women and man and it is this true way of being that will aid many workplaces and bring them back to a natural rhythm for true service and care in the workplace. Living and working from this innate stillness also has many health benefits including better food choices, taking time to stop if we feel tired and also expressing how we feel without fear of being judged by another. Our stillness is divine and a great power that we all have access too.
I watched the latest Michael Moore documentary and he covered a lot of Europe and from what he shared, people often came before purpose and profit. In Italy, they get 8 weeks annual leave paid per year and in other parts of Europe, the work space of factory workers is well considered and has ample lighting and space and they have lunch breaks and self-care is prominent. And the profits are taking care of themselves.
I agree Victoria, profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves if businesses were primarily about looking after the people who run them and the people who are served by them. What an amazing picture you have painted about true service where no one is left out, run ragged or made to feel less important than another, from cleaners and clerics to the CEO. This is a model of business that could apply everywhere and be simply understood by every one, because the principle of love and care are there as essential qualities within us all.
Imagine spending your working day on the end of a telephone trying to sell something to someone who doesn’t want to be sold something in the first place! There are many people working in this kind of environment, day in and day out, and it must be demoralising for them, putting on a smile and being nice and all in the name of profit. We all yearn for the day when people come before profit and I am sure that day will come if we begin to change the way we are in the workplace, starting with making those loving choices for ourselves and not getting caught up in the competition and rivalry that seems to abound in many workplaces. Taking a few moments to stop and connect to our bodies, and taking in a few gentle breaths may seem simple but it can be very effective in slowing down the busy momentum we sometimes seem to get caught up in at work. And as for 40 winks under the desk, I’m not quite courageous enough to do that but I do like to nap in the car in my lunch-break or go for a little walk as it is the little things that build up to the bigger picture and the bigger picture is something we often lose sight of when making it all about money first.
Self care and femaleness in the workplace, as shared here – will absolutely shift the dynamics. We have a woman working for us who came in very hard; she had proven herself in a man’s world and as a result she had trouble with all her female organs. Over time, she has come to understand the importance of self care, through what we present in our company. We’ve offered her the understanding that in order to truly support clients, it is important we support ourselves first,
The difference I see in her each day is astounding. She has become a more open, delicate, feminine woman who now cares for a team of women and offers them absolute support – not in a driving goal setting way, but in a way that truly supports these other women to care for themselves and each other too. So bringing these qualities into the workplace has a domino effect that is gorgeous to observe.
One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work. This would be a great start for us if we did start to question why we feel the way we do after certain choices and then check in with what loving choices we are making. I feel the lack of motivation in that area stems from needing to tick the boxes and get things done, this puts the thoughts of self caring way down on the list of things to do and so it becomes exactly that, just another thing on the list to do.
I had my assessment interview with my manager the other day and I shared how it feels to me that it is not about people. She shared that she feels the same. We had a lovely talk how it makes us feel when work and business is about money. For me work is about people and we can all feel when this is not the case.
When organisations put people before profit this shows that people/staff are being valued and naturally when people work with more joy their performance and attitude will also shift to reflect this. When we see organisations working in harmony, I too agree with you Victoria that profit will then take care of itself. Our workplaces does not need to be a stressed out and sad place, by making some simply loving choices we can reconfigure our workplaces to be about people and true care.
Brilliant article Victoria, showing the importance of bringing all of ourselves to work (and indeed everything that we do) not just the parts of us we think are useful for the job – it is our smile, our sense of humour, the care we have for ourselves and others, and the many other qualities each of us have that are equally important to bring to work.
The major resource of every company its people and their well being, if companies invested in this resource as a priority for the financial well being of the company, we would see a huge change in workplace culture.
Not only can we change the way we work but with the rise in illness and disease and stress levels, pressure on relationships and on ourselves it’s very clear that we must. There is another way and Serge Benhayon has been presenting it for the last 17 years and there are hundreds if not thousands of students of Universal Medicine living this way today who are no longer contributors to the statistics – a way of living, to be with ourselves and our bodies that can have us living vital and productive days.
Sadly the workplace has become a battlefield out there where people are trying to outdo each other in the quest of a better position/pay. so there is dynamics, bickering and abuse that is creating so much stress in people’s bodies as a result of the continual demands and expectations. Self-care = better productivity in the workplace so it is the key for people to reconnect to their bodies and honour them for who they are and let go of the identification of what they do.
This really inspires me, regarding building my quality in the workplace… “I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work. And when I really sit with this, my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for….”
This is a brilliant blog, that I would love to see in TIME magazine, as it is revolutionary..I particularly loved this section and the thought of it..”Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honoring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others.” That’s the kind of workplace I would love to work in. Just imagine and allow.
Thank you Victoria for writing this much needed blog. From what you’ve shared really highlights how most workplaces are not a pleasant place to work in, this is something we’ve create and therefore, we have the power to also turn this around to be a joyful place. You’ve shared with us some amazingly simple and effective solutions for turning this around. I agree, by applying self-care and self-love to our work places is key and to appreciate what people bring by putting people before profit will have positive and hugely beneficial effects.
To bring change in the work place we have to start with self-care first, we have to be living that ourselves, only then can we live by example and reflect to others. As we work on self-care and femaleness then we automatically bring stillness into our working day. All this is felt by other staff through our reflection and the foundations we build. This has been my experience in our business, I started with myself, which has inspired my husband and our staff. This has encouraged staff to focus on health and self care.
The way you write Victoria, it becomes clear that this stillness and quality you describe is the real job we are here to do. So whatever the role description we may be given, whatever the agreed definition, we can remember and work and play knowing that the time deadlines, project schedules, deliverables and KPI’s are all consequences that flow from the rhythm we bring to our life. Here’s to a world where CEO’s, managers and workers are appreciated for their quality of stillness and the way they live.
“the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” How crazy is this? How can this be a sensible thing? Organisations are made up of people. Therefore the organisation cannot be healthy if the people who work there are not healthy. Self-care and care for staff are the most important thing. The profits naturally follow.
I have recently discovered a new and deeper level of commitment and enthusiasm for work, however, as I have always been a bit of a workaholic it is very important that I do not push myself too far and too hard. So, what I am learning is how to bring self-love in to my day with even more care and consistent practices. Because I obviously love to work, however if I do not love and care for myself first then there will be no love in my work – just the recognition it gives me which is ultimately an empty experience that leaves me searching for more.
Could it be possible that we create stress in the workplace as a way not to connect to the stillness within and the responsibility that it is there in our reflection to others?
We need to understand that productivity in the workplace is based on the level of self-care, love and connection to our bodies we are willing to say yes in our lives as these allow us the ability of observation and reflection of who we truly are.
This is an awesome article Victoria – I love the line about what we can do ourselves at work to not make it about profit before people but about people before profit: “to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” The best way to change situations is to take responsibility to deeply care for and love ourselves so we are not affected by loveless systems or situations and can inspire change.
When we embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self and honouring who we are then self-care is not something we do but it is a natural part of who we are.
When working for a non-profit organisation myself I watched as colleagues struggled with work loads and taking on too much, because it was for charity many of the staff worked many hours overtime and really took on the seriousness of what they were dealing with, unfortunately this really impacted their personal lives and was shown in a number of ways from addiction to divorce to general burn out. We need to realise that we need to first look after ourselves before we can bring true change to another.
I agree Victoria – a truly loving, people-first (all people that is not just clients as you say!) approach in business paves the way to a better quality of service for everyone.
Self care at work as company policy would be brilliant. At the moment I notice that most people consider self care to be the opposite to productivity (and these are the people who would most benefit) yet there is another way that says that self care actually increases efficiency and workplace harmony. I would love it if this attitude was widespread. The more we live this, the more it will become part of the consciousness..
I have noticed that when you abstain from anything, and you re-introduce it you get to feel the effect it has on the body. These effects work well when applied to relationships, foods, and work. We all could benefit by taking the fork in the river to have described that returns us to who we all truly are!
In the place where I work, I often see a lot of pressure put on to the managers causing them a lot of stress. What strikes me most about this pressure is that it can be mostly about budget goals and profit margins and rarely is it ever really about them as the hard working diligent and caring people that they are. I know that the company that I work for is actually very caring about its staff, and that it has to make a profit to continue providing jobs for everyone. However, the anxiety that breeds through the pressure to succeed can be crippling and for some, debilitating. I am sure that the company can still grow and be a great success even if every person there was honoured for the person that they are as well as the outcomes they can produce.
Taking care of ourselves and our body first will ensure a vitality in our everyday, work included. I’ve recently heard of an employer offering an extra $25 per day ($125 per 5 day working week) to his employees who prove they are getting at least 7 hours sleep before coming to work. Responsibility is being called for.
Incentives being offered for staff to get the right amount of sleep feels extreme doesnt it? As you say some personal responsibility is called for. People seem to be trying harder and harder to cram recreation instead of rest into their days and nights, which naturally must affect quality and enjoyment of ones work.
The working environment as you shared Victoria is not currently set up to support the people within the systems with even the basics of health and well-being, because even having a physical illness and/or disease is ‘pushed through’ or patched up in order for the drive of what needs to be done achieved. This does not even account for the emotional or energetic disturbances that people feel in the workplace on a daily basis leading to a lot of anxiety and stress that isn’t discussed. With the support of Universal Medicine I have learnt and am still learning to refine that self-care physically, mentally, emotionally and most importantly energetically – the quality of all previously mentioned is something I can bring into my focus while at work. The work place does not provide us with such a space but that does not mean that we can’t bring in that space ourselves.
Victoria, your blog throws light on a situation that really needs addressing and your suggestions as to what one could do may seem simple but they would have a profound effect on colleagues, clients and managers alike. People feel the pressure of not bringing self-care to the workplace but they all carry on with the momentum of drive because everyone else does. If one person starts to change it does “challenge ‘the way things are done around here’… offering an inspiring example to others…” It shows people that we do have a choice to work differently and that in fact it does not take more time or mean that work does not get done. Quite the contrary, the workers would have more clarity and bring more quality to the work. They would support each other more and could work without the usual stress and anxiety of trying to produce the goods. They would already feel enough as they are and could then commit to doing the job without getting sidetracked by sabotaging thoughts.
It is difficult at first to incorporate self care as a principle into someone’s life if at first there is not the dawning realisation or inspiration as to why it is important. I have watched and been part of a body of hundreds of students at Universal Medicine who have successfully transformed their lives in terms of relationships, vitality, commitment to work, and joy by dedicating themselves to greater self care. But the reason they did so in the first place is because they were inspired by the livingness of another, and equally inspired by the deeply felt connection they felt not only through that person, but in doing so, to the fact that there is a form of universal divinity that is equally ours to behold, and it is something that can actually be felt and experienced in physical form.
How we care for ourselves, impacts on everything around us, if we are tired then this will spill over into our life, we will not function as we could, it is the same with the energy/mood we choose to be in. Choosing self-care and responsiblity can change everything “How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer?” Bringing self-care into the heart of the work environment changes everyone’s experience, and as you say the quality of what is received is deeply nourished and developed through making the choice to self-care.
I was reminded of how little i used to care for myself at work, in the past, I would stay sitting for hours, legs crossed working on the computer and head leaning to answer the phone, I used to work late, and not eat well in the day. Self-care is a crucial part of working well, it offers a foundation, long term productivity is improved on many levels and people can feel mentally, emotionally and physically more well. A lot has changed in the last 15 years for me and I am very aware of self-care in my life. I do care for myself in work and I come home feeling much more energised and well than I use to in the past, weekends now are not all about recovery and indulgence, I have more balance and wellness in my life.
Where I work we all are very productive, have a lot of fun and work harmoniously together so it is possible!
It seems rather ridiculous that a charity or not for profit should abuse their staff. I have also noticed how many people abuse their bodies with marathon runs or pouring freezing water over themselves or whatever in the name of raising money for charity. How absurd to behave so abusively in or for an organisation whose very purpose is to do good!
We obviously need people to participate in the workforce but the current ways in the vast majority of cases are clearly not sustainable. As I continue to develop myself with love and appreciation, I know I offer a different reflection in my workplace to what is the norm, which you have described so accurately in your blog Victoria. I will never really know the impact of this but I trust that those I am in contact with can see and feel a difference in how I am choosing to live my life. I don’t do it to impress anyone – it is what feels like a true way of living to me.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity”. Wow what a workplace, love and care for ourselves and others; in this environment imagine what would evolve and develop.
Im sure that type of workplace would eminate integrity and love and the end result would be increased productivity and satisfaction in knowing the work has meaning
When we put money above people then what quality is being produced? I’ve heard of staff on stress leave from being so overwhelmed with the workload and many others who are close to it also but holding it all in. The thing is, we don’t see the impact this then has on their families, roommates or friends when they go home. What are we showing the next generation by living and working in this way?. Many teenagers have said they only want to find something easy but that pays a lot, or aspiring to be gamers so that they don’t have to be in the workforce.
It’s long overdue for workplaces to value the lives of their workers, not for what they do but because they are human beings. To see stillness, self care and putting staff first would revolutionise workplaces for the better.
The responsibility goes both ways. Employees also need to value themselves and their workplaces and bring themselves and their integrity and quality to work. We are all people employers and employees and how we are at work is a reflection of how we are in every other area of our life.
If work is done for and with people, should we then not place humanity, our human people first before we look at results and doings? It might look clever at first to focus on tasks, but this does not work, as we know and all can see. We as humans need care and need to know how to take care of ourselves and when working too. This should be educated, and is needed in any business before we can truly deliver healthy services brought by mankind. Do we prefer function or true quality of delivery? It is our choice. I know my answer.
This model is one that we all need to follow though with, not just in every area of our working life but Volunteer life as well! No point in wearing ourselves out and eventually becoming ill as this helps no one! This is an inspirational blog thank you Victoria.
Victoria this is so needed in all areas of the workforce as you say. Maybe this blog could be circulated and perhaps some ideas implemented or at least a seed planted.
Great reflection of our power and responsibility in the workplace Victoria. Your comment about building a ‘womanly work body’ has helped me appreciate more deeply all that I bring to my workplace – my stillness, self-loving choices in food, taking breaks as needed, purposefully moving and consciously bringing focus to my breath. Keeping it simple and staying connected is powerful within workplaces and in life.
The global economic treadmill of expand or die is so obviously dysfunctional in a world of finite resources and yet this model keeps being pushed by countries and companies… this really is the Emperor having no clothes.
Too often everything is reduced to a tick box activity with the quality of work suffering because people in the workplace are exhausted and sad. Profits and policy before people seems to be the name of the game in many of today’s organisations, and it is clearly not working
Workplace stress is so normal and common. But sometimes I sit there at my desk and I wonder why, because actually, we are just a group of people all together and working together, so why does there need to be so much tension between us? In my observations I have seen that it tends to be because many of us have been hurt by someone at some point, and this has created the need for a protection, worn as a kind of suit of armour – this suit is what actually causes the tension, because it rejects the people around you before you can be rejected yourself.
So much change can be brought to all areas of our lives when we are connected to our stillness and ease the continual rush of our daily living. This is true for both men and women in the workplace. Our work environments would be greatly altered and the ease in people’s bodies and movements would be beautiful to feel.
I agree Kelly, Stillness is an essential quality that brings huge benefits both in terms of health and quality of output. There is also a big difference between activity and action. From stillness we can take true action but without it we often get caught up in a lot of complicated and unproductive activity.
There seems to be an acceptance that life at work is generally stressful, that bosses will be aggressive and that everyone at some point will feel put upon. I have worked in many different companies and hear the same complaints wherever I go. What if the way other people are with us is simply a reflection of how we are with ourselves? I’ve certainly found this – when I am feeling great, work is way less stressful.
All of this works both ways as staff can also be aggressive and abusive to their “bosses” and take many advantages. When we take away all these titles it comes back to the responsibility of each person.
It is appalling that the health of an organisation is prioritised over the health of the workers and as such the consequences are dire with regards to our general well being. The benefits of self care are enormous and a much needed support for any worker to cope with the demands of their job.
‘These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes’ Wouldn’t it be great if companies supported their employees to look after themselves, and the workforce felt valued.
This says everything Victoria “With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”
Victoria, this is a great blog to come back to again and again, along with the one you wrote on ‘Women in high profile roles.’
I’ve worked in various work environments, and one thing I’ve noticed consistently is that employees respond more favorably to the leaders who lead with a quality of stillness, and who build relationships with everyone based on the same level of respect and care. These are the leaders who see their coworkers as human beings like them who have real life concerns, rather than just a name, number (like how much it’s costing the company to employ this person), or job title.
Workplaces are crying out for real leaders, real work environments, and this is inspiring for me.
I find it so incredible that we choose to work ourselves into sickness for our workplace and how this has become the norm. The mad hamster wheel that many get on and feel they can’t get off.
Victoria what you have suggested would make a complete turn around for any company; it would bring heart back into a head run world. And love and care into all we do.
People first is the only way – ‘How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.’
Everyday I get reminded of the importance of self-care in the workplace. If we are not using this most basic of tools then we are walking on very unsteady ground.
Beautifully said Elizabeth, I can feel how a basic foundation has never been laid for many of us.
Awesome way to complete this blog – ‘With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.’
I absolutely agree Michael. How many businesses dare to let go of the false models of business driven by profit that may appear to be ‘successful’ but do so at the expense of the very people with in them.
I like that Vicky, ‘dare to let go’. Many are stuck in the head space that letting go of a certain way will only create a crash in ones business. What if letting go created more space for a new way….not many dare to try.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if employee wellbeing was an equal part to the financials in terms of how well a business is doing? But we need to have those conversations on how successful is the business really before we even make that change.
Exactly Jennifer. A business that is ‘successful’ in the usual sense of the word is usually termed this because of the income they generate. Little, if any regard, is for those working in the business and whether they are truly well. Deeper is the illusion for the so called ‘successful’ businesses as the high turnover’s is what blinds them and buries them deeper.
There is so much hidden stress in the workplace that people just take for granted… Millions and millions of people are stressed at work because of the work environment, and most of that environment is communication and interaction, and this is the crunch… We have to be educated to be able to be ourselves wherever we are, so that we can bring the change, because society itself seems unable to reconfigure itself to a more caring and healthy model.
I agree there can be a lot of stress in the work place due to the lack of communication, interaction and understanding. the way I have been able to bring change is by being open, honest and expressing myself, in the process inspiring others to do the same. Most people just want to know how to express and be themselves and I have found this has supported in reducing the stress in the workplace.
By being different to others by being something they have forgotten how to do… be self-caring and nurturing. As you have said Chris by being ourselves wherever we go we will make a difference… no matter how many life times it takes.
Everyone is stressed – so much, that ‘milder’ levels of stress are considered normal. We must never accept that a stressed way of living is normal. Thank you Serge Benhayon for bringing a practical amazing self-care, health-care model that addresses the finer details of stress.
Rereading your sharing Victoria one word stands out for me and that is stillness. When we live stillness it is so powerful and very self-nurturing. As Serge is saying: “Once you know yourself in your living stillness there is nothing in this world that is greater than you.”
Beautiful re-quote alexander1207, we are unshakable when we stand in our stillness.
Self-care in the work place is huge and very important in being able to sustain the stamina required to carry out the daily tasks of a job. However, there is also the phenomena of work place politics that can be very draining, stressful and debilitating for everyone involved, and to deal with this goes beyond self-care because this is about how we communicate with each other. A cohesive unified group of people working together is something that requires everyone to be a part of, no one can be singularly isolated and only looking after themselves, even if they call it self-care, we still would need to be a part of the greater whole.
And to add to that Amita, I do feel so much more appreciation in all the activities I do and in the meeting of people in that when I allow myself to live from my femaleness, that stillness within. Living with this stillness brings that level of joy to my life, a joy that I have never experienced before.
“I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.” I too have started this and it has made so much of a difference in the quality of my communication, the quality of my work and the quality of my health. Working with my femaleness and connecting to the stillness in me has brought a complete change in my life, I no longer feel anxiousness in my body, I am able to deal with difficult situations with a gentle flow, I am able to get stop moments for myself. The power of femaleness is amazing, it is about really trusting that stillness within.
The workplace from what I have experienced has become a place of profit and numbers before it is about people and service – when in truth this is completely opposite to how it could be.
Victoria your simple suggestions- even giving people ‘permission to pee’ is a huge step to change to actually considering how our bodies feel.
I’ve seen staff working with us who hold on and don’t go to the bathroom because they have to finish an email – but this is just neglecting our bodies.
It is so important to have these sorts of real conversations in the office so we can understand we are people before we are workers.
I fully agree that we are people before workers and in fact we are people who love working and we will only be able to do so if we take care for our bodies accordingly.
Yes Nico, we have our own responsibility in this too. It starts with us.
I love that Nico, ‘we are people who love working’. This is so true, when we work in a responsible way with our bodies there is no doubt that we love work. It’s when work is done in disregard it becomes a burden.
It is the disregard we have allowed in our workplaces that makes us having issues with work. When we allow ourselves to see this fact it will give us the opportunity to open up for the choice to heal our wounds from working in these abusive ways and to make loving choices that support the love we all have for working.
So true Nico, we carry this abuse around with us by disregarding our bodies, this then can’t help but filter into all we do.
And…it could be as simple as that. So many worry that they are not in the right industry or they don’t know what they want to do, but if we were taught to love ourselves and humanity, we’d feel the honour in simply serving in any job.
And that is exactly the falseness we live in, that we are fed with the idea that we do not know who we are, that we do not know that we are divine beings and here on earth to restore brotherhood for humanity in our way of return to live in accordance to the divine beings that we are. If we would be aware of this fact then as you say Elodie, any job we would do and would be honoured because it is a way to serve our brothers and sisters and in that to assist in all the work that has to be done to restore the divine balance on earth that we through our wayward way of living so heavily have disturbed.
‘The workplace from what I have experienced has become a place of profit and numbers before it is about people and service…’ this is very true – even in health and social care the driving forces on a company level are business and profit. Offering a quality service is considered only as this is the way to achieve the profit. If its true service were the intent then the ways in which companies and originations treated their staff would be drastically different to the way they do now.
What you have written here Victoria makes absolute sense! It only stands to reason that someone that is healthier, happier, less exhausted and not ill is going to be far more productive. Why can’t we see this very obvious fact?
Hear, hear Victoria! Definitely the sort of workplace that I feel we should all be working to create and you have reminded me to not become complacent in terms of my own efforts for self care, including while at work.
What is the quality of the work produced when people in the workplace are exhausted and sad? Profits before people seems to be the name of the game in many of today’s organisations.
Jill this is a very important question you ask on the quality of the work produced, this can be said in any industry. But often it is about getting something completed rather than how we have been in completing the something.
In some organizations staff know that if they fall and can’t ‘cope’ under the pressure that everything will keep moving on with someone new, as if it was a little speed bump. The quality of their work is then not the priority but keeping their job by pushing themselves is. We should be stopping and saying ‘What is going on?’ and ‘something needs to change’.
It is becoming more and more apparent to the corporate world that the major resource of every company ts people and their well being , needs to be an absolute priority for the financial well being of the company
The world has come a long way from when Henry Ford built the first assembly line to today’s sweat shops producing clothes. It has always been about profit. I knew a military officer and he told me in officer training it was drilled into them that people under them were ‘Tools’ to be used. We are not machines. As you have said Chris, the corporate world is finally waking up to the real asset the people are.
This is so true – ‘We are not machines’. We are divine beings who know love and when we are treated with respect and care we easily deliver what is there to be delivered.
Very true cjames2012, people are so more productive when cared for and valued.
Yes Joe and also when they care for and value themselves.
Very true. I work in a government area and there is the thought or idea that employees are seen as an expense (for that is often the most expensive part of a business) rather than an investment. As an investment is works both ways. Each employee is of value to the business and the business is of value to the employee. When the level of care is equal and given the opportunity to deepen, the relationships nourish the business and everyone benefits.
Well said Jennifer, and every one benefits from the quality of the work performed. I’ve had people laugh or their jaws drop when I say how much I love to work. It is sadly a really foreign concept to many that we can enjoy ourselves and each other as we work.
I love how you point out that employees can be seen as an investment, not an expense, and that it works both ways. When people have a sense of equality and pulling together towards a common purpose much gets done without resistance or dynamics and people can enjoy their work even though they may put in long hours because they feel appreciated. Appreciation is as important as pay.
Totally agree cjames2012. There is plenty of research available that supports what you are saying. It’s a real dilemma that at present the world has shifted to a very financially driven basis for running a business/organisation and there is complete disregard for the staff and even clients/customers that are collateral damage along the way. It doesn’t make sense but nonetheless this perception still dominates. Of course it’s a two way street and each individual is not completely powerless as Victoria has pointed out. The more we stand up and act in self caring ways, the sooner the current regime will crumble.
If we need to work when we are very ill, something is not right.
Yes Christoph the so called “soldiering on,” concept does’t help anyone and leaves me asking. Where is the love? People are there to support each other to get great work done if everyone is working at half steam then what true quality is the work being done in?
Victoria, you point out how ‘the health of the organisation takes precedence over that of the humans who work there’. But can this organization be truly healthy if the staff are sick, struggling, depressed or under too much pressure? Surely this would eventually affect the overall business?
Yes I agree Sandra and for me it is affecting the overall business already and we all feel and see it but most of us choose to close our eyes and hearts to not see and feel the misery we are already living in. That is easier than taking the responsibility for what is really going on.
I do recognise that too Esther and Sandra, our businesses are not healthy because the people that are working in them are not healthy and for me that is partly because our businesses do not recognise their responsibility for the wellbeing of their staff. What I see is that the businesses try to survive by looking for (forever new) solutions to improve the efficiency and profit margins without ever considering the wellbeing of their employees in the first place. In general the solutions that are implemented are ignoring the wellbeing of the personnel and at most times even are turned on the backs of them by either firing a number of them or by increasing the workload or both even.
I love it Nico how you exactly describe what is going on in our business world. For me it is a bit weird because I have the feeling everyone knows what is going on and we all know how it will end – but hardly any one takes the responsibility to change this very important part of business – that it is not about profit and margins but about being integer in all areas of our lives.
Thank you esteraltmiks, and most people do feel there is something not working but are looking in the wrong direction for the answers. Most of them do end up with finding solutions that will look like they are innovative and completely revolutionary, but in fact are a repetition of the same, a merry go round we have to become aware of and to step out of. It’s not about finding solutions, it is much simpler, we have to connect to our innermost first and make it all about people first. When we dare to go that direction, we will be amazed with what will be possible in the businesses we are in.
That is so true from my experience. From the conversations I have at work, I realise this daily. No body wants to be responsible so it ends up being a discussion around how management control everything and there is nothing we can do. But it’s not entirely true. Management do not control how we care for ourselves, and I imagine there would be enormous differences in attitudes towards work if we all paid a little more attention to ourselves.
That is so true what you have shared Elodie –
That is so true what you have shared Elodie: “Management do not control how we care for ourselves, and I imagine there would be enormous differences in attitudes towards work if we all paid a little more attention to ourselves.” And exactly that is what I love that no one can control how much I care for myself and with this self care I am out of this game of self abuse and that others can abuse me.
A well-written blog Victoria, which draws some important considerations to mind. It’s great to remember that this ‘faceless’ group of people called ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’ actually are real people; someone’s brother, sister, mother, or father and not just a number there to be milked for the sake of the organization.
We are all people – employers, employees and customers.
Interesting points you raise here Victoria. This line stood out for me today – “In these environments, clients are king and occupy top spot in the care and consideration food chain”. So often you see that – I will just finish this for the client and then I will go home/eat/go to the toilet etc…. That old adage is that the customer should come first is not entirely true but we live that way. There is such ideals around that adage – but if I don’t do it now, I will lose/upset them etc… So we forgo our own immediate needs to fulfill another because we feel there is no time. And that is one of the reasons there is so much stress and exhaustion in the workplace. Time is a big one for us but there is another possibility – to explore our relationship with time. If you are interested check out UniMed Living – http://www.unimedliving.com/publishing/unimed-publishing-books/time-space-and-all-of-us/time-space-and-all-of-us-book1-time.html.
Sarah, “That old adage [is] that the customer should come first” is really putting ourselves first, because we are invested in keeping the customer by producing what we think they need. If we see all of us as people and bring the care we have for ourselves to the work the customer will feel the quality of what we are supplying.
This highlights such an important aspect of our society. Businesses are responsible for so much that happens that if they are not run with integrity, with work forces who are self-loving then the knock on affect to everyone else is huge.
I can’t agree more Michael. Integrity shouldn’t be a big word, yet the fact that it’s missing from an enormous proportion of businesses really says a lot about where we are at as a society and what we’re willing to accept.
Yes unfortunately that is very much the case – businesses only reflect the way in which we are living and what we deem acceptable as you say – the change must always start from ourselves on a personal level first.
This now common call of ‘ I’m stressed out’ is a signal of the lack of self care and an inability to see and understand the connection to the life being experienced. I have had to learn to self care first before I take on a task as I now value myself and the support my body then reflects. Without this our whole being is at the mercy of the outer influences that bombard our every move. This understanding of being as you say Victoria ” in the power of my femaleness” is the foundation that supports me even in the busiest times without any stress. It has made an incredible difference to every aspect of my life and the true connection I have with other people.
You mention “true connection”, merrileepettinnato. The foundation to actually enjoy connection to people comes, when we have taken care for ourselves, when we have spent time to feel and take care for the body, when we have spent a moment just on our own. This is my marker, whenever I don’t look forward to be around people I choose at least one of the above and the natural joy of true connection is felt again.
Beautifully said Felixschumacher8, the depth of love and connection we have with ourselves and live reflects in the day we have.
Great point Felix, if we are not connecting to others it’s very likely a reflection that we have first disconnected from ourselves.
What you are sharing with us is so true. I also observe daily, that a lot of my colleagues are unhappy, frustrated and exhausted. Some of them have even given up on themselves and on life – no commitment any more. As you say, self-care is not only for private life, it is equally important to live self-care at the work place. Thank you for addressing such an important topic.
Self-care is so important in the workplace and if one person looks after themselves it inspires others to do so for they then see they have a choice not to push themselves. I’ve seen it happen in a big legal office where secretaries were doing overtime without pay but once one stood up and called it the others started to see that they were being used and they realised that they could say No or ask to be paid. It has a ripple effect and we are all responsible for what happens in our workplace.
Sandra I agree it only takes one person to stand up to truth and then this inspires many others to do the same.
As an employer I have also been on the receiving end of staff who abuse by not being present in their work. Many small business owners work incredibly hard day and night just to be able to pay their staff – often not being able to pay themselves. Responsibility for how we conduct ourselves works both ways and we all need to work together in a unified way. Whilst we may have different roles as humans we are all equal.
Alexander, I saw so clearly why retirement can be so coveted. People endure their work life and spend much of it unhappy, frustrated and exhausted and hang on by a thread in order to retire and finally do what they want to do. And if/when something interrupts that retirement, then people can be so disheartened or angry because they have waited so long for this time. To put themselves first.
Great point Sarah. It’s amazing how attracted we are to that dangling carrot. Always enduring what we have to so that we can feel like we deserve the pot at the end of the rainbow down the track. The idea we need to struggle through life until the end is a very very old school way of thinking that many of us have still chosen to adopt. Myself included.
But, as time rolls on and I begin to appreciate that I contribute to that struggle 100%, then I realise I have the power to make a difference with how I live my days.
Your entire first paragraph sounds like it is describing my place of employment. I work in the health care industry and one would think people come first but sadly like all ‘industries’ it too is driven by budgets and targets. Self care in the workplace is a great place to start to share with others an awareness of self responsibility in life.
Changing the way we work I feel is going to take a long time. Working in the corporate world, so much focus is still on the financials first, with very little consideration for the people. In my job, I aim to bring what I can, awareness, structure, planning, ‘how is the organisation going to deal with project x or project y? Are the people going to have the capacity to deal with the change being presented?’ It is at times a challenge to bring awareness to make it about people, mostly leaders are running so fast they can’t or don’t have the capacity to thing about such things. There is a long way to go.
The work place would indeed be a totally difference experience if people were put first before profits and were encouraged to honour themselves, not only by their managers but by the top management. But what you have described here are the simple little ways in which people can start to honour themselves and make changes which will pay off in the long run.
This is great Victoria and something to be widely discussed as many workplaces today focus on figures not people. I loved this “womanly work body.”
When we are living from our own stillness and listening to our bodies continually giving us feedback that reflection can then be inspiring for many. This is where true lived change can be made.
This is a true way of moving forward and a true way of being within an organisation. It is a great thing that you have shared with us here Victoria and I feel how much change can come of an organisation where these measures are taken. I especially love your ability to build your ‘femaleness’ or your ‘female body at work’. Beautifully shared.
I’m not sure that ‘self care in the workplace’ is a concept most employers have ever heard of and so developing this for our self and being an example for others is a great way to start to bring into the conscious minds of the employer. It may just catch on, especially when they see the staff actually take less sick leave when they are able to self care.
What I really connected to in your blog is how simple it is to honour yourself at work i.e. go to the toilet when you need to, take your lunch break, saying No when needed etc. We tend to think these things don’t matter, but matter they do. It is the accumulation of honouring ourself in the many little things throughout the day, that creates a foundation and supports us to honour ourselves with the big stuff when it comes along.
The honouring of our femaleness and our bodies is the very key to greater productivity so it is a wonder why companies are not all over this and taking full advantage of incorporating this into there work environments.
I never tire of this blog and agree Melinda with your comment that “we have forgotten the true value and preciousness of people” It is easy to blame the company, system or anyone else who is part of the work force but by starting with ourselves and beginning to connect with our own true value and preciousness we begin to see this reflected in those around us. The ripple effect is very powerful.
Beautiful to return to this blog and appreciate the message here more deeply. In workplaces, and perhaps in life in general, we have forgotten the true value and preciousness of people. Labelling people as staff or human resources is perhaps the first step to dehumanising them. The decency of basic care and respect, as well as connection, surely should be relevant in workplaces just as it is in life. We know these things are essential in life so I’m not sure why we turn them off so readily in work environments. It’s great common sense what you have shared here.
“I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks” – its exquisite the way you present the power of femaleness Victoria. Imagine the work flow and flow of finances that would be possible for the world when we choose to work and live in this way.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace” – this is so very true. It is amazing what little self care is in the workplace. I work as a consultant so I go into different organisations and see how many people operate in the daily lives. They typically are drinking caffeine from the moment they walk in, sometimes needing 2 or 3 throughout the day, then sugar, sugar, sugar most of the afternoon, then there is how people speak to each other, the dynamics and politics that goes on at all levels within the organisation. It is quite incredible really. So this one sentence stood out for me, so simple, yet it is not yet happening in a lot of workplaces.
I like how you say Victoria – “..to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work. ” I’m sure too that developing self-care at work genuinely does support the purpose and profit of the organisation.
It is never to late to start this kind of self-care at work. And it is never to early to start to teach our youngsters to self-care. Otherwise we are bringing up a generation which is exhausted and ill before they have even started to work. Actually all indicates that it will be like this if we don’t stop and turnover.
Sonja I love what you shared – it is true we have to start right now with this kind of self-care so that we can be a different kind of role model not only for our kids but for all people around us because the illness rate e.g. for burn-out is ever increasing and costs our health-care-system a lot of money – so yes Sonja it is never to late too start . . .
I loved your slogan’s ‘people before profit’ and ‘people before purpose’, what a huge change that would make alone in the workplace, where all the focus is on the work and project at hand. This work is ironically done by people and yet all to often the people are burnt out and exhausted. Great blog Victoria.
Great article Victoria. I’d like to read this every day before work as a reminder that there is in fact another way. At the moment I feel like one of the statistics you mention, and I’d very much prefer not to be.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity”. After I read this I stopped and allowed myself to get a clear sense of exactly how this would feel, and it felt absolutely amazing, but at the same time so very possible. To work in such an environment would be so supportive of the people who work there and all who they have contact with during each working day. And I am sure that the health and well being of all would be very unlike that of the businesses that you have had dealings with Victoria.
Great sharing Victoria, if businesses put a fraction of time into self-care for staff it would make a huge difference, and if staff took self-care to the work place, the change would be immense, and maybe then businesses would see that investment into self-care for staff actually has its own profit margin. Joyful people producing greater quality of work.
It’s great to come back to this blog today Victoria. I feel that recently I have allowed myself to be ‘tossed around like tumbleweed’, and it’s a good reminder to reconnect to the stillness and take it with me into my day, and choose it over and over again.
Self care is the way of the future. The more I honour this for myself and see and feel the changes it has made and makes within me, and therefore with everything and everyone else, is really truly beautiful. I didn’t know I could live with such love and have such an incredible relationship with myself. I am my best friend and parent all at once.
Yes Matthew Brown, who would have thought that choosing more self responsibility could bring so much love and true living into our lives?
‘Self care is the way of the future’. I believe you are right. Like Victoria said if we go on like this there might be no one left.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self … ” oooh yes wouldn’t this be loverly, to be surrounded by colleagues who have an innate respect for themselves and thus for everyone else, with the resulting support and flow of work being harmonious, clear and a quiet joy. Thank you for the inspiration, Victoria, to be doing my best – or should I say, “being” my best – at providing an opportunity for others to see and feel a different way to be at work.
The concept of people before profit has been around for such a long time and yet we still see this driving force propelling industry around the world… there really does need to be a fundamental shift in humanity’s relationship to itself so that this awful embedded dysfunction is able to be really exposed and let go of.
The new place I have just started working for 10 months ago, had 8 people working in office, there is now 2 of the original, 2 that are retiring the end of the year and me. We have a temporary boss and a new head of finance. The two that are retiring and working part time till they leave, that makes the office quite quiet on most Fridays in the office. In the past I would have found this current situation stressful. By being myself as much as I can everything just flows. I have found this quality is infectious for the people I work with and the ones that work for me.
“people before profit” I too hope to see the day when this is a reality. Because this does not happen, I see in my line of work huge projects that do not deliver, they are over budget and never usually completed with many people feeling joyful and truly benefiting from the experience. Quite the opposite. Profit or usually ego wins out over managing people in the project and also those who are usually accepting the change. This is common place in today’s corporate world.
The term ‘people first’ is often used in business PR. But do we understand what it truly means and how to take this into our workplace and our every day life? The level of exhaustion in the business world today indicates that we don’t. So it is great that we look at this important topic.
It is all about people, always. We work and live in a way that has no respect for the body and we think we can get away with all of our choices. But we cannot. Our body is something to cherish, to take care of and to deeply honour.
I agree with all you say here Victoria. The term ‘Human Resources’ rather says it all; using people for the profit or purpose of the business. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine clearly show that it is possible to run an extremely successful business while making the people who work in the business equally important as those who use the services of the business.
Indeed Victoria the level of exhaustion in the workplace is huge the level of exhaustion in the community is huge in general. As students of Universal Medicine we have a responsibility to share what we know with our colleagues not by preaching but by what we emanate, this way they soon start asking questions. It is up to them what they do with what we share. We are all returning to Love but our journeys are individual as are our choices. I guess you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.
It is actually my personal experience that the results are actually better when self-care and self honouring are foundations where is to be worked from. But as there is so much fear for losing positions, we’ll see often managers following their managers, etc. And as the working class don’t express (but do complain), nothing Truly changes. It is a vicious circle. The change has to come from individuals who are chosing their hearts and theirselves rather than being afraid of whatever the consequences are. That’s asking for a strong inner-trust. There’s so much suffering. So much individuality. It is really sad. And in this blog is not even talked about the consequences this has on the family life / private life. Imagine for a second the difference it would bring if people coming home from work vital and inspired or down and overwhelmed. Do we actually take into account that the 2nd one isn’t Truly normal. That is grown like that, because we’ve allowed it by being silent. We’re worth so much more. Do you agree?
Hi Victoria. I really appreciate your blog. I work with a large Company and feel the push every day, particularly in my colleagues to get more done. Their work loads are heavy and the pressure they feel to meet deadlines is constant. I am choosing to stay focused on my workload, to be loving towards myself and to not succumb to unrealistic pressure. My self care around food, sleep, movement and taking time to connect are solid. Sometimes I wonder if there is more I can do to support my colleagues. I realise now that by being clear and solid in my livingness and challenging the unrealistic demands whilst offering a reflection where awareness of our own personal choices are identified – my presence is all that is needed. Thanks again.
Yes I do believe we can change the way we are at work. But only through taking responsibility for ourselves. We tend to want to outsource that responsibility to anyone and anything around us. We expect work to take care of us, our partners, the government, our friends, children. It comes back to ‘us’, building a body that we want to connect to, feel. We put so much into our bodies that we don’t want to connect with it, distract it with upteen million things so as not to connect with ourselves. We will only change then how we work, when we have deeper relationships with ourselves, because that then changes how we are with all others, including those we work with.
So true raegankcairney – first we have to deepen our relationship to ourselves, before we can deepen the relationship with others. It only works this way. Once we do this, the expectations towards other people fall away, which gives so much space for us and all people around us.
The irony here is that businesses, both those seeking to make a profit as well as the not for profits, make the work day about outcomes first and the people working to achieve those outcomes last. However, when you make a business about people, both for the people receiving the goods or services and the development of the employees the productivity tends to take care of itself. Under THIS model, the employees will generally work harder and take greater responsibility for their work and the customers return because they have been offered something that will truly grow and support them.
An invaluable point you raise Victoria, its as if we have made our work more important than the vehicle performing it. Taking to our workplace, or anywhere we go for that matter, a body that is honoured and cared for, the service it relentlessly provides comes with the same quality it is held in – the choice of what that is to be is clear for me.
I really do love this blog Victoria, we spend so much of our lives at work so why not make them places where people aren’t killing themselves and needing to completely check out with all number of things after work. If everyone was healthier and happier in their job, the world would be such a better place.
A lovely and honest view on the profit orientated business world. I had just heard about a big German company looking at the health of their employees. A doctor was constantly there for them, they had a very healthy based catering and a kindergarten for the kids, so mum’s could still work without any stress of how to handle the kids. But when I still felt like a base of making them “good workers” to bring the company on. I love your aspect of love in looking at things. ” With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” A phrase to send to the big bosses!
Yes christinaheckec I agree such a phrase has to be sent to the big bosses – How powerful would it be if they would live this loving-people-first approach at work!
So true christinaheckec, the world is asking for it.
In the last forty years I have worked for two different country’s governments 20 years each. It is true that if the government were a business it would have gone broke years ago. I have also found that working for the government is like being a dud nuclear weapon; you don’t work, you can’t be fired and they can’t get rid of you. Alcohol and drugs to start with… medical drugs and cancer to end with, is what I have seen as the pattern I witnessed. I find it ironic that the governments are about the people by the people… but are some times at the cost of those same people. One day as we slowly start to bring ‘people the purpose’, then governments will change and it will all grow.
Like what you have written here sjmatsonuk.
Working in health, which is obviously all about people and their health, it is disturbing to read the statistics on the health of staff in this industry. As many illnesses and diseases are lifestyle related to work in an environment where staff take time to truly care for themselves at home and at work,”…who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt…” would certainly be very supportive and inspiring for all the patients they come in contact with… maybe this is key to turning around our overwhelmed healthcare system?
Yes you may well be spot on there Paula, if our care-givers are vital, joyful and living as an example of what is possible, then this can only inspire the multitude of patients they come across to begin doing the same. Without this shift, nothing will change.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” It’s ironic that all businesses are about people – whether they be staff, customers, consultants, consumers, even an online business is selling to people…so to have a foundation of ‘loving, people-first approach’ is a no-brainer…yet the majority of businesses focus on the money – it doesn’t make sense. Whereas Universal Medicine is all about the love, care and respect of people – no surprise they have won the People’s Choice Lismore Business Excellence award two years in a row…now there’s an inspiring business.
We can change whole nations and the world simply by making a difference in the way we work, as you describe so well above, Victoria. We can make that change even as self-employed working people. Let’s not underestimate our power!
I have noticed my eye can get sore from working at my computer all day. I went to the optometrist to get them checked and although their ability to focus is a little weak I was advised to close my eyes for 10 to 20 seconds every half an hour. To give my eyes a moment to relax. After applying this for a week (probably only 3 or 4 times a day) my eyes are no longer getting sore. On top of this I have come to really enjoy those 10 seconds of me time throughout my day it has definitely been a loving gesture bought to my workplace.
Beautiful Abby thank you, such a simple gesture that takes no time at all.
An elegantly simple example of caring for oneself at work. It need not be hard or a chore, simply a lovely moment of connecting to and being with yourself.
Great Abby, I think one of the reasons people don’t self-care is because they are on a momentum to get things done and do not want to take time to put something in place. But you show that it can just be a very simple thing that takes very little time and it made a difference to your eyes and no doubt to your output. Could it be then that in the long run we save time by making time to self-care?
Great point, Victoria! I often find websites, where companies advertise with the slogan ‘we care about people’. Whenever I did a research then, I found that their approach left out the own staff, which exposes the lie. Serge Benhayon was the first exception from this pattern. I witnessed that he takes care of the staff no different to the clients.
“Takes care of the stuff no different to the clients” how lovely.
Hi felixschumacher8 I love what your share in your command because at my former workplace they said “they care about people” – we were having fun and were joking about this slogan because we knew that it was not true because we had to work there. It is awful if people are just using words without living it – in truth it is very harmful as my own experience was therefore I love what you shared about Serge Benhayon who takes care of the staff no different to the clients – that is very much needed!
Yes I agree esteraltmiks, it is very demoralising when an organisation says one thing but does another, particularly when what they say is so clearly intended to make them look like they care about their people. This contributes to the many who have given up on there being any true, unselfish and non-self-centred care in the world. In other words, they have given up on true love.
Victoria, your blog has highlighted the baseless foundations that many, if not all, work environments are built on. If we could educate both the Business Owners and the workers on just how important Self-Care is to establishing a strong foundation – then we would see such a reduction in work related stress and illnesses. Probably the spinoff would be even far wider! When people are exposed, and educated, to just how simple self-care strategies can have profound effects on their daily lives, whether at work or at home then not only will their working lives improve but also their way of being outside the workplace will develop to new levels of health and well-being.
I’ve found that whenever self-care at work is mentioned in any meaningful way, people know instinctively that this is the only really sustainable way to be and yet it can still be so hard to make a real and consistent part of the day. Just feeling what would be great would be to start bit by bit with a program that builds over a few weeks – so week 1 is ‘Go to the toilet as soon as you need to’ Week. Week 2 is ‘Stop and drink some water when you are thirsty’ week. Week 3, ‘Stop and have a proper break’ week…..etc. As these foundational steps build, each one supports the next to be introduced and become a consistent part of the day. Gradually our workplaces would then change to a ‘people before profits/purpose’ naturally and without resistance. I shall certainly be starting this program for myself and will offer it to my team as well!
How beautiful. I will develop and do this for myself as well, thank you.
Victoria, it must be a real eye opener to see people so ill and run down in a work place. It’s sad that this so common and normal in our society. Your suggestion would make a profound difference. A workplace founded on true care, love and self-appreciation.
A very pertinent and powerful piece Victoria. Your remark “the health of the organisation takes precedent over that of the humans who work there.” really struck me as it is so true and yet is so fundamental to the way most organisations run, across the board. What you have offered by way of answer to this is superb and as you so aptly say… “With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”. So true!
It is so true what you and Victoria express here Jenny about the health of the organisation taking precedence over that of the humans who work there. And yet, this seems counter intuitive as the humans are the nuts and bolts, the cogs and gears that keep the machine running. The better the working parts (aka the humans) are maintained, the better the machine will run. I look at businesses where staff occupy the bottom tier of the totem pole and think surely business consultants, HR experts and management teams have thought of this as it seems so simple. However, caring for the humans can’t be left to the management teams and decision makers alone. The humans need to be prepared to care for themselves as well and meet the decision makers half way.
Yes Kate, a good point, it works both way and in one sense often has to begin with the worker. If you are not prepared to look after yourself, then another will not likely do so for you. AND, even if they did, it would not likely be accepted or appreciated. Self worth is most definitely at play and begins with your own.
A great quote indeed. Add to that how we give focus to looking after the health of the environment, our plants, our children, our car, our country, but the same consideration is not given to our own health. And people may say it is narcissistic to put such a focus on oneself, but the truth is that self care is actually beneficial for the whole community, for it means less pressure on our medical system, and means that as an individual we are stronger, more vital, and thus can contribute more to the whole.
Absolutely Adam… having been in the health-care industry for decades now, it never ceases to amaze me the reluctance to spend time, energy and money on addressing the result of many years of ill-living. Most are looking for a magic pill that takes it all away. Self-care as we’re talking about is about responsibility… to everyone, because as you say, the impact of not, is not just on us, but our families, friends and the entire health-care system.
Yes, we are like the owner of a car that has driven it their whole life with not a single oil change, and then demands that the mechanic fix it when it is broken – and wonders at the same time why it cost so much to repair.
I agree Jenny – with this approach, when people come first, the people will be happy and joyful. And when people are joyful, the rest will take care of itself.
Yes Alex agreed, and when people are truly joyful… it is infectious, rich and transformative for everyone around… this is when miracles happen!
You raise some interesting observations Victoria.
Valuing colleagues and employees and seeing them first as people rather than a statistic or a worker has the potential to transform any workplace.
To see the value in others and to bring decency and true humanity to another we must firstly seek to know, to care for and to deeply honour ourselves.
I love this Victoria ‘people before purpose’… What a purpose that would actually be, to invest in the quality of people first – therefore guaranteeing the output!
It seems incredibly backwards to me to invest everything in the output, and nothing in the input (people). This does not work, and the farming world know this – for example, chickens would not respond to this type of work situation!!! You cannot expect healthy, vital, bright eggs if the chickens are not well looked after, healthy and content.
People before purpose is our responsibility to bring true wellbeing to work and all we do. Healthy people = a healthy business.
Great point Kylie, and the repercussions of bringing true well-being to the workplace and all we do are so widespread – healthy people = health business, healthy relationships, healthy families, and the list goes on.
Great blog Victoria – I haven’t seen any workplaces that don’t have profit as their first consideration. People starting to self-care and bring that into their workplaces will start the change that is so needed.
Super blog Victoria, Indeed most workplaces that I know of and see are crying out for this. The level of exhaustion is through the roof. Expectations are high and the push lifestyle has become the norm. Thank you for sharing this Victoria and showing that there is another way.
Yes this is sadly true and doesn’t feel right anymore. We need change.
I feel the potential in working in a way that is much more respectful of the relationships we have with ourselves, our colleagues and our clients. This can not be forced (not that you have suggested it being forced) as it involves every single person in an organisation being prepared to commit ongoingly to their chosen professions and all their relationships. It is really would be quite simple. It is also infectious to work with someone who genuinely enjoys what they do and it has been people like this that inspire me to commit more to my job. I have deepened my commitment many times and that it is now my go to response when I have an issue with work. As an example – It has been busy of late and I have been getting concerned with keeping up with my KPI’s – my solution has been to extend my working hours so I can do the quality of work I feel people deserve whilst not putting myself under the pressure to reach my KPI’s in a certain time frame.
What I get from your writing is that; we are capable to hold and take care of ourselves in a loving way, once we choose and have the tools to re-connect to ourselves. Then this also a revelation to us that we as a whole humanity (society) are capable of living like this together, once we have it first chosen ourselves. In our own pace, but it is very possible. To me that is an enormous trust.
Thank you Victoria, putting people first changes everything, and I believe if you allow them more freedom they pay back several times over. In a previous job I had, there was an evening rota to fill, rather than allocating the evenings out I asked if they would like to sort it out between them, they selected their times and dates with no great fuss, they enjoyed the freedom and helped one another out.
Had I read your blog ten years ago I would have thought – “that’s nice but it’s just wishful thinking” however after adopting self care and connecting more and more to my own stillness as a woman I can see in myself the transformation in my attitudes and behaviours in all aspects of my life including work. If I can do this anyone can – so the call to care and connect at work is a responsibility worth responding to – because we can all live the change we want to see.
I agree Gemmarubina, as I was reading the blog I was thinking what would my work colleagues make of this, how would they respond, would they see it as ‘that’s nice but it’s all just wishful thinking’, as you say. Probably yes at this moment in time, but I know that it is possible to work like this (not totally there yet myself) as I also have seen such a change in myself and know of others who are working more responsibly.
Its amazing how a little self care can make a huge difference to your day and how you work. If I find that I am going into a rush and not fully present with my body, taking a moment to stop and breathe, confirms me as not that rush or push, then I just have to breathe and feel me, and there is that loveliness of me again.
The simplest of choices made consistently so, can bring the greatest change.
I love how you have teased out what is not working in the present day work environment and how it affects every single one of us; and seeing how much time we all spend at work, it doesn’t make any sense at all.
Hello Victoria, I feel there is more to add about the ‘people before purpose’ reference. Whilst I agree in the context of the purpose being outcomes driven work cultures, that people must be treated fairly and not used as grist for the mill so to speak, is it possible that if the purpose were to offer a quality service based on meeting others in the same quality as we regarded ourselves, then purpose could come first and the delineation would not need to be made – they become almost synonymous? Does the divide exist between purpose and people or profit and people precisely because of the emphasis placed on achievement and accumulation of wealth instead of connection with our purpose – to grow our harmony and wellbeing and include all in this endeavour?
Brilliant Victoria that you raise this situation. Many of my work colleagues are experimenting with stand-up desks and other tools to deal with the difficulty they feel. But what I am discovering for myself is that my energy levels relate to how present and gentle I have been throughout the day. So I love that you present here that perhaps our work place experiences are simply showing that there is so much more we can offer ourselves in the way of a consistent and continuous self-care.
Work is usually an unhappy place to be. It is a bit like a parking spot where you bring yourself for a specific amount of hours a day, do whatever is required of you and go home. It is a space where you go, dump your stuff, play games, etc. but not a space that we feel responsible for its quality, a space that we hold lovingly, a space that is also ours. Both options require a 24 hours commitment to be and feel trashy or to be and feel lovely. It is a matter of choosing.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others…”-
How beautiful would that be – to be met by staff who are joyful, playful, and full of vitality – without needing copious of amounts of caffeine and sugar to get them through the day. Staff’s morale would increase leading to less absenteeism, and increased productivity. Definitely worth doing.
I love this Victoria. ” I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.” This is a beautiful foundation for not only life but for every workplace on earth. How wonderful would the working environment feel embraced by everyone’s own loveliness. Thank you.
I really want to work in that workplace!! I’m currently in a contract position whereby it’s all about pleasing the client and never alluding to the fact that we may be a bit too busy to take on any more work. The knock on effect on the team is huge and always results in the morale being very off, and unnecessary overtime. It’s such an accepted way of working, a culture whereby you are expected to ‘suck it up’. I don’t believe this is conducive to quality work.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves” – Absolutely.
So many companies now are wanting to be seen as ethical and often have a page on their website about how they are giving back to the world through projects and supporting a good cause etc. while more and more companies are being exposed as exploiters. If the intention of ‘wanting to give back to the world’ is genuine, why not start from their closest proximity – their staff members? Happy staff – happy company – happy customers.
It is interesting the two sayings – profits before people or purpose before people. Having worked in both areas both carry the same energy and outcomes for their staff. In my current experience of a large company, it is profits first. I constantly observe people coming and going. Whether this is about keeping ahead of the demons of recognition, achievement or burnout, the massages are the same – Human resources are expendable. We can show a different way of working in the workplace as you have suggested Victoria – we can bring in the ‘stillness’, love and valuing of self first. I am sure too, the profits will then be reflected in the workplace, they will surely take care of themselves.
Yes, I agree with you Nicole, self-care is so important and can make a dramatic impact. As Victoria says we do not have to wait until everything has changed, we can start here and now.
I work in a digital agency Victoria and am now imagining what it would be like if all my colleagues and I were to work with the ‘self-agency’ you describe. I feel it would be beautiful, living with this quality of care for ourselves and other people is something we ALL would profit from.
Yes, it is possible to change step by step. What is important is to not give up and to give in to the system as we are the system and were part of creating it, so we can actually undo it or change it, simply by living that which we know is true, building consistency that there is another way of living a life of joy and care, because if we don’t do it, who will. And as you say Victoria wherever we are and whatever we do we are always sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, friends, simple people that deserve to be connected to, honoured, appreciated and have fun with.
What a powerful blog Victoria – and endemic throughout the western world where employees are seen for function and output and not as people first (husbands, wives, brothers, sisters as you say). The key for me in this is at the core of your message – not to react to this situation and allow our jobs to make us feel less or our work inadequate as is implied by the workplace/systems we work in – but to appreciate our value and what we bring. And to achieve this, as you say – self-care and connect to our innate stillness. I can feel the steady ship sailing along under its own stream rather than enjoining others in the titanic in their trouble waters – inspiring others another way to be. Self-responsibility in this. Thank you.
I see a lot of what I would call ‘false economy’ in workplaces, where people push to get work done to meet a deadline at the expense of their bodies – working long hours, not taking breaks, getting stressed and then reaching for junk food to keep them going. They may get the job done, but what often happens is people crash. They get sick, take time off or they are at work but feel burnt out and run down and productivity is low. If you measured productivity over time, I feel sure you’d see greater productivity when people take the time to care for themselves in and out of work in a way that supports them, and that this is encouraged and valued by the employer.
I worked in a workplace that did not value self care. If anyone took a day off because they were genuinely sick, when they came back to work, in better health, much more vital and contributing more significantly to the workload, they were ostracised for letting the team down! It was not until the end of my time at work that our Union began a campaign encouraging sick people to stay at home when they were sick, saying that this meant more efficiency because the illness was not being spread around the workplace. I saw this attitude filter through into Human Resources who took the same standpoint. It was a change in attitude towards supporting people but it was always couched in terms of better efficiency!
That’s a powerful illustration Gwen of how most organisations operate. The sooner we get to a true ‘people before profit or purpose’ understanding – those people being the staff rather than the clients – the more our workplaces will care for the well-being of their people from a place of true support rather than mere functionality.
I do agree with that Sandra, I too feel that in the long term it would improve, productivity, if people take proper care for themselves compared to pushing the borders in order to get the job done. The last will only show us the short term response, having the job done, but do we ever consider the impact this way of working has on our bodies on the long term? Taking care for oneself first will not only improve the efficiency in the long term but will also improve our overall wellbeing and thus in how we are in our lives and at work.
So true Jane. By investing in ourselves which may take up time, we feed ourselves back in a way that we are then able to be more productive by maintaining a consistent and steady pace throughout the day.
Thank you Victoria. Whatever can be done to empower people in the work place is needed now, as you say. It will be a while before , as you say, they run out of people, but in the meantime it will be possible to empower as many people as possible to connect with themselves enough, that they will value themselves enough to start truly caring for themselves.
I can imagine how beautiful it would be to work in a workplace that considered all of these self nurturing ways and considered their staff as more important than the profit made through them. I can remember a man who took over as the Manager of a small department store in a small town I lived in. His way of looking at improving profit (which was the problem) was to each week write in the local paper a little cameo of one of his employees. I really enjoyed reading these articles and each person that worked in that business in whatever capacity from cleaner to the accountant was valued for who they were, not just what they did. Needless to say the business went from strength to strength. Thank you for reminding me of this beautiful man, Victoria.
Roslyn its great what you share here and in the fact that people are what are most important, with everyone working together as a team, taking care of themselves, we end up having a business that is truly successful. I’ve always had a slight reservation that will people actually work if this is the focus but what I am starting to understand is that it is up to the commitment of each person to work together in a team. If one person does not then they will be supported and if they don’t want to change then they actually put more stress on other people and perhaps it’s not the job for them.
It is interesting to consider that we need to be reminded to take care of ourselves or self-care. We cannot work with a level of responsibility, consistency and solid output without it, yet self-care is often pushed aside and ignored because of the belief ‘there is not enough time’. The body, however, will bring us to a grinding halt with an illness or disease if pushed and abused, and suddenly we have to make the time. It seems like it would be much smarter of us to begin to self-care before we are brought to our knees and clearly shown change is needed.
I totally agree, Victoria. If a business’ priority is ‘people-first’ (both staff and clients equally), then profit and purpose would take care of itself.
At some point in the future, it will become a public health concern that business operates in this way. It is as if companies and organizations are allowed to get away with seeing employees as dispensable stock that can be replaced once they wear out, not good business at all.
I absolutely agree with what you have said here Matthew. There needs to be a shift in how we are in the workplace. If people are encouraged to look after themselves and are supported to do so then we would have very different workplaces.
Agree Elizabeth, not only would work places be different but rates of illness and disease would decrease while the quality of services and products would increase.
I love the image of a ‘gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.’ This would be a true gift to any workplace or organisation.
I think you are definitely onto something here Victoria… Sadly, we do not even know what true stillness means… well, we do because it is a quality we carry deep within but collectively we have long forgotten how to connect to it. I love your commitment to building a ‘womanly work body’ and if we were each able to do this then the places we work would naturally become very nurturing spaces. Imagine that – a work space that nurtured you not drained you…yes please.
We’ve got to the point at work where stillness is not promoted and a hardness is. Where we allow emotions to come in as women, and dismissal to come in as men.
The other day a female colleague who is very high up in her role said to me that she was tired of ‘women getting emotional at work’
We had a very open discussion of why we have allowed ourselves as women to be this way – and lost our equality through holding ourselves just as we are.
I love the possibility of bringing in more gentleness and openness in the the workplace.
The importance that women who are truly being themselves play at work can’t be underestimated. In my experience its the men that often complicate things (myself included) and bring more drama and problems into work – all the time competing with each other. To bring true stillness, clarity and simplicity to work is what is truly needed. This way business can take on a natural flow and true health at work and within relationships can develop. Society has missed out from this for many years as we’ve demanded women be like the men, men who are often deeply lost themselves.
Victoria, you’re spot on – ‘… the power of femaleness … my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.’. This is a wonderful gift to bring to a workplace (or anywhere). Thank you!
I just love this blog. It gives an honest description of what is truely going on and how people are effected. And it shows a way out, forward or however you want to call it, perhaps a way, the only way, e.g. inwards. The stillness seems to be the key. Just reading those lines made me go quiet and inward. Imagine if we were all living like that…..
Yes Caroline – it is so important to show people, that there is another way to live. We don’t have to live the stress every day. It is our choice and stillness plays a big role regarding a joyful life.
Thank you Victoria this is such an important offering of what is truly needed in the world and workplace. Appreciation and love for ourselves as humanity living harmoniously is the key to life and the workplace where we spend much of our time. True change is absolutely possible and all you offer by bringing awareness and making our lives about people lovingly and valuing all we are for ourselves first. This reflection then comes back to us and real changes really can happen.
This is a great post Vicotria. I don’t work in the corporate world but when I occasionally visit with companies or talk to friends,I hear similar stories. How working life has changed beyond all recognition, unrelenting work pressures, unrealistic deadlines, poor communication, high stress and a disregard for the people doing the work. In the rush for outcomes people have been forgotten. Many employees are caught on the hampster wheel, needing to work, unable to stop and don’t have the self care tools to support themselves. What we want are companies valuing their own people, not just customers and bottom line.
So true Victoria bringing self care and responsibility to the work place and appreciation of oneself and everyone can be the only way forward in life. The stress of life today needs a strong rhythm and deep commitment to caring for oneself in order to be loving and joyful and live simply and with presence and this can really bring a change in the work place.
Thank you Victoria, and even if just one workplace gets turned around by your wise reflections then that would be a wonderful experience for the people there, and I know that there are many workplaces already being revitalised by just one person choosing to take care of themselves.
Victoria I’ve recently been experiencing at work the fact of peoples disillusion when they come back to work on a Monday morning, people who have the weekend as something they “love” – the football, drinking etc.. and then don’t feel motivated to do anything. It’s quite interesting as in my own way I have days when I feel like work is the last thing I want to do. What I’m starting to realise is if I don’t want to do work – its not the work that is the issue but it is something else about how I am going about my days or time that is not at work that actually the issue. The question does come up when I claim to “love” doing something is that really true or just what is true for me at that time.
David, I wonder if the the things we claim to love doing outside of work are really what we love, or are they stimulating activities that take us away from ourselves? So when we return to work on a Monday, work seems dull and boring compared to the excitement or stimulation of what we’ve done on the weekend, but really all these activities have done, is distracted us to not feel the discomfort of not being connected to our inner stillness.
Great point Sandra. I have noticed that Monday’s can feel quite different to the other days. There is another level of intensity that can be felt with people, like the affect of the choices that were made of the weekend are right there to be felt. For example if someone used the weekend to right themselves off or indulge in anyway, come Monday this is felt by everyone they are with. When I used to do teaching work, the class always felt heavier on a Monday.
Great point Victoria – We have all heard of and likely had Monday-itis too! Which really is the dragging the feet and not really wanting to go to and be at work. But what is this Monday-itis really about? Is it work that is that bad, OR could it be that there is something about the way we are with ourselves at work that is not quite ‘working’? This is worth exploring. I certainly know that on those days when I have experienced not wanting to be at work, usually even when I have left work I still feel an unrest, a tension, an agitation and I seek distraction from this. This shows me that it has much more to do with how I am with myself rather than where I am.
The way you describe how workplaces treat employees is like aiming to have a gorgeous shiny car (the business) but damaging the motor (the staff) and disregarding it, but still expecting the car to work. Staff and businesses are completely part of one body though, it’s impossible for a workplace to truly sustainably function if the staff are slowly depleting to the point of depression and illness. I feel that this all begins in education where the school work, assignments and exams are all put ahead of kids. We are trained from early on to become commodities for others, perform and please, and feel no value in ourselves (just for being us).
Thank you Melinda, I like your metaphor of the gorgeous shiny coachwork of the car representing the business and the motor representing the staff. The emphasis is on the coachwork and not on the motor in many businesses. Putting the same effort in polishing and maintaining the motor will allow businesses to grow beyond what we can imagine nowadays as this will make the bodywork of the car dazzling as it is now powered by a fully embraced, appreciated and loved motor.
We haven’t yet really experienced what ‘people before profit’ would be like like on a larger scale i.e. across an entire industry. Universal Medicine has done it and is and leading the way across their industry but they are only one organisation. When many eventually follow suit the inevitable outcome will be phenomenal.
Brilliant Victoria. What an amazing and empowering change this would bring if integrated into the foundation of every business. I love how you have highlighted the truth that there is no difference between the importance of the well-being and care of a client to the importance of the same for those working for the client. And I agree with what you suspect, that – ‘With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.’ – as I feel the same.
Absolutely Carola, ‘there is no difference between the importance of the well-being and care of a client to the importance of the same for those working for the client’, so simple and true and a much more loving, less exhausting, more true way for people and organisations to work.
Thanks for sharing Victoria. I have been afraid of connecting to this stillness at work because it shows a very sensitive and tender side to me, when usually I have to be hard and driven to get things done to not be seen to be lazy or not working properly. Thanks for sharing your post, it makes so much sense that we drop the guard, and the ideals and beliefs of what work should be so that we can truly connect with our hearts and start to really serve another based on the quality of love.
Agree! People first, and I too, absolutely suspect that profit and purpose will naturally follow. How can it not. It’s funny how simple it can be, it’s right there staring us in the face. We just need to choose it.
Great points you make here Victoria – while my workplace does have quite a few programs implemented to look after the health and wellbeing of the staff, I feel that ultimately it comes down to each and every one of us to make choices that support us in every area of our life including work.
I agree Melissa, and a huge shift for me has been to not segregate work and home, but to see them just as different aspects of my life. It’s exhausting to be at work wishing it was home time, the weekend, thinking about our next holiday or retirement, and means that we’re only partly present in the job we’re doing.
Thanks for sharing this revelation Sandra – I still often segregate work and home and I feel, this doesn’t feel right any more. Why should the time at home be more valuable than at work – this doesn’t make sense.
It is so important to take care of ourselves so we are not ‘tossed around like tumbleweeds’, but also so that we can bring the best of ourselves to work for the benefit of everyone and everything. If we can change our perspective to one of wanting to contribute to the whole our whole perspective on self-care can change. Yes we are taking care of ourselves for ourselves, but ultimately we can take care of ourselves with the whole picture in mind so that we become a valuable contribution.
As you say Rebecca, looking at the whole picture, self-care is a responsibility we all have so that we come to our work with vitality rather than the all too common exhaustion many are carrying.
I love what you express here Rebecca about taking care of ourselves in order to bring the best of ourselves to our workplaces etc. What a great reminder that the more we deepen the quality of care for ourselves, the deeper the quality we can bring to everything we do, including our work, relationships, family etc.
So true Angela “What a great reminder that the more we deepen the quality of care for ourselves, the deeper the quality we can bring to everything we do, including our work, relationships, family etc.”
thank you both for the reminder
That’s a good point Rebecca, taking care of ourselves is always important and the first step to being truly responsible. There will come a point where self-care is natural and that is when we can start to take others into consideration on a deeper level.
Yes Tim and Rebecca, responsibility for ourselves and our behaviours will carry into the work place. To bring ourselves in full to work is going to change the work place, the way we feel about our job and our productivity. Surely that is a win win!
Victoria I so appreciate what you have expressed, that companies are all about profit and purpose rather than self-care of staff. And what a difference it would make to humanity if it was self care first, about people and looking after staff equally as well as their customers. How amazing would customer services be, or maybe there would be no need for customer services because the quality of production would be so good, there would be no complaints.
Sally wow a world that didn’t need dedicated staff to deal with complaints would be something. I’ve noticed my complaints could have been prevented had a greater degree of respect for employee, employer and customer been present. The same level of respect can also be applied in respect of the complainant because some complaints are designed to threaten the company’s reputation in order to achieve maximum compensation.
Your message Victoria is so important for me the worker, my colleagues, the employer, the customer, the universe. I too have been aware of my womanliness at work and self-care, it is not easy as the opposite is so entrenched that it is seen as not keeping the balls up in the air continuously without a break. It is so important though to trust what your body feels and remember that love for myself has to be the priority.
Yes Ariana, a people-centric way that just keeps building.
High stress in a workplace comes from a culture within the business or organization, which mainly comes from an ideal that it needs to be a certain way, and this comes from people.
If life isn’t about people, what is it about?
Brilliant Richard, the fact is we make life about all the things we do and want to do – essentially everything to stop us being ourselves with other people being themselves. We chase money or purpose as Victoria has written to reward us with ‘a kind of living’. A living that needs stimulation and more distraction to keep it all going. Crazy. The world is about people – let’s start really living that.
Thank you Victoria. We can wait for workplaces to put people, their staff, first or we can instigate the changes ourselves by bringing out this very special quality of femaleness we all have. Let’s not wait, we can share the care and loveliness we bring in our lives with our colleagues.
Stunning Victoria, you’ve encapsulated the devastation of where we are today in our workplaces where we’ve absolutely sold ourselves out for an entire bastardised nation of what business is. And at the same time you inspire the workplaces of the future, where it is of course all about people first and foremost, all about working together as and within the family of humanity that we are in, supporting and serving each other as this is the most natural way for us to be.
It’s amazing how powerful living by example is. Even if people at work tend to belittle you for being so “healthy” they often start making changes in their behaviours too, quite possibly without realising it at first as we are such “creatures of habit”. It’s lovely though to see people take more care of themselves and not to forget that my level of care can continue to deepen and become more consistant with my choices.
We have a responsibility when as you say here Elaine, about the influence we have on others without them realising it, to keep deepening that self-care.
I agree wholeheartedly Victoria and would love to see what will happen if we embraced our innate femininity . It seems likely to me that this flow you mention would flow on to profits and well-being in ways we can’t even imagine. Talk about a new business model!
In a chaotic stressful workplace what is needed most is un-compromising self-care. It only takes one person to live that way consistently for the others to be inspired to find their own way. It is a huge culture shock for a lot of workplaces but as Victoria says a lot of people are becoming seriously ill, and need to come back to a more natural way.
Wow, Victoria your blog has really summed up how far off course we have allowed ourselves to become individually and collectively. In the past I have been caught in the trap of thinking I can’t do anything about it as I am only one person. Yet this is so far from the truth because I am discounting the impact of me bringing a fully self loving me into the workplace. Definitely something I can focus on in the coming week at work. Thank you!
Yes Brendan, lets imagine to start with and let this become our reality in our working places!
Well said Brendan and Karoline, this is very inspiring and highlights for me that I don’t have to wait for this flow to arrive but can bring it with me to work when I go.
Yes, people first in the workplace, bringing humanity in, would make an extraordinary difference, a joyful workplace, profits would naturally increase, high absenteeism would drop because people want to work, there is purpose, appreciation and care….it is so simple, yet people are secondary to the operations of systems and so much investment and money spent on so called improving systems as Victoria importantly pointed out. Also all of us in the workplace can start to make it about people first as suggested in this article, start with yourself first…its a great start and powerful as I work like this in my workplace, a very demanding stressful job, but I am in my passion and a joy to be there and I continue to develop everyday…..without being exhausted!
More often that not there is stress in the workplace but as you so beautifully put it Victoria: “One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work. These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.” This seems to be a great place to start to make the changes so needed.
I have found that the more stressed I get the less productive I am so therefore have come to realise the importance of taking care of myself and ensuring I check regularly how I feel in the day in what ever task I am doing. If I get tense I know that it may feel like I am speeding up but in fact I am getting careless in what I am doing and the potential for mistakes increases.
Watching family members study for their leavers exams I am left wondering, exactly what we are teaching them. The level of pressure and the expectations seem so much more that when I was at school. The stress is causing anxiety attacks and parents talk of regular meltdowns, kids seeing the psychologist to be able to get through the exams – We are perpetuating ill health and stress at even earlier and earlier ages. What is the collateral damage going to be to humanity if we keep operating in this way? Our bodies are precious, intricate, delicate and amazing mechanisms but if we keep abusing them physically and emotionally eventually they break and it’s not always so easy and quick to repair.
Great observation Nicole. And especially in the light of this article highlighting the importance of organisations using a people-first approach and for us each individually to return to connection with and honouring of ourself, it would make sense for education to cover this area and for self-care to be on the curriculum. A poignant question – “exactly what are we teaching them” by putting them under extreme performance pressure at a younger and younger age.
After reading your blog Victoria I envisage our business in the way you describe and how lovely that feels.‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible. I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks. This is beautiful Victoria, thank you
Self care in the workplace is our own responsibility and is the game changer. By taking toilet breaks, making a cup of tea and stopping to eat lunch, others in the workplace can’t help but notice. Perhaps this is the way to revolutionise the workplace?
Applying the principles of self-care has certainly changed my life at work. I also know it has changed the work lives of many people and so I can answer YES to your question above, true self-care is the way to bring lasting change to the workplace.
Absolutely – we can only lead change by example
I agree Nikki. It is easy to point fingers at managers and say they should lead the way, but we are all leaders in the sense that we can all be an example of taking responsibility for our self-care and wellbeing.
Love your re-imagining of the workplace Victoria, and love the distinction you make between ‘people before profits’ and ‘people before purpose’. I see how I can get caught up in purpose and forget the quality I am working in … feeling driven to reach an outcome does not deliver, and I have been reminded by my clients to have my lunch break – they do not want another to be self-sacrificing on their behalf! Looking after myself is so important as it models the behaviour that will benefit all.
It would certainly be more enjoyable to work with stillness and presence. And it would make us less tired and sick! When working this way, I’ve found I feel very purpose-full and energised.
Self-Care is a massive change that I have brought into my life and at work. Making sure that I am and my colleagues are looking after ourselves has created an environment that is warm, open and caring towards others. I have noticed the more I am with me that this inspires not only my staff but my customers as well.
This is a great point Natalie, the way the relationship which we have with our own self care and interactions between our colleagues has a huge impact on the service to the customers which is then felt and makes a huge impact. I know for one I would want to go to a business whose foundation is a quality of care rather than disregard and abuse.
Natalie what you speak of here is inspiring – in all working places self-care can be a Number 1 Priority.
And that we know the responsibility lies with us, we ourselves can change the way we feel about ourselves and how we are at the workplace. One person changing has an enormous ripple effect.
I can reread this article many times and comment on something different. It has such a depth and touches on so many levels what is going on within the workplace and what can bring change. This time what struck me is that my femaleness can be the change agent. Bringing my stillness within the hectic and chaotic workplace as a reflection. That is my sole responsibility: to take care of me, my body and keep connecting to my stillness, like returning to an oasis amidst the desert with all its hardships.
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity” – this to me is the future. Connected and self-fulfilled people, working highly efficiently with purpose and care, outstripping the performance of current workplaces as a by-product, not the aim.
hear hear Oliver!
And what a great future this is. I’m not sure I have “embodied” stillness (yet) but as it grows, it shows in my productivity. It also shows in how much stress I no longer go into and this has a ripple effect on those around me. This is not an outlandish dream of the future. It is possible now, and from what we lay now, we build on.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace” … “Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.” Yes it all needs to start from here. I have found that it is vital for me to assist myself to feel a stillness within me – this allows me to recognise what feels loving and harmonious and what is clearly not – a very useful support. Also when I truly honour me, I end up choosing what is honouring of everyone else too. And this way inspires others to start doing it for themselves in their own time.
How much do we all miss out on when we make what we are doing about us and not about quality and service. It seems we all have a responsibility to look at and change how we operate within our workplaces and admit, we are not travelling all that well so that a different and more true way can be sought. A way that sees everyone on equal footing on all levels and all working together as a one unified whole.
How awesome it would be for businesses to focus on providing tools and support to promote open communication (not in reaction), harmony and stillness in themselves and their employees.
This would then go out into the community and spread through their families, friends, animals and everywhere.
And on further reading, I agree that Stillness in the workplace, and a ‘self care’ approach is the way forward. Communication and true team work is also here asked of each of us.
I too look forward to the day where workplaces are founded on ‘people before profit’. That will be a most beautiful day and surely one to celebrate for all.
Victoria, your first paragraph sums it up. This is my own experience of workplaces also. Time for us to start really addressing these issues.
I seem to go round in circles at work while attempting to remain connected. I inevitably don’t manage to stay connected all the time and find that I then go into bashing myself for not being able to hold my stillness. This is not helpful! Much more helpful and loving is to simply observe when I am connected and when I am not, while not giving myself a hard time. This inevitably and ironically helps me to stay connected.
I agree Rebecca, self bashing is so destructive and takes up time where, having had the realisation of what has happened, I could be making new choices.
Every minute is a new minute.
thankyou for sharing Rebecca.
I am becoming more aware at the moment of how when we are at work we are never not a role model, and how much managers have this responsibility especially to the team leaders aspiring to move up the corporate ladder. The quality of true role modelling at work seems to generate the whole culture of a work place and is about what we are willing to accept or being brave enough to say no to abuse and to be seen for who we truly are.
Shami, what you have called out here is so important. We are reflecting to each other all the time, even if we don’t think we are. I know how i live is acknowledged all the time, how joyful and vibrant i am, how much i look after myself. This is a joy to feel, when others start to then take better care of themselves from having spoken to me. Feels pretty amazing.
A really beautiful article Victoria, such a reminder that how we live outside of work reflects back into how we are at work and us as women, what we are capable of bringing any workplace.
“On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.” I feel this is the only way to true change. Great article Victoria.
Well said Victoria. Putting people, ourselves first – this is the way forward, its been well proven any other way simply does not sustain.
It is indeed crazy how the average business always looks at profit first, not the people making the company work, it is great that you present that we can start with caring for ourselves at work showing another way.
I agree Benkt. Its not very logical if a company pushes its staff in the pursuit of profit and then the staff have to take time off work due to sickness. Surely the way forward would be to provide a workplace environment where the staff are treated as people first, then the profits would come naturally.
“In the meantime, I feel there are a few things I/we can do right now, as individuals and collectively, that might begin to change the situation.” Of course we can, and in fact this is exactly how the river will start to flow, I love what you have covered and have proposed.
Yes absolutely Golnaz. I love the bit that says we are ‘beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.’
“But one day they’ll run out of people, and only then will they be forced to re-examine the issue.” I have often felt this, too, Victoria. The notion of disposable people is an extremely disturbing one but one that our society seems to operate under, albeit tacitly.
I love your suggestion that connecting with femaleness is one possible route out of this predicament also.
Gosh who decided that a work life meant feeling stressed, exhausted and anxious when coming home each night?
I know Madeline! It seems ridiculous!
I love reading your blog Victoria and am inspired about the possibility of what work places could look/feel like if only we took heed of your suggestions for change
Thanks Victoria for sharing a picture of what a work place would be like if people were to self-care, honour themselves and work from their stillness. Wow, I’d want to work there. It feels like that this would be a very productive environment to work in as well as a place where people would want to go to every day. Could this be the workplace of our future? Let’s hope so.
This is a game changer- thank you Victoria. Imagine our work culture if every CEO were to read this and accept and implement its truth and wisdom and love for people. I have worked in many alienating work places in health care – from hospitals, private clinics to rehabilitation centres. For the last 6 years I have been working in a complementary healing clinic called Universal Medicine in Goonellabah NSW. All the practitioners and administration staff live to the best of their ability their connection with their gentleness and inner tenderness. The unifying theme is that people are first and foremost before anything else and it is without doubt the most truly loving, supportive and harmonious workplace I have ever worked in. It is a joy to get up each day knowing I will be there all day with everyone in such a gentle, harmonious space – so Victoria all you have proposed for a true change in the work place, where people are first before anything else is very possible.
It would be wonderful, Victoria, for people who work in any industry to feel that it was permissible for them to honour themselves by taking loo breaks when they really need to, a quiet minute at the desk or, as you say perhaps under it, saying ‘no’ to something that doesn’t feel right. I feel it takes just one person to do this, to lead the way, and a lovely groundswell of less stressed (healthier and happier) staff would naturally follow.
Honoring ourselves in the workplace just seems like such a basic tool yet its amazing how many of us forget it.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”. First of all, as a over 13 years of experience in the unemployment company in Holland, I recognise everything written in this beautiful blog full of care and warmth. From the quoted sentence here above I feel it’s got all to do with TRUST. That indeed if we take care of ourselves and our employees, that targets, profits, etc. will be reached easily. Even better, they would rise. Because TRUST does ask commitment and hard working, but also understanding, allowing and acceptance. For every one, in every situation. Yes, that’s totally different than reflected in our society up until now, but worth starting to make a change. I’m in. Are you?
This is a truly awesome blog. With the large percentage of our lives that we spend at work if it’s not working for us, then life isn’t working. By adding joy and self care into the work place life all round would be so much better.
That simple yet most often forgotten ingredient would certainly change the way business and society operate. It surprises me just how many people simply work to get money, because it’s a job yet it’s what we do most of our waking day of our life. Bringing joy and self care into work would transform not only our lives but also those around us who also see work as a “necessary evil” instead of the joy it can be.
So true, kevmchardy, when we allow ourselves to feel joy and truth in our work place, and at the same time deeply care for ourselves, we allow an unfolding which requires no stress or anxiety. We go with the flow of life instead of feeling like we are fighting it.
This is such a needed topic to be discussed – to be able to hold our innate stillness in the work place holds much power to it. This is something that I have been developing and when I am in this connection to my stillness what ever comes my way can be dealt with easy.
Very inspiring Natalie. This is something that I am also learning how to do. I have glimpses of it, but still get ‘tossed around by the winds of the workplace’. It is so important to build a steady rhythm that can support our ability to hold the stillness.
What I am also realizing is that every moment in between work is going to affect how I am going to be at work. This makes everything equally important and equally part of everything.
And how I support myself for my upcoming work week makes a huge difference to how I feel at work, so making sure my clothes are ready to wear, food in the fridge and freezer ready to go, my personal affairs are in order, etc. By being organised outside of work, this comes with me to work and I find I can be organised at work, and unexpected dramas or situations at work don’t pull me out because I’ve created a solid foundation in and out of work.
Thank you for re-emphathisising this for me Vicky. When I live with the truth of this, the quality of my life and my work have an intensity of love within them that shines out and lifts others around me.
I agree Victoria, I think it’s the second time around I read this article and what I got from it today was the feeling of how anything, even large corporations, will flow in a natural way if we but allow them to. And the fuel that is needed is that stillness you are referring to. To be able to slow down enough to hear that silent whisper of what is true and not true. If we slow down we are able to feel what is the correct manner in which to act in every situation in our life including our workplace.
I agree Matts, well said.
very true Matts, it is the stillness which brings that deeper awareness and understanding of what is needed next .
This is so true and beautifully expressed mattsjosefsson: “To be able to slow down enough to hear that silent whisper of what is true and not true” Then why, as a society do we seem so intent on speeding everything up? It is as if we are running scared and if so, then from what?
From the absoulute knowing that we are the sons of God…?
Reading your blog Victoria I could actually imagine a work environment that did have a solid practice of self-care in place, and a staff committed to working harmoniously together. When we break it down, it actually wouldn’t be that hard to implement. And yes, as you said imagine the quality of work the clients and customers would then receive. It would be truly revolutionary and I actually feel the call that is there to implement this in work environments everywhere.
I love it how you are connecting with your stillness and using this as your guide to how things should be flowing in your office. Giving your office the blessing of true healing and presence through your connection. The working world will be a lot more supportive place to be for everyone if we honour the truth and stillness within and as you say profits will look after themselves. Productivity will improve and staff turn over will be reduced leaving staff who are experienced and happy with their job.
Beautiful Victoria. A workplace were people truly come first – so much productivity would flow from this and the results would be amazing on all counts.
Lee it would indeed – perhaps because everyone together would start to take responsibility. It’s interesting as I can see the potential yet there is a concern for whether everyone will truly do what is needed – I think that’s perhaps quite common – that we think if we try to control and dictate then we will get there faster. But in getting there we forget what the quality of the steps and ultimately the end product is. I am inspired to see how I can bring this into my workplace. People first.
David when I read your comment I realised I was harbouring beliefs that brought similar “concern for whether everyone will truly do what is needed”. I chuckled because recently I have actually witnessed the other way at play, I have seen it be about people first, and I realise that making it about people and being loving toward someone does not mean put up with irresponsible behaviour. It does mean say it as it is and be prepared to go all the way if needed to ensure the whole team works as a team, knowing and expressing how vaulable every single member is and maintaining a loving honest and supportive relationship where every person naturally chooses to express the grandness of who they truly are. Acknowledging this I can now drop the ‘concerned’ belief.
Well said David
It’s crazy that more employees haven’t cottoned on to the fact when you are for the people, the people care for the business, and what flows on from there benefits everyone. Logical and simple.
This could re-conceptualise ‘Living the Dream’. Imagine if everyone longed to achieve consistent natural vitality through consistently making loving choices as the ultimate lifestyle. How great would that be?
It is pure common sense that people should come before profit. This world is made up of living breathing people, and money is simply a medium that flows in and out and is used to keep our world functioning. Yes, money is important, but we can use it to support us rather than glorify it.
How backwards it has become – the profit before people.
I agree, that the change needs to come from within us all to deeply care for ourselves at work – otherwise we put our own profit (income) ahead of people (ourselves and others) and the cycle continues.
I work in an organisation where there is a HUGE disparity between incomes. Yet it prides itself on providing a service (which it does, being a University), yet where is the care in allowing some to gain at the expense of others. What will it take to break the cycle of greed, and profit before people?
Kylie I agree the changes need to come from within us all to deeply care for ourselves at work. When we start that process the reflection is felt by others and people start to take care of themselves. I have noticed this is in my work. It is slow but the change is happening.
I have noticed the putting my own profit before people in my own work Kylie. It wasn’t a nice feeling, and took the joy that I usually feel away. Yes, the income is useful, and necessary, but not the prime motive for doing my job, and when I allowed income to intrude on that I became less. It was a lesson that I can take from the sphere of work into all of my life.
Exactly Kylie and it would turn most business on its end to actually put people before profit.
Many people where I work are exhausted and overworked, they work long hours, are stressed, take work home, and the more they do the more that is expected of them, and so it goes. I feel nothing will truly change in the work place until people start putting THEMSELVES first, and that includes me, getting our work done yes, but not to the point of exhaustion and fatigue which takes the joy out our day, after all we spend a lot of time at work and making it about people and taking care of ourselves can truly make a difference.
Wow, so well put Sandra. I only met a guy today telling me about his careers in very high level government jobs where he was expected to effectively work day and night. He like so many had a breakdown, was diagnosed with depression and has spent the last few years rebuilding himself with a way to go yet. But that’s the norm especially in corporate life. It’s gotta change … and change from the inside out… unfortunately it is unlikely to come from the top down.
I agree Kylie. There seems to be an illusion that putting people first would drop the profits, and so the cycle continues. What a disempowering illusion this is.
Thank you, Victoria for an inspiring read and much to consider. I am learning more and more how important self care is at work which not only supports me but shows another way to colleagues. I love what you share here, though as more and more people are choosing to live in this way, it is not just imagination anymore! “Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity – who are so connected with and honouring of themselves that self-care is not only automatic, it has a quality that can be seen and felt, offering an inspiring example to others…”
Victoria what a brilliant blog in regards to work and true self care. Just because we are at work does not mean that we have to leave our innate stillness and gentleness behind. Its about bringing all that we are with us everywhere, imagine how amazing our workplaces would be?
I love what you have written Victoria. If I sit still and allow my heart to speak, it is clear that it is all about people. Everyone has a ‘it would be nice if’ scenario when they imagine going into work and feeling cared for, having great relationships with the other people, having a sense of making a difference to others in their day. Why is it kept as an ‘it would be nice’ camp. You so clearly explain that it can be an everyday scenario. I say let’s go for that, let’s live that in our lives and bring it into our workplace in whatever way we can.
Exhaustion is so prevalent in our society. Self care makes such a difference to all aspects of life as does staying connected with me while I go about my day, rather than getting distracted.
I love your bringing in the power of femaleness:
‘ that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both.’ We will have completely different workplaces if we all would connect to our stillness. And even 1 person walking, sitting and talking from their stillness makes a difference and offers a reflection point for all others.
I love this Monika, ‘even 1 person walking, sitting and talking from their stillness makes a difference and offers a reflection point for all others’. So very true.
I am loving discovering how our workplace is the perfect opportunity to develop a consistency and solidness that then also supports every other part of our life. We so very quickly get to see at the end of the day by how we feel just how our day has truly been.
It is great to feel and acknowledge how the way we are in our work environment can be a support for other areas in our lives. So very often we see it the other way round. This allows a whole new level of appreciation for our work place.
Peoples wellbeing should be the basic foundation of all organisations and workplaces and if this was incorporated into all workplaces it would probably reflect positively on the profit margin
Rereading this blog from a place of stillness, I actually felt the same quality behind the words and felt that stillness is not inactivity, it is an aliveness that can be taken anywhere in our daily activity and as Victoria has stated, can gently carve its way through rocky, hard terrains. It is not uncommon for people to express how rocky and hard many workplaces are, so a great place to focus on.
I have found making simple choices like having a stop moment and breathing gently, going to the loo when needed, sitting quietly for a few moments really helps me to not get caught up in the busyness of the day in work, and if I do it then helps me to return to that inner stillness. As I take more care of myself at work I’ve noticed that others are doing so too.
I agree Ruth with what you have shared. When we do hold a consistently clear self caring foundation in all we do, it does give others permission to do the same not only for themselves but I found they honour and respect this and then reflect this back also.
This vision of stillness at work is revolutionary. How many workplaces do we walk into and feel a tension, an anxiety, a nervousness or buzz of busyness. If we are honest we would say we all don’t like this feeling but just put up with it because it is so common. But imagine walking into a workplace full of stillness but still productivity and purpose? Sounds like a place I would like to work in!
I work in community aged care and we have people working in the office and others out in the field. I find they are equally overwhelmed and stressed. We do have a manager that is open to change and having had two Well-being days presented by Universal Medicine students at our workplace, I have noticed more awareness among the workers about self-care and wellbeing. It is such a different way of approaching work and life and the patterns of overwhelm are so ingrained that it needs to be constantly presented and reflected that there is another way to be.
It is great what you have exposed and shared here. What has come to my attention lately is how employees are treated by employers … which is badly. Staff that have worked in companies for years are not respected but got rid of so they can get someone to do the same job for less money and the lack of communication is massive. Also I have just recently been aware of zero hour contracts, apparently this is happening in a lot more places now, which means … the employee does not have a certain amount of hours to be worked in their contract, it can be changed at any time. Not supportive when you have bills to pay and a family to feed!
Victoria some more really valid points stand out, the one that grabbed me today is that with an organisation built first on people that profit and purpose would take care of themselves. It’s against the trend for sure but I have a strong feeling you are right about that. I would say the fear is people will do less if they are not “controlled” yet if they are nurtured and understand their part in the team many studies have shown their output is actually more.
I absolutely agree Victoria and this has been something that is coming up for me and others at the moment in work. It is an extremely pressured time at the moment with deadlines to meet, and I can feel the stress in everybody, myself included. What I am working within trying to honour and stay present with my body and not watch the clock (my body even tenses writing that) and listen to what it is telling me. As you say, going to the toilet when I need, stopping and sitting down be it for a few minutes break or to do some work, and making sure I take sometime out for lunch, even how I walk and being very aware of racy thoughts and not taking on other people’s stress or situations. What I also have to watch for is the moment I wake up is that I can go into the to do list in my head which kick starts the stress and overwhelm – all of which leave me and my body exhausted. But, I can feel how it is the stillness and space that both I, my body and work are calling for, and how with this it brings a feeling of power and knowing what needs to be done, with steady clarity and love.
It’s crazy that in many organizations the people who devote a large part of their lives come second, third or even last in the ‘list’ of priorities. This seems to be an even bigger problem in organizations whose role it is to look after and care for people such as hospitals, aged care and child care facilities. I agree Victoria, this results in a lesser outcome for all concerned, especially the staff, and that if we truly and deeply cared for the people that are that organization first and foremost, everything else would start to fall into place.
Great blog Victoria. I work in the non for profit sector and I also see the staff not taking a lunch break and drinking so much coffee. I try to encourage a walk in the beautiful park next door to no avail. People become so work focused that they forget that they are there. Hopefully one day it will change.
I like the sound of a workplace where people who work there are in stillness or working from this place rather than driving themselves from a need to be recognised.
I totally agree Sally, when we work from this high stress place to accomplish outcomes it says more about what we want from the achievement (i.e. need for recognition, acceptance or approval) than what can be offered to others.
How did we get to a society where profit is more important than people. I see that in my industry as well – and a company’s version of giving back is through parties and events – to celebrate coming out of a highly stressful and draining project. It’s pretty surreal to see that pattern for what it is.
I can relate to so much of what you have shared, Victoria. For most of the last 25 years I have worked in the real estate industry in a variety of roles, and in nearly every office the call was for making more money, usually at the expense of the well being of the sales person and the service they were offering. But finally after all these years I have found my way into an office that puts people first, with management always making sure that the sales team and administration staff are being looked after, and as a result the unity and the level of honesty in the office is amazing. Profits are important to the owners, but definitely not at the expense of the people who work there.
Victoria, this blog has very accurately claimed: “This often means that in many organizations – including ironically, many ‘human service’ organizations – the health of the organization takes precedent over that of the humans who work there. In these environments, clients are king and occupy top spot in the care and consideration food chain.” My working environment has been in schools and Universities and the ‘King clients’ were always the students in both environments – children or young adults. No consideration was given to the teachers in these environments and after reading your blog I mentally counted up the number of my fellow colleagues who have developed serious illness and terminal diseases in the last 5 years. What a revelation – in my own little world I can confidently say that over 60% of my colleagues are in this basket of ill-health. Maybe, as a starting point we can claim: Well Teachers – Well students should be the precedent of who is the most important in this working environment.
“it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.” I agree Victoria that the quality of presence and stillness once connected to, (equally for men and women) before we go about ‘doing’ our day would actually begin to change many of our stresses. Blogs like yours broaden our awareness and educate us to consider our situation as a whole and how we all have a part to play in addressing this epidemic.
This is a lovely concept Victoria, with attending Universal Medicine
events even though it is not a work place as such, it is a place of
people getting together and working together in a loving way.
There is a harmonious feeling in the room, an openness to
connect to others in an equal way. I would definitely be applying
for a job with any company who had a work environment like this.
But equally so we all have the ability to take this to our workplace
And watch it grow.
This is a very important article Victoria. For me what stands out is to talk about, consider and care for the people who work in a business and not ‘the staff’ or ‘human resources’. It is the people who work together in a business that provide the service and this cannot work harmoniously when the people are stressed or ill any more than a car will continue to take you where you aim to go if you do not take care of the engine.
Yes Mary, it is time that people were seen for who they truly are in the workplace whether the company is small or a multinational. People are ‘people’ and not ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’. To apply the other tags is dehumanising and leads to policies that are about systems and not truly about people.
Yes Mary we must always remember that it is all about people first and foremost.
Stress is such an interesting one, when you’re at work and demands are pulling at you to deliver! I have most definitely found with the support from the Universal Medicine team that there is a way to work in this environment. Staying in connection with yourself is key. When I don’t – Wham I am totally hooked into the drama of stress and boy does it have an instant impact on my body. I keep listening to my body and the minute I don’t feel gentle, and the hardness comes in, its time to stop and re calibrate back to me.
‘Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity..’ When I read this sentence Victoria, it was a STOP moment for me and I felt a mixture of sadness and joy. Sadness because most of us are not aware of our stillness within, even though we are desperate for it and joy because of the reminder that this is indeed possible. You have awakened this possibility by taking the time to share this truth Victoria, Thank you!
I know what it’s like to go to work and feel pulled all over the place, stressed, frazzled and constantly trying to keep up with heavy workloads. I also know what it is like to go to work connected with myself, steady and still before I begin my day- honouring myself and my body throughout the day as I carry out my work. Not only do I benefit from this, but my whole team and the clients that frequent our business benefit from this too – they are met by a person, as a person. Not only this, but on the days that I am most steady and still, the physical amount of work I am able to produce/achieve is much greater than the days when i feel stressed and frazzled.
I can relate to that. I start my day laying still when I wake up and just focus on my breath. I deeply connect with me and my body in that way. As soon as I have felt this connection and my breath is in a loving gentle flow I make a choice for the day. I finish up by making very gentle movements with my hands or legs. All to stay connected with my stillness whilst moving. It is a great support and marker throughout the day.
Self-care in the workplace is very much needed.
Inspirational blog – put people before purpose or profit! What stood out for me and felt really lovely was ‘the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both.’ Its gives me a stop moment of pure stillness.
When I focus on time I feel the stress and tension in my body immediately. When I focus on quality and not time, my body and my whole day feels completely different.
Gorgeous Vicky. This is so simple but the difference is huge.
I really like this comment, quality versus time. I choose quality.
Victoria this blog presents many inspiring comments.
‘Another is to consider the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both’
If we all just stopped and considered this alone, the quality of our work would deepen and naturally our productivity and profits would flourish. Self care in the workplace makes common ‘cents’ 😊
“Many of the staff I’ve worked with or met are also unwell”. This has been my experience in workplaces too, Victoria. There are so many factors producing the ill health at work, that a total overhaul of the way we work is due! Putting people before profits or purpose would be a good place to begin.
There defiantly needs to be change, having high stress employers and constantly turning over staff isn’t sustainable.
People before profit and a people first approach would be the foundations to a high grade workplace which Victoria says “I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”
When I think of the possibility of working in a corporate office, to be honest, the prospect kind of scares me. Which is because I know that offices in corporations have purposes to the work that does not honour in full each and every human being for all that we are. They are boring and demanding. It would be awesome if the prospect of working in a large team, as these are, was exciting because it did honour its members and was an inspiring place of equality, effectiveness, and fun, which can still produce amazing work, but in a different way.
Very true what you have written Victoria – this Blog needs to be dispersed in every organisation = A Mission Statement or Objective to an Organisation.
People are power-full, and imagine the power of all staff aligned and agreeing to the Purpose, actually being a part of defining the Purpose. The natural support of each other and really bringing their talent and gifts lifting each other where it was Joy to come work, instead of hanging out to the end of day or the weekend.
We have a huge problem that can so easily resolve itself following this method. And it does work as it is written and lived in http://www.unimedliving.com/the-student-body/the-making-of-unimed-living/the-student-body-of-universal-medicine-how-we-did-it.html
Crucial for all of us, I see so many people on the verge of a burn out. They always talk about having no time, but what about when they sit at home for half a year or longer, then they have plenty of time to think about making other choices!
Hear, hear. Love all you write, so true. Let’s start a revolution or I would say an evolution. People before profit and purpose. Such a turn around and what I feel is the only answer to all the sickness, stress and burn outs in companies.
I love your sharing which leads me right to how I’ve experienced it in my business. I work in the movie industry and when there are shootings – it first of all has got to be fast and full of protein and carbs for the “hard working men”. I don’t get that. We are supposed to make a movie – which will be sent out to millions over Tele – and do all the work in an energy of stress, unhealthy, loads of coffee and sugar. The people all look ten years older after the last day of shooting. What if that would change? Some caterers already changed but mainly it is a matter of working profit still.
How we look after ourselves at work will have a great influence, not only on ourselves, but on everybody else working with us. If we make loving choices like taking time for lunch or a break and not letting ourselves be drawn into common hectic, suddenly people see that there is another way. A way that is not only so much more loving, easier, and simple but also as efficient, if not more efficient than working ourselves out until we collapse.
I agree Victoria and I love what you said about exercising self care at work and that we need to ’start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work’ – gorgeous, just like your truly inspirational work ethos of profit before people and people before purpose that would change the way businesses are conducted and how we are within them – just awesome to imagine how different life would be if we changed the focus like that to what truly mattered.
It would be great if this very strong and clear article was required reading for management especially in NFP organisations, to understand that people are the true resource of a company, and that to nurture the staff is as equal a responsibility as it is to carry out the mission statement of the company
Victoria your description in the first paragraph of how workplaces can be, was so accurate and un-appealing – it’s no wonder people feel unwell and don’t want to go to work. What a hard way to live a very significant part of our lives. The simple steps you offer of being aware of our own self-care is a great start to un-ravel the tumble weed and set down some roots.
We have to change the way we work. We are exhausted – en mass. I heard the other day that the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported (in a 2008 study) that something like 80% of adults were either exhausted or suffering from depression. I cant quote the reference so please don’t take my word for it but even if it was 50% that is terribly staggering. By my observation, I can certainly say that about 90% of the people I come across daily are in exhaustion.
That’s a very good point Dean and we should really be asking ourselves why does having a job mean you have to feel exhausted?
I would go as far to say that feeling exhausted at work is for the majority of people just a part of having a job.
I feel that you have a new paradigm in the making for businesses, whether ‘for profit’ or ‘non profit’ organisations. Fabulous. Thank you, Victoria.
Victoria I wholeheartedly agree. And while I was reading your blog, I noticed I was holding my hand uncomfortably on the edge of my laptop to use the trackpad – changing that was a small act of self care in action! I really connect with your words on the power of femaleness as the change agent we are looking for and know I myself can take this to the next level in the workplace. Thank you.
I am returning to full-time work after a wee while and love how inspiring this blog is in presenting, actually there is another way to be at work that doesn’t deplete oneself and leave one gasping for air!
Thats great Karin, It is funny how now I often find it harder when I am not at work as the rhythm and structure that works gives me is incredibly supportive for my body. We are designed to work and not just sit around, the more I realise and appreciate this the less lazy and more responsible I am becoming!
That’s awesome Jane – it just goes to show then when we put effort and commitment towards changing something the results become noticeable – it is all too easy to sit back and complain about things like the flights of stairs but to do something about it is great. Thank you for sharing Jane.
Thank you James for the reminder of how work can bring a really supportive structure to ones life. I know I’m finding this already – I am seeing how what isn’t supporting needs to be stopped.
I’m also finding that my job is the most sedentary job I’ve had and I’m not one for being still (yes, the being still part isn’t lost on me). A colleague was saying how much weight she’d put on as a result of this job and, although I’m not worried about that myself, I am feeling to join the gym to support my day. This will bring even more structure to my day, something I am finding very reassuring rather than restricting.
I too find the gym in the mornings before work extremely supportive, my job is computer based so it is not extremely active – making sure I do some gym and/or swimming most days of the week keeps me active and helps me hugely at work.
I find this too James. I find the structure of the week gives me something to work with that helps me to make other choices like what to eat that supports my body to work. I need to work on responsibility more so that my weekends are just as dedicated to resting and building up my body for another week of working. Sometimes I get a bit ‘relaxed’ with my choices at the weekends and it affects the week that follows.
At weekends, Jinya, I find I need to give myself a structure and not simply see it as ‘time off’, a time I can let myself go as then this is the quality I bring with me into my week. Responsibility, as you say, comes in here because everything we do matters, even what we do behind closed doors.
This is the case for me too James. My work rhythm provides me with a structure for my life that keeps me active, engaged and moving. Very healthy for the body.
Like you Jane, I realised I needed to get ‘work fit’. I have a job where I sit a lot and have recently asked for a desk where it can be raised so I can stand for part of my day – it is awesome. That coupled with walking and the gym, I now feel my body is ‘fit for work’ and I don’t get tired like I used to from sitting all day and not doing enough exercise.
We are made to work and to be with people – that feels very natural to me, and it is the loving rhythm that I keep building that has transformed me from someone who used to live for weekends and holidays to have ‘my time’, to someone who loves work and my job despite the challenges and dramas that go on, loves my work colleagues and has no intention of ever retiring as long as this body is capable!
Yes I can feel the honour of one’s self that Victoria is inviting all women to feel and take to our workplaces. We have amazing qualities to share with each other and what we are capable of bringing to each other is limitless if we truly honour ourselves.
It’s funny as I am always drawn back to this blog, I have conversations daily about the very same things, I know I am not the only one who is feeling, seeing and experiencing this in the work place – people know, want and can feel there is another way to work, that makes life about people first. It is great you, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine have opened up this space to ask could there be another way to live and work that is more gentle and loving and puts people first – and I can feel how that starts with self-care and self-love, not in a wishy washy way, but simple practical things which honour us as people.
What I find at work is how innately people know that we are supposed to be treated as people, with respect and care, not just a pawn to be moved around to make the best profits. If this is missing and employees are tossed aside or not considered, then people react.
Staying with yourself in the midst of chaos. Sounds simple, but not always easy , something I am learning with the benefit of Universal Medicine, for which I am extremely grateful.
Very true Sue. When I am feeling grounded, centred and with myself I feel that I will be able to hold it forever, but as soon as I am in a chaotic situation I find myself running around like everyone else. I too am slowly learning how to stay with me and my stillness no matter what is going on around me.
Yes me too Sue, it’s so easy to get caught up in the momentum of a busy day, but having the awareness of this is a gift, and then an opportunity to stop for a moment and catch your breath, your own gentle breath!
Sandra, so true having the awareness is a gift, when getting caught up in the momentum of the day. It’s an opportunity to catch a breath, a moment of stop or a gentle walk. This little moment changes the momentum instantly, how quick and simple it is.
Me too Sue. Universal medicine has been a godsend in presenting me with tools and ways of reconnecting with myself and holding that connection in my day to day activities of work, family etc
It’s great to appreciate that Johanna – like you before the support, tools and awareness that came from Universal Medicine presentations I was living completely void of connection to myself – no wonder things were a mess and I felt like life was a constant struggle, it’s so refreshing to approach things in a new and simple light.
I am too learning this forgotten way and owe it all to Serge Benhayon.
Even when people just pass buildings where fellow brothers feel and live in a never stopping pressure, working without self-loving choices, it will effect them. It is like a bath, we are all sitting in. Not to mention the energy of the outcome. I realize this energy is really omnipresent in social life. So thank you Victoria, for your spot on article and the wonderful vision, worth to bring every awareness possible to change the daily situations we work and live in – all together.
I have come from the high stress/poor health work situation and also know how widespread this disease is, how accepted as the norm it is in our society. Your vision needs to be implemented in our workplaces and allowed to blossom. Imagine coming home from work after a day in a workplace that has allowed us to lovingly support each other…
So true Victoria, to put anything before the wellbeing and quality of the team, is to work in a way that is completely back to front. And, so your suggestions simply make sense to me – and support the staff, clients and business equally – without any force or push needed.
Many would think that such way of running a business is not achievable or is life times away. However, I can speak from experience that Universal Medicine run their business like this. Where staff and clients are all equal, and every choice is not only for care and love of all (including self), but for evolution for everyone on a whole. It’s truly amazing, nothing seen any where else and once again universal medicine are leaders in bringing love and evolution to a way of living.
Hi Victoria, I really appreciate your words and can relate to so much of this. At this moment in time I am wavering between feeling steady, still and connected in work to moments of absolute stress and the difference of feeling in my body, the way I connect with others and the output of work is immense. Stress leaves me feeling absolutely exhausted both mentally and physically with a feeling of angst, drive and overwhelm, whereas when I am connected to me, the stillness, knowing and joy that I am then I feel vital, playful, productive, my body feels light and flowing and full of energy, and I leave work at the end of the day feeling amazing, not drained.
There is a tendency to make the client more important then our own employees. We want to do good, especially in the non-profit sector, but what good are we doing, when we don’t take care of ourselves first and our own employees? If there is no care in the workplace and for ourselves, the care we bring to our clients, is no true care. It is just a drive and a need in wanting to do good, while at the end of the day, we are suffering ourselves. Now what good is that?
I wonder sometimes if those who run companies justify the absence of care for employees by thinking that paying them is enough! But, as with everything the responsibility lays with us all to make a different choice. I became very stressed a number of years ago and made a commitment to myself to never allow that to happen again – and it hasn’t. My capacity for work hasn’t reduced though and in fact I’d say it is increased many fold. On top of this, because I take better care of myself, my absence record is excellent. There is a rhythm I have found that supports me well in my work and I love it!
Awesome testimony to the richness of the Way of the Livingness Richard. Thank you for sharing it.
Victoria you have literally shone a light on all that is not working, yet with such grace you have offered another way for all people equally, a true way that makes so much sense. I love what you have written, I love that you have written this for all to read, I can feel how it has supported me already. I have worked in the non for profit sector for many years now and I have seen the people working with other people considered ‘disadvantage’ who are actually in a similar place to their clients when it comes to health and well-being. It is interesting that we can forget about ourselves when we get caught up ‘helping others’ yet it is such common practice when it comes Non for Profit sectors. How has this become so accepted and not seen for what it is? Being a support through the quality of how we live is something I have only considered and began connecting to since meeting Serge Benhayon. Having now worked with Universal Medicine Students living in connection to themselves day to day in the welfare sector I can say this way stands out. As to be in the presence of someone who is actively working in stillness when there is a storm surrounding is deeply supportive and inspiring. It also feels safe and very nurturing of all. Like their steadiness is supporting you to feel that sense of settledness within also. I have also seen how it can support an entire workplace as you have shared. Victoria what you have written is the way forward for all people working in HR. Which is all of Humanity. Thank-you for putting this into words.
Emilia, this is very true , “It is interesting that we can forget about ourselves when we get caught up ‘helping others’ “. It’s great that you have shared this, as it’s something I often forget about, and I am sure there are others, when I get caught up in stress at work and wonder why I come home drained.
This is a great subject to begin to explore and question Victoria because so many world decisions are made in these seemingly toxic work environments – imagine if Harmony became the paramount quality every business sought in their origins – the rest would take care of itself – and the river would flow.
“that often ‘faceless’ group of people called ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’ ” In the moment I read this line, the penny dropped as to how manipulated the work place really is – that the very department established to support and care for the employees taint their role from the outset with the title ‘Human RESOURCE’ , implying I am nothing more than an expendable piece of material or equipment.
The power of words is revealed and the true intent exposed here – how differently might we truly value the human being in our employ, as our client, or end user – and what if companies renamed their departments to ‘Human Support’…
Bringing changes into workplaces can be a challenge, but as it is suggest here, there are simple (yet powerful) things we all can do that will start and lead to a big change.
I love your vision Victoria, people before profit, when we have this all else will fall into place – starting with our own self-care in the workplace.
The day cannot come soon enough when we have that change you speak of Victoria. When we let go of that hardness and competitiveness, to a time when we arrive joy-full at our places of work.
Thank you for the reminder Victoria, the only way I knew how to deal with stress was to do more hours, telling myself if I just get through and get these things done it will be okay. So I skip my morning walk to come in early, work through lunch, or snack while working, stay back late. Guess what; it does not work, I still feel stressed; there is still a mountain of work to do, I am not so caring of my co-workers. I have put work before myself and abandoned the very things that support me.
Imagine a world in which we make every interaction or business agreement about people first. Such a simple but world changing principle.
Thank you Victoria, a beautiful piece of writing and so true. What a pleasure it will be when we all flow in love at work. It will be only natural to treat our customers and clients with the same level of care and respect that we are living ourselves. As you say, the profit and purpose will naturally take care of it’s self. Sounds like a plan to me. When are you starting your company?
I agree Rachel, imagine customers coming in just wanting to feel how lovely the business is! Perhaps this will be a reversal of the trend of electronic business back to truly meeting each other.
What a vision Victoria – the workplaces of the future where self-love is normal and self-abuse is not ingrained in workplace culture
This is such a perceptive article, and what a great saying …” top spot in the caring consideration food chain” Humour as well as insight!
People before profit or purpose, is also another saying that could go down in history. It has come to the point in not-for-profit workplaces where people are too ashamed to take time for themselves, to even consider self-care. We were presenting a one-day professional development course to a large NFP in London that works with people who are sight challenged. When the group was asked to consider taking 10 minutes for themselves in the morning, just for self reflection and self nurturing, there was a stunned silence in the room. Eventually one woman put up her hand and said ,”I feel so guilty just at the idea of taking time myself”.
It’s great to see someone so active in the NFP industry writing with such clarity of what is needed.
There seems to be an idea that people are commodities in the workplace and you can just use them up until its time to move onto the next one. The business model you have presented of “people first” makes much more sense. I’ve worked in a very stressful intense work place which was described as “fast paced, fun and dynamic”, people who could meet the demands and continue to achieve output were of course lauded and recognised. We were regularly given motivation speeches by senior staff which was really to get us back on board on how “great” it all was when we were truly feeling the effects of the damage of the work environment. Basically, we were continually sold an idea of how it was when our bodies were saying otherwise.
Yes Victoria you highlight this crazy situation we have where the outcome is placed above the people. The staff of any organisation are its richest assets or resources and to pollute or run them down is such a false economy. It’s a bit like a gold mine deliberately damaging or adding impurities to its gold! Would a gold mining company ever do that? I don’t think so. So why do we treat people in an organisation differently as they are the real gold and key to the success of the business or company.
Yes, yes, yes, what a great read. There are so many points raised which are worthy of consideration. I would love to see every boss, ceo, company director, union, recieve a copy of this article. I see the false economy of pushing workers for short term goals resulting in a list of long term sickness and early medical retirement. How different our work experience would be if the points you raise were to be the norm. What a pleasure work would be and there could only be benefits all round.
Victoria, I envisage a room in your workplace just for rest and restitution, wouldn’t that be a wonderful start!
Thank you Victoria, just reading your blog felt so beautiful and powerful all at once. It does not make sense how our work environments function today, so draining! It is up to us, one by one to make the decision to make different choices and reclaim our right to self nurture, wherever we may find ourselves.
This such a huge one……self care in the workplace. I also work in a corporate environment and know very well how it is set up for us to not self care, it isn’t fostered, actively championed, in most organisations i’ve worked in. This is and will be an ongoing unfolding with the view that we can work in these environments and reflect another way of being. For those to see that there is and make other choices in their own time.
Self-care in the workplace – Now there’s something organisations can invest some of their training budgets into. Something that cultivates and supports happy, healthy, naturally productive staff… Now that would be an invaluable return on investment.
A gorgeous vision of our future workplaces Victoria.
Thank you Victoria for your helpful blog. At first I thought I’m not still working, so I won’t comment on this one Then I realised that although I no longer have a job I am still working – working on bettering myself, working on my relationships with friends, relations and those with whom I have contact in my everyday living. Your words ‘high stress’ and ‘poor health’ struck a chord as I need to combat these conditions with even more and more ‘femaleness’, ‘stillness’ and ‘gentlest ways’, as you suggest and as Serge presents to us.
I have worked in offices for a number of years before my current job and I know what a difference this could make … “to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.”
Victoria I love your proactive approach, there are some things we have no control over, but there is a huge amount we can do to change the culture. Self-care in the workplace is a great start. I have worked with someone who would not drink enough water because she would have to leave the phone to go to the toilet; she needed someone to give her permission that it’s OK to look after you. Most organizations do not take on People before profit because they think it is at the expense of profit, in my experience this is not true. Investing in people pays off with loyalty, customer service, a more harmonious workplace, and higher productivity. Compare that with the real cost of stress, injuries, illness and absenteeism.
Love it Victoria. People before profit…a true message for change.
Victoria- this is awesome- thank you for sharing. “Another is to consider the power of femaleness”- wow I hadn’t stopped to really appreciate the importance and necessity of femaleness for men and women In our workplace- and by the examples you have shared- the changes it will bring!- revolutionary.
I love one of the last lines about that the people referred to by ‘human resources’ are people just like you and me.
True indeed – we can’t keep making sacrifices at the altars of profit and mission at the expense of the human body and our health.
I agree with all you have expressed here Victoria; I also suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.
Thank you for sharing Victoria, I especially loved your ending –
“How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”
Well said, and you are leading the way Victoria by choosing your quality and ‘building your womanly body’, what an inspiration you are to others.
I love both your, unfortunately accurate, expose of how things currently are, as well as your suggestions on how to maintain one’s own health and presence in the workplace, Victoria. I am seeing precisely the same dynamic in public sector organisation so the mill seems to grind steadily on across the board. Being more of a woman and holding my self in a nurturing stillness, taking time to care my body ….connecting with colleagues…count me in.
As I read more of these comments I am impulsed to consider what the impact on the world of business would be if we did make self-care and ‘people before profit’ top of the agenda. Instantly I can feel that there would be a sea change, a complete transformation in so many areas – our whole business landscape would change. Whilst some may see this as threatening, it is surely the case that we cannot continue to ‘abuse’ ourselves without it becoming destructive. Surely it is pure common sense to choose self-care in our lives and our work rather than continue to walk the path of more and more disregard.
In my industry there is so much regulation that being outcome focused is forced upon organisations. This seems to have led to a task orientated and very stressed workforce. Yet, in the midst of it all, there is the occasional golden example of a staff member who never forgets that it’s about people first. Their interactions with our service-users are very beautiful and as a result, the service-user feels met. Somehow they seem to be less vulnerable to stress and spread a little joy wherever they go and they are an inspiration to all.
The writing here is a great prompt and example of how, if we take responsibility for and care for ourselves we set a foundation upon which everything else can be, flow and happen. Expand this into the work setting, and with people first, at the core of any organisation, all the things we struggle and strive for now: profit, productivity, success, would take care of themselves.
You have captured perfectly my observations of the workplace, lots for bullying – from men and women, people constantly pushed and overworked, lots of illness, poor productivity, lots of mistakes and accidents and bosses pushing harder to increase productivity – a vicious cycle that consumes people and leaves them broken.
You are also spot on with your assessment that we need to bring femaleness and self-care to workplaces. We can definitely create change by being a living example, this at least gives those working around us a real choice, and my experience is that there are always a few that are ready to begin caring for themselves – and so the river grows.
Lovely blog Victoria, I know I would like to work in a place like you have described and have already started this journey myself. I enjoy work so much more when I support myself and can feel the effect this has on others as well.
Let the River flow I say, does the work place have to be so stressful? A place where people are miserable and ill? No and it can be made a bit more fun and way less serious.
Well said Kev. It is crazy that it is the norm to be stressed at work. We certainly need to say ‘no’ to this and take control of our lives and our own bodies.
Inspiring blog Victoria, it would be awesome to see work places worldwide make their business to be focused more on staff than profit. I have just started a small business and I am inspired. Thank you.
Your blog Victoria is a testament to how simple true change can truly be. Thank you
Yes Joshua, if our quality of stillness became the change agent in organisations, true change would start to emerge. Rather than the endless cycling of reinvention and restructure for short term gain at the expense of some people.
This is so true, Victoria. Over the last years I could observe exactly the same thing. What makes a difference is, when one person shows a different way in daily work-life. Then collegues ask why, perhaps observe and want to know more or others react to this and stay away. That is my experience.
Awesome blog and so true of many many workplaces around the world. I love the fact that we do have the power and choice to change not only our selves but our lives and how we can be in all aspects of our day, including work. This makes me smile with such a feeling of joy as I know how amazing and joyful work is and can be for all by simply making choices that honour us first. Work can be and will be for all people one day an amazing and super joyful and playful place to be each day. It just feels amazing to feel people living this way.
Victoria, ooh the idea, I love it, building a womanly body at work, that stopped me, as I often find it so easy there to get into doing and forget my stillness, so wonderful to read this. And I know this, even while I’m still learning to live it. It really is about people first, but also people first connected to and coming from that stillness within.
Monica, it is really about coming from stillness, I am still learning to live this in my daily life. With the stillness what we can bring to our work is amazing.
Beautiful Amita, yes when we come from stillness our work is amazing, it just flows and everything is simple, something I am learning to live each day.
I agree Amita, in my stillness at work I can achieve as much as the person who is running around in a frenzy making themselves exhausted and stressed in the process. It is unfortunate, but I feel that many people feel that they need to be seen to be super busy, because otherwise they may feel they are not doing their job properly or they don’t have enough to do.
Ahhh your blog Victoria is music to my ears. What if this river were allowed to flow indeed. There is obviously a way we are being in our work places that is not working in terms of our health and well-being. What you share with us are basic fundamental tools. Self-care, connection, stillness, and people before profit – makes perfect sense to me.
It certainly makes perfect sense, simple tools.
I totally agree Marcia and Victoria. Profit before people is not going to work forever. Staff are one of the mayor assets to any company. And if they feel encouraged to take proper care of themselves, their appreciation will feed the company back manyfold.
I agree with you Victoria, and I love your intention to build your womanly work body,this has helped me a lot.I often dread going to work and end up resentful for not staying connected. I find it hard to find my work rhythm, no day is the same,there is pressure if its busy and pressure if its not. But if I choose to stay with me I am not affected, and everyone benefits.I really like the fact that, it can be in the smallest of ways, I can bring myself back. Thank you for this reminder.
I have worked in places that have felt like utter chaos. I would liken it to being in the middle of a hurricane except that the hurricane was unseen and yet felt with all of its intensity. Even amongst this chaos I have felt how I have a choice to join the hurricane or to offer something different, a steadiness and stillness that brings a welcome and refreshing change.
I can relate to your comment Vicky, the hurricane that is driving people to do a thousand things at once. So much stress. Gently, one step at a time, and it all gets done. Much less stress.
I love it – what a different way it would be indeed! I have often and most recently wondered how do we make work about people first.. and when I see others close to me working in jobs that are ‘highly stressful’ and there is no time at all to stop and even have a decent lunch when it’s needed – it had me pondering on the choices we can make for ourselves to stand out from the crowd so to speak, making the choice to build on such important self-honouring choices from the simplest ones first; perhaps even as an experiment for oneself to observe the differences in quality that we may very well bring to our work. Perhaps too, this warm flowing river will be inspired in another’s way of working too.
We live in a disposable society, but unfortunately ‘staff, or human resources’ are also seen as disposable and easily replaced if someone leaves. People feel very unvalued in knowing that they are seen as easily replaceable objects. A culture shift is required.
considering we spend so much of our time in the work place, you have raised some very important issues to reflect upon and provided practical tips that would make the workplace a lot more harmonious
We do this in schools also, turn children into robots to be inputed instead of beings wanting love and connection.
I work in several work places and get to notice and observe different dynamics, in one work place the office team are amazing, they are caring and genuinely loving towards each other and this is felt by anyone dealing with them. We have much to learn from those who can be harmonious with each other at work and it can be easily achieved if we are willing to put people first, not our position or money.
Victoria, your writing is truly beautiful and calls for the burgeoning questions to be asked in our workplace. It is far too common, in all areas of employment, that people are suffering and we are not questioning this. It is time for the topic to be opened up and discussed.
“How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation” – completely different, including many businesses would have to close down, or trade in something totally different, that truly supported humanity.
Absolutely Victoria! We are doing similar things at my workplace now, without perfection but it is an absolute awesome place to work. The whole office has a different feel to it when you walk in especially compared to another office that the people are exhausted, cranky, lousy etc etc.
Your post is warm, loving and inviting. I would love to work with you, thank you for presenting a better way to work…. what a marvellous business model.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work”. And it is the quality in which we do everything that makes the difference between ticking boxes and feeling deeply, even with self-care. Taking care of people before profit actually benefits everyone and every workplace.
Thank you Victoria. I can feel how the next area of business efficiency will actually come from supporting the humans in the business. There will always be technical advancements, however, having staff that are truly supported in caring for themselves will result in healthy, highly productive and efficient staff.
This is great to talk about Victoria. My experience has been of so much more sway in how I feel at work and what goes on when I care for and connect with myself in the ways you have described here.
I love your way with words Victoria. I have just started a new job at a University and I can see around me that my colleagues are overstretched and exhausted. I don’t drink tea or coffee, eat biscuits or cakes and I bring a calming influence to the office (their words). The more I connect to my stillness the more I can show them that there is another way. And since I have been doing the Gentle Breath Meditation in our rest room I have noticed there are more people using it…. strange that.
With true self care and a deepening of our inner connection, the joy and love that we are will be with us in whatever we are doing. It is our responsibility to deeply self care and self nurture to show the world/workplace that there is another way.
Absolutely Rosemary it all starts with us.
A very valid and important article, I feel its time to bring Joy and vitality back to our work places and how that will then expand out to the customers and public.
My experience is the people that I come across in work situations don’t like their work and its all about waiting for their time off, and that there is a strong belief that, that’s how it is and, if one enjoys what their work is, its not normal.
I too work in the non for profit sector and am humbled by your writing here Victoria. It has allowed me to feel that the stresses and demands that I feel within my work place are a normal everyday occurrence for mostly if not all workplace industries.
I have struggled within my workplace for a little while now balancing what it is to truly support the people I work with but also maintaining a level of pose and grace.
I feel this is the biggest struggle but slowly I am learning how to lovingly care for me within my workplace… and at the moment I am taking in my fresh frozen sealed aldi bought snapper fish and cooking it up on the premises which, when I sit down to eat it, feels like I’m taking myself out for a hot lunch everyday.. it is amazing 🙂 thank you for you insight Victoria.
It is worth to start with self-care for our selves and then by nature inspire others !
I see many people who gave up, they wait for others to start to change. But it is us – you and me-
who can bring inspiration and be infectious with a self-loving way of being.
We bring back the warmth.. step by step…
Very inspiring Victoria bringing self care and self love into the work place would be amazing and is much called for. By each one of us doing our bit in our own way and taking responsibility for ourselves and hence everything is the only way forward for the changes to occur lovingly.
As a high school teacher I can relate to the high levels of burnout and stress in the workplace mentioned in this article. It is a cycle of using coffee in the morning to perk up and alcohol at night to wind down whilst constantly reacting as a victim of the events that happen throughout the day. This system is built on the sole purpose of driving educational outcomes into students. It takes no consideration of student or teacher well being, resulting in resentment and stress to both. Students display extreme behaviour because their school life holds no love and their home life usually holds the same. Teachers take the brunt of this behaviour and are still expected to drill the syllabus into unwilling students. This repeats day after day, week after week until school holidays where teachers collapse feeling depleted and used. This is the work environment we have created for the teachers of our children and this is a similar case for many of our essential public services such as health care and welfare. If these services are essential, which we know they are, then why have we created such loveless and harsh working environments where we are the customers of these services?! Isn’t in our own interest to make these places of work about people, the people that work in, and the people that utilise these services?
Very inspiring – Yes, I agree it starts with us each taking responsibility to selfcare, self nurture so that “burn out” doesn’t occur. And what an amazing prospect if everyone was encouraged to stop, connect, feel their body, honour how it feels, and be supported, making it about people first over profit or people first over purpose. Indeed what a difference it would make. And yes it begins with one bringing that to work, to inspire others.
Victoria, yes the quality of care and attention we give to ourselves will be the quality of connection we bring to our workplaces and clients. We can initiate the change we want to see. I love ‘your intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.’ If we all followed such wisdom we would start to see some major shifts happening in stress reduction. It sounds obvious and simple enough in theory but it is in the commitment to being the one to start to do it that will inspire others to join.
Indeed Victoria, you are describing not only bringing self-care to the workplace but working from a place of self-connection which naturally flows onto others and is very supportive
I love this ‘people before profit’. For too long in our history it has been about profit, sales, and greed. The times are calling for change. We can no longer live like this as our current illness and disease rates show.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” Great blog Victoria. I never used to consider I had the strength to not be affected by everyone around me, but using simple techniques I have learned with Universal Medicine, I know I now have a choice and can make a difference when I stay connected to myself first.
I love this line ‘I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.’ The difference one person has on a work place is substantial by far. There are endless possibilities for a workplace when each worker is allowed the space and freedom of self care… People bring everything to a organisation as an organisation cannot bring anything without people.
It is very sad to see people detach themselves from work due to the pressures and demands. I know that absenteeism is high even when people are at work – being there but not fully there. I have found self-care to be an essential aspect in bringing me back to being more present and available at work. With consistent adequate sleep and taking notice of when I am feeling emotional or upset about something and being willing to look at it and understand and acknowledge what’s going on, I am finding that I am much more balanced and stable and willing to engage. My motivation has also improved. Self-care at work and beyond really helps with depression.
What has really stood out reading this is the possibility of creating a workplace that can be nurturing and supportive. At the moment the majority I know are far from nurturing but what a difference that would be. I am sure it would not be long before we then all realised we need to look after the way we live if we want to build a nurturing workplace.
This is the second time I’ve read this blog; I cannot go past how simple the work culture shift could be, to employ such sustainable ways and end the bulk of work place stress.
Sounds so simple and full of common sense and yet so not the experience of most at work today.
In my observations many within the non-for-profit sector are often just keeping their heads above the water and only a step or two ahead of their clients. The over focus on the clients can be driven from the top of organisations but also from the workers themselves as by helping someone else it can be a way of not really having to deal with your own stuff.
We do have to consider though what the quality of the service is- if someone isn’t coping in their own lives yet is giving support or advice to someone else- can we really expect that it is going to work? Considering it is not working for the person who is giving the advice.
Sometimes we don’t see the obvious.
For my work as a communication trainer I get into many different businesses. Profit and non profit. Apart from the low level of self care, there is often an energy of giving up, because it is felt that it is not about people first. I totally agree that self care, stillness and also taking responsibility are the first steps to a healthy work environment!
Thank you Victoria, it is hard to believe most businesses out there still do not get the importance of making about it people first and not just about profit at the expense of people. It is a powerful experience when as a client/customer you receive service from an organisation that fosters self-care and the importance of connection to their staff, it is felt miles away and definitely creates more business in the long run as it is so rare these days.
A business where people come first, where staff are supported to hold their inner stillness and are truly cared for – now there’s a place I’d like to work, and it doesn’t matter what I’d be doing – Where do I apply?
Victoria I love the ” people before profit’ sharing. I work in a non for profit and witness all the challenges identified. In this case it’s “people before no profit” and this would change everything in the care our clients receive!
Victoria, I love your blog and it has inspired me to reflect more on bringing ‘the woman to work’, and all the innate qualities reflective of our womanly nature. Leading like this with deep self-care would change leadership of people, teams, companies and economies – with care and appreciation.
This is a real and very open approach I would say. I find it very interesting and would actually be very curious if this is applied within a working field or workplace.. I bet it would make a real difference. And for all members within that business a great joy to come back to themselves and feel the joy of working again. It is absolutely worth trying!
When workplaces are about people first with the knowing that the quality of sustainable output is tantamount to the quality of sustainable input we will look back and chuckle about how it was done in the old days.
It is up to us all to work towards that by deeply caring for ourselves, bringing that to our workplaces and accepting nothing less.
As a starting point may I suggest that women (and men if they’re currently making the same choices)
go to the toilet when they feel to and not wait until they’re ‘busting!’
Victoria what you describe really is the key both in business and in life. When the inside flourishes then so too does whatever is being passed on as it is borne from that. I have shared many of your work experiences and in very simple terms people are rotting on the inside and so that rot has to be spread amongst colleagues and clients/ services because everything comes from energy and so we must ask ‘what is the source of our output ‘?
I love what you are saying here Victoria. I work and own such a work place as you describe and while not perfect the quality and quantity of the output would blow your mind. Coming from a stillness or connection first really opens your eyes to see more and then be more in any moment. I have noticed how this affects customers and everyone that is held within that environment. There is real power in stillness and in the connection to that, the connection to yourself. If we were to create just one of these ‘stops’ during a day we would already see a massive change. These stops are a time for you just to be with you, no deadlines, no next thing, no rush just a moment to sit or lay and just breathe. In the current model you are pushed and pushed and when you hit the desired target you are pushed some more. When and how does this end?
You touch on a great subject here and one that deserves more discussion in business circles. Our ‘workforce’ is becoming depleted as most would see. Even the name ‘workforce’ says it all. There are work systems based on everything other than people and in time we will see that if this is the case then these systems are usually the sickest when it comes to the individual. Thank you Victoria.
Thank you Victoria, it is hard to believe that still most workplaces do not get the importance of making business about honouring people first and instead are prepared to deal with high level of absenteeism, sickness and dissatisfaction.
As a client,It is a very powerful experience to receive service from a business that has an approach about people first and encourages their staff to self care and highlights the importance of making connection with themselves, it really stands out from the rest
Your vision of a workplace where people are connected to their innate stillness as they carry out their jobs is inspiring Victoria and very true. As is the idea of putting the employees first before purpose and profit, it seems weird that it should be any other way.
‘Building my womanly work body’. That is amazing, we can do that, I’m going to do that, let’s do that. I just listened to the Quality Building Meditation on the Unimed Living website and at the end of it I truly felt my womanly body. It is a beautiful feeling, that would support any workplace.
When the workers are respected as equals, and the manager/s self-care, then this encourages the employees to self-care also. This is how I have endeavoured to be as a manager in my own business. It has resulted in a great team of people whose overall health and wellbeing is constantly improving. I am continuously amazed at the support I feel from my employees and the positive choices that we all make each day. The most heartfelt experience for me is seeing teenage workers grow and shine within my business, developing a really high standard of self-care in the workspace while enjoying their work.
Wunderbarer Blog Victoria I am working in a psychiatry unit and there we have such bad working conditions that there is a high absenteeism. The rest of the team has to work very hard and guess what they have to work with patients who are burned out because of their working conditions!!!! That is so crazy . . . we as a team talked about our situation and we all understood that we have to do self nurturing things on our own. I find it so sad that the lead of the hospital don’t care about their staff and with that also do not care for the patients. However that taking care for a patient is the task of a hospital!!!! That is incredible and needs absolutely a reorganization.
Absolutely agree Victoria. If every organisation adopted a people-first approach founded on love, profit and purpose would naturally follow. This is a truth that the vast majority of businesses and not-for-prpfit organisations have yet to learn.
In a recent women’s presentation that I attended we were invited to speak about how we are as women in the world, and I realised that I see myself as a person first, woman second – we have developed an androgynous identity in order to fit in with what is still a male-dominated way of working. When I ask male and female friends what qualities a woman brings, I get a vague answer that says they see men and women the same – no difference. So is it up to us as women, to truly re-connect with our innate female qualities of stillness and nurturing and to bring them to the workplace?
There is a power in stillness that supports us to be steady in the midst of the chaos that is oftentimes in our workplaces, but it’s not easy to stay steady in this environment day after day. I sometimes wonder how much conflict, tension, anxiety, depression, and illness there has to be before we collectively wake up and say, ‘enough is enough, it’s time we started looking after the health and wellbeing of our people, they are equally as important as our customers and our products.’
I work in Human Resources and both enjoy and feel challenged by my work. I am often ‘sent’ into work places to resolve conflict. The conflict is driven from different issues – 80% of the time with something that has nothing to do with work.
“Another is to consider the power of femaleness – that deeply soulful, still, nurturing space that exists equally within women and men both”
The fact that nurturing is knocked out of the workplace is an issue which I meet, invariably this is the petri dish of workplace disharmony. I love your blog, it makes me feel I can continue to grow in myself and bring a difference to the places I work. I’ve seen it happen, and it is with just 1 person that the change to a workplace or team can radiate.
Great to hear from someone who works in Human Resources Andrew. Yes it is amazing how one person in the workplace can make so much difference.
Yes Andrew – one person can make all the difference – it’s crucial we consider the way we are at work.
I agree nurturing of self has been knocked out completely and the winds of change are there for it to be called back. I am so up for being a part of bringing it back!
Yes it is always wonderful to experience isn’t it, Andrew – when just 1 person makes a difference to the whole, just like the tiniest of pebbles still creates a ripple … and who knows how far these ripples then flow.
Working in an enviroment where self-care is nurtured would be so supportive for the employee’s and for the business.
Bringing Self-care into the workplace is so simple yet could change so much, for so many.
That’s really inspiring Victoria. Thank you.
A business that fosters and champions its team is one thing but a business who actually cares about the health, wellbeing and quality of their team would be incredible. It only takes the tiniest of change in mindset and approach to allow people to flourish. The change does not necessarily need to come from the top as it only takes one individual to be more gentle, present and self-caring for others to have the choice to adopt this approach to their work and their lives.
So true Rachel. Every individual within an organisation has the ability to change the culture within it. Demonstrating self-care is one way to inspire others and bring about organisational change.
I agree Rachel. I used to believe that those at the top needed to be the example but I know now that anyone in an organisation can be that example. Pointing fingers at the higher management is a very convenient way of abdicating responsibility!
I love the image you portray here Victoria, of what you see being the future of business being, because we truly all deserve to attend our place of work, “not with sadness, but with joy.” Hear hear.
A workplace with everyone in stillness and harmony what an amazing feeling that is and we know it can be.The more we can individually contribute to this the more it will make a difference and reflect to the world another way to be. What a great article presenting this thank you.
It is a beautiful image painted in this blog and if even one person brings their ‘flow’ and stillness into the workplace, it is felt and can be the trickle that ultimately melts and breaks down the ice.
Yes, people first and don’t to forget: I am “a people” as well…
Being recently new to the community sector industry and speaking to other workers in these roles I had noticed that even though it’s about “people” it is still expected of you to give it your all and not rock the boat in making sure that outcomes and missions are delivered at the expense of your own health. I never would have thought this was the case.
I have been astounded by the number of medical appointments that have been cancelled in our family in the past year due to the therapists being ill with various medical conditions. I have seen many therapists give and give to others yet not to themselves.
A Model of healthcare which excludes self-care as its foundation is merely fostering burnt out, depleted -health workers ill-equipped to deal with the escalated reliance on their care in place of self-sustained True Health and Vitality (which is very possible and very simple as taught by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine) and bringing this natural self-care and wellness to the True care of others.
To take care of self as being a part of the whole is very supportive of the working environment and inspiring to every person we meet. People who feel vital and love their work are the best guarantee for excellent work results. Actually that is no news or mystery but it needs the choice to value (every-)one´s wellbeing more than plain results at the end of the day.
I too worked at a place that put profit above everyone and to date the staff are constantly ill and often absent from work. I say yes to beginning to change the situation both as individuals and collectively that will lovingly support everyone in the end, through self care and trusting our femaleness. What a joy work would be then.
Victoria, you have addressed such a huge issue in today’s workplaces. It is rare to find people who love their work, who are vital and still, rather than stressed or running madly to the beat of the workplace. There is such a belief that self-care is something we do in our own time and we have to forsake it all when we are at work. As you have pointed out, this simply doesn’t need to be the case. I feel we as employees need to be careful not to blame the organisation for this. I can certainly see that the pattern of not caring for myself at work and giving priority to tasks is not imposed from outside but from within me. Changing this by developing self-care and self-worth has been key.
Thanks Victoria, I can imagine your stillness and femaleness inspiring your work colleagues in the most beautiful way. Inspiring self care, purpose and well being to become the new normal in your work place.
This is wonderful Victoria. I have printed this out and am putting it on the noticeboard at work for people to read. I will endeavour to model these self care techniques also.
Victoria, your vision for a loving, self- and staff-nurturing workplace is beginning to come true, thanks to your sharing and to what we learn with Serge Benhayon. I now start my day with connection to my self-care and loveliness, learning to drop the missions and racy have-to’s, realizing that if I’m not ‘right with myself’ then I will not be ‘right with the world’ and thus not able to be all I can be at work. What I do at home spills over – now when I work I can be myself there too, no different from during the nurturing time alone. I’m still on the steep part of the learning curve, but encouraged by feeling that whether I’m working alone on the computer or working with other people, I feel confident, present, joyful, and my clients benefit from this too!
It’s always struck me that we never (or very rarely) see that people in a business as the investment. I have worked in government organisations the majority of my working life and there may be the odd boss that operates this way, but the undercurrent of all of these organisations is that of the service provided and that always comes first. When you have people who work with people, surely the investments should be in the people – and all people (whether client or employee) equally. Thanks Victoria for your eloquently written article on such an important topic.
I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work. And when I really sit with this, my sense is it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for.
Victoria , these are words of Wisdom,
Yes I agree making it about people before profit is so important and it starts with selfcare- eg. being able to go to the toilet when the need arises without feeling guilty- felt and experienced in nursing
This is blog is inspirational and affirming for me. I lead a small team of 8 people in a big organisation. The team members are very supportive of each other and there is a high level of trust and respect. Team members are encouraged to speak up and any issues that arise are aired very quickly. Hours are flexible and family commitments are valued in the workplace. I have observed that with this sort of environment our staff turnover is low, we all love our work and staff are very willing to work longer when this is needed. At times I can feel personally challenged as some of my old work ideals and beliefs come up but I feel that I am continually evolving as a person, a woman and a team leader.
I love the picture you paint Victoria. Of businesses and organisations full of joyful self loving people that then overflows to the services they provide. I spent two and half years in a place of employment where caring for the employees was always talked about however this care came in the form of making sure there was always a supply of chocolate’s. lollies, coke and coffee available for when stress and anxiety became out of control. In a professional office of only five women, two were on long term antidepressants and another was continually having medical tests which would amount to the doctors not knowing what was wrong. There is definitely something wrong with this picture.
Great points raised here and timely as I read it on my lunch break. When I read the close your eyes for a few moments I realized was tired and I have a mobile nap station at work so taking your advice and off for a quick nap!
Beautifully shared Victoria, I see this all the time. It is not at all supportive of the staff, and because of this drive for profit over making life about people the staff become resentful, and this in turn is passed onto the customers.
It would be great if there was more care taken to stop and connect to the staff in work places, make them understand how important they are, and that they matter more than the dollar.
I agree with you completely Victoria. Quality is compromised when people are not put first, and this is evident in the health industry, the very industry that is supposed to be active in ‘helping’ people. Workplaces do not understand what is possible and what can happen when a workplace is unified and your team of ‘human resources’ unite.
Victoria, you have clearly shown a true way of a workplace. It baffles me how we have come to accept that a ‘business’ or a ‘company’ which is non-living, consume the life force of its employees and this the ‘normal’ way of doing business. This relationship is parasitic. What sort of workplaces would we have if everything was based on a symbiotic relationship, between all?
On many occasions I have had the opportunity to reflect on how powerful it is to honour who we are and to be this in the work place, as well as anywhere else in life, equally so.
When I honour and hold true to all that I know that I am, I have been present in many meetings and work activities over the past few years where I have felt that holding a level of stillness within me allows everyone else the choice to feel this in themselves.
A simple example is walking into a meeting room with a heated debate in progress, yet holding true to my stillness, not raising my voice or enjoining the hype when I speak certainly has brought a level of calm to others – generally not by what I have said, rather how I have said it, that has presented the possibility of another way.
Great to re-visit this blog! As I am looking for a new job at the moment, I feel to re-commit to myself and especially to give myself the space to trust in my femaleness, my innate stillness and loveliness – setting the standard and bringing these qualities with me into my new workplace. Thank you Victoria for this inspiration and this beautiful phrase.
“On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work” I love this Victoria this is what it is all about where ever we are and indeed very needed at work where most people are only in “the doing”.
Thank you Victoria, I want more people like you in my business!
What an inspiring article. The feeling left in me is so palpable. I can imagine and do also long for what you speak of. I am inspired to make the necessary simple, daily changes in my own workplace. I am a teacher and your reflections on the workplace are not unlike my own. There is much room for change and thank you for leading the way and describing how you are doing it.
This is great Victoria. I too have worked for businesses where its all about profits and as staff we definitely weren’t so important in the equation. A true business model is something that the whole world could do with.
Another great blog, Victoria. I agree that both profit and purpose would look after themselves if we all valued the care that people actually at the workplace gave themselves first….bringing that gorgeous, warm river flow-on effect you so vividly described. It seems true that in many work organisations the answer to increasing illness, absenteeism, stress etc is “to push those still standing to do more,” which only serves to perpetuate the downward spiral of workplace resentment. Yet, with simple self-caring and self-loving choices, this could easily be turned around….with enhanced purpose and profit!
It should always be about people! When I feel that I’m in my self then my work starts to get very complicated. When I put my self outside my work things begins to get easy and meaningful.
I love the idea of ” ‘womanly work body’ “. Great blog that reminds me to BE with me even when I am at work, and not wait to connect to myself until I’m done. I know too many people who are absolutely exhausted on Fridays after having pushed themselves so hard through the week and forgotten totally about caring and being in stillness. It’s like we need time to be still instead of being still and loving in the doing/working.
I agree Victoria, people before purpose in a workplace actually ensures the purpose of the organization is met and mostly exceeded because the people working in such an organisation are vital beyond the status quo we have today.
Thank you for your blog, Victoria! Only today did I have a small personal revelation whilst reading what you wrote about self-care: “One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.” I moved desks in early December and I now sit with my back to an outside wall. After a few days I realised the temperature in this corner of the office must be a few degrees colder because of the proximity to the outside wall. I noticed that my legs and feet in particular were feeling the cold more. The following week I brought in a pair of slippers. As I slipped them on I had to laugh, slippers in the work place?? I felt I could be so bold because my little corner of the office is less visible to outside visitors allowing me the chance to step back in to my footwear in plenty of time. The effect was immediate; my feet were cozy, my body felt warmer and I was no longer aware of the colder temperature. And today I realised from reading your blog that I was making a loving choice by bringing my slippers in. No pomp and circumstance, just self-care in the workplace!
‘It is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for. When I read this sentence Victoria, the truth of statement resonated deep within me. I was reminded of how central to being observant of and not reactive to the world that stillness is. Thank you, I will take this gem into the world with me today.
Love rereading this Victoria, it is a very playful programme to put yourself on building a woman’s body for work, I am with you and am up for the deeper level of care and love that I need to support this. Thanks for the reminder.
Stillness is the solution – and how active we can be in Stillness – Wow! I find these Gentle-Breath-Meditations presented by Serge Benhayon very helpful, since it is simply a way to breath: (http://www.unimedliving.com/meditation)
And breathing… we do all the time anyway!
What has been proposed in this blog in relation to changing the way we work and the way organisations are structured towards profit rather than making their business about people, is great, and I look forward to dealing with organisations that choose to operate in this way, in the future, as it feels like a bit of a stretch for most organisations to even contemplate at this moment in time that this way of doing business is even possible let alone implement it.
As a secondary school teacher in the NSW public school system I can relate to the observations made by the author. Burnout, stress, and illness are commonplace and are really ‘par for the course’. But why have we accepted this as being normal and how does this affect the people in the school system, in this case our children and teachers?
“Most organisations’ answer to that is to push those still standing to do more, or to simply re-hire.” This is such a devastating answer to the problems of the workplace environment and is the set norm and leads to staffing difficulties through stress and illness. We have sadly accepted this as normal but what if, as you suggest their could be another way to be at work? “With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” This would change everything.
Most definitely Rachel. Putting people first before profit and choosing quality over quantity surely seems like a great step towards healthier employees too as it shows a true appreciation for the service they provide.
Yes I agree. I suspect that having quality would mean less quantity was required!
When reading your post Victoria I was taken back to a time when I worked in an educational environment that clearly valued the reputation and health of the school over that of the staff and students.Self care was rarely mentioned, in fact there was more of an emphasis on a martyr mentality. How gorgeous it would be to work in an organisation where people were honoured first, before profit and purpose.
What a lovely place to work that would be. It seems logical to look after ourselves and that people should come first. I feel the strong, solid foundation of this. I would love to work there.
Greed and results are the common theme where I work. I find that my managers etc are such beautiful and caring and amazing human beings when you connect, but work strips that off them to some degree, as the result comes before the true care of the workers.
This is so true Victoria. We need to make work about people first, as you mention, before profit or purpose. In that, we must hold all people as equal – no one deserves more love and care at the detriment of another. Both customers and staff require the same respect. We can make a choice to do that now and be blessed to work in the scenario that you present.
Love your practical article Victoria.
Beginning simple, with self-care at work. Tiding your desk, going to the toilet when needed., making time to stop for lunch. No complicated theories or what so ever to solve problems, just simple things to start with. Very inspiring.
I totally agree with this Victoria. The last business i worked for took little care of the staff, and there was, and still is as i’m aware, a high turnover of staff. I don’t see how this can benefit the company or their customers as there is a constant stream of partially trained employees.
“With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.” Yes I agree Victoria and it actually does take care of itself. When the staff feel seen for what they do and appreciated they bring that into their work attitude and that has a strong magnetic pull on others, customers, clients, etc. People are naturally drawn towards a business that operates this way, even though they may not be able to put their finger on it and nominate it as such, but I have watched it happen. And I have experienced it the other way round as well, the moment the care and appreciation dropped the profit dropped with it.
Thanks for your blog Victoria. While reading it I began reflecting on how I am in my place of work. I support people with mental disabilities to live as independently as possible in the community, and in the house I work in we support three people.
I really enjoy the work but have found it very important that I have things that support me whilst there otherwise I would be greatly affected by negative energies in the house. Such things not only include the food I take each day to support my diet, but holding my stillness which I have found has a calming affect on the people we support as well as fellow workers who are often in quite a momentum.
As I do occasional sleepovers, another important aspect is to set up the area I am to sleep in a supportive manner.
The supports we have for ourselves at work are necessary and can have a positive affect on those around us.
So true Victoria and thank you for highlighting this question, “How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”–and yes they do take care of themselves! Finding that when people are the main focus, the joy, harmony and connection we have with ourselves and therefore to others, make work really simple and enjoyable, not only can we complete work in less time, it is done in such enjoyment with everyone, with uncompromising amazing results.
What a lovely blog Victoria and how important is it to look further than the current solutions that are being offered in the workplace now that it has become so obvious that the way we are working does not actually work. What your suggestions bring is a level of care and love for humanity to be at the basis of everything instead of finding ways to keep people functioning which is the current way of dealing with what is before us.
Work that doesn’t work: how ironic that is. The functional approach to human resources – us – is a mere propping up of the system. Soon enough the system will stall as the people run out of steam. Unless of course we start a self-love revolution, where enough of us understand things have to change, and have the tools to make it happen.
Thank you Victoria – you are right, with all the current pressures at the workplace, we can so easily end up putting self care on hold till the work is done – and of course the work is never done as there is always more to do. I can see how important it is to gradually build into our day, little ways to support and care for ourselves so as not to forget ourselves and how valuable we really are. These little things are actually not that little at all, and can make that big difference in how we feel at the end of the day and how we are with ourselves at the beginning of the next. And as I have learned, the little things are the ones that have ripple effects in such lovely ways for ourselves as well as our work colleagues.
Yes, if we waited ’til all the work was done to self-care, we’d never take care of ourselves. We’ve all heard the stories about people falling seriously ill or suddenly dying after retirement – perhaps they waited too long to put their own needs first… and suffered the consequences.
I love this Henrietta. There’s a feeling of working within our work – bringing self-care to the work place. It’s very true, these ‘little’ things are not little at all. They make a huge difference.
I spend longer in my work place than I do my home. So I make my work place an extension of my home, so I just go from one home to the next and back again
I love this! Travelling between ‘homes’ – so simple. Then I guess too there’s our ‘inner home’ – our solid inner selves – which we can take absolutely anywhere… our home away from home. “Don’t leave home without it!” as the famous ad says.
Love it we are our home and just the places change, but never how we are with ourselves. Consistency within ourselves is our true home.
This is a beautiful way of looking at work Prof. Phil… no different to working in our homes, washing the dishes or ironing clothes, in a quality we then take to our workplaces. I hear “I can’t wait to get out of here”, and observing staff changing as they walk in the door, like they’re coming to the worst place ever. I can remember this as well, so looking forward to a break or holiday to actually enjoy myself, because work was not a fun place to be. Looking back though, I can see why I felt this way, as I didn’t look after myself and was always trying to do it all and not checking in with how my body was feeling.
This is great inspiration for me with where I am at in my work place. I am aware of how my body feels throughout the day from different situations that arise, and I am working on staying connected to the stillness in me and express from that. I have a history around the fear of reactions I might receive back that I have built up in my head and this will stop me staying connected and expressing what I feel to. Thank you Victoria.
I can relate to that… fearing speaking up because of what might come back. I’ve learnt though that not speaking up at all is worse, and that it does take practise and commitment, especially if it does not come easily.
This is a great read Victoria, Thank you. I can apply what you have said, to the area of work I am in… nursing. Imagine if every health care worker brought to the bedside a level of their own self care… I’m sure this would have such a positive effect within the health care system.
Its amazing to see where we are really at in the business and working world, the model needs some serious work as it sits as a sad set of affairs. With this blog Victoria you bring clarity and light, there is much responsibility for all to learn in how and what they bring to the work place.
This is so great to read. I have just started in a new workplace and I had already decided to make new choices: be present in the work I am doing, not working with a goal in mind, take good food with me from home, put on a make-up that shows my beauty and most of all, pay attention to my body. I have to admit that the last one is a tough one for me, but hey…one step at the time.
The part about bringing the femaleness to work puts it to a higher level, really inspiring…. I am looking forward to Monday.
How perfect for me to read this blog today. After a full on day at work this self care with myself needs to be taken to the next level. although I feel that I have been able to support myself thus far at my workplace, there is definitely room for improvement. Now for me it’s getting down to the very specific details, how I type, how I walk around the office, how tight or hard I am holding the pen. These things are often done automatically but now that I am ready to deepen my awareness of how I hold myself at work I can feel the tension building up in my hand and my body from working in a not so gentle way. i look forward to testing out this next level in the week to come. Thank you for sharing this blog.
Wow, Victoria, I like the idea of a workplace like that – where people come first, and not the deadlines and a constant push to do ‘better’. Unfortunately it’s a while off yet in most work places I feel, as we still put up with it and don’t express how we truly feel on a daily basis.
Well said Victoria. Hear hear. I also imagine that one day the stillness that lies within us will be seen and felt from all employees through a people first approach.
The changes in the workplace you speak of Victoria are so crucial and necessary.
Our aim must be to broadcast your illuminating and wise presentation where ever in life we are able.
Victoria you have brought forwards a topic that is relevant to so many people and what they live every day at their place of work. I look forward to reading more comments on this thread and those rare stories of how and what some businesses are doing to buck the trend rather than wearing down their work force.
Victoria what a great reference to the tumbleweeds we become when we don’t make loving changes at work. How can we provide a service when we are choosing not to service the vehicle that brings the quality service to another? One simple action to make loving choices can be a powerful example for others to follow. Just like the words in this blog.
Thanks for the gentle reminder.
Victoria, what you are offering here is so simple yet so powerful. The seemingly small but life changing suggestions do not cost in the fiscal sense and have the power to change an entire business. People taking care of themselves and honouring their needs become joyful and highly productive employees who can turn a business into a success. The definition of success here is not just about financial success but also success in customer and client service and employee happiness and productivity. The business then becomes about people first and true success comes from this.
Julie
Thanks Victoria, you share what is so needed in most businesses out there and change can be simply choosing to self care as a starter to bring about true change within the employees which then would flow into their own lives. A win win for all.
I envisage workplaces where everyone, the management included, consider it not only normal but imperative to carry on their day in stillness and self care, with everyone supporting each other to achieve this. These I see as the workplaces of the future and the future starts now with us taking responsibility every moment to choose to connect with ourselves and to make loving and self caring choices in and out of the workplace and to support others to do so.
simply put Victoria. Taking care of ourselves at work is an important consideration
It is so true how you say that people become faceless in some organisations. Making it about people first would be wonderful to stop the treadmill that workers are on at the moment. Sick days would drop exponentially with this as the key focus first and foremost.
People before purpose and people before profit – I love this and feel a sense of ease with it. Imagine all workplaces being about people first – customers, staff and suppliers being treated with equal value, and staff being encouraged to practice self-care while at work.
I have definitely seen that putting profit or purpose before myself never works. We can get hooked on ‘purpose’ or even just recognition and acceptance in both not for profit and commercial organisations. This approach only ever leads to mistakes and decreased productivity in the long run.
Victoria, your article resonates deeply in me and I can feel the urge to change our way of working and our way of being with ourselves if we do not want to run into a disaster.
Wow I can feel what the future work space could be. And yes its not about money but our intention and purpose of business and the quality we bring to the work place that makes it a living healthy business. Thanks Victoria for being there.
My workplace in the Education sector is filled with unhealthy food choices, coffee and high rates of burn out and absenteeism. Sadly the focus is on data and outcomes, not on the health and well being of teachers and students as an all encompassing approach . This model cannot support itself over time and this is evident in the failing health of teachers and the many health conditions of students and behavioural problems. The warm river you speak of Victoria is a beautiful analogy and a river very much needed to be felt.
Thanks Victoria, that is beautiful. Where you write, simply, of how it could be, I felt a joy of what it could be like and the inspiration that would be to everyone who came into contact with a business that was people before profit.
I see many employees, mostly cleaners in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. they are under pressure to perform their duties in quick time; sometimes at the expense of their own health or the standard of work which is required. It does need to change and how much more joy there would be in the workplace.
Victoria, you have summed up the NGO human service organisation sector to a tee, who sadly seem to ignore the needs of their staff. I’ve been there, but thankfully with the help of Universal Medicine’s complete wellbeing and lifestyle options I now know how to take much better care of myself in any environment. I absolutely love your image of a warm stream gently massaging the hardness away.
Victoria thank you for such a beautiful blog, I love the way you write and the message is clear…people before profit. How different our world would be and will be in the future as the river slowly but surely flows.
This was a beautiful, inspiring read I especially loved the statement ‘ I envisage this effect as a gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks.’
I love what is brought to light in this blog – the simple key of self agency – taking responsibility for taking care of yourself in every way possible rather than giving up or shaking your fist at the way in which businesses or organisations are run. Change can begin with such small steps that build such a strong foundation within.
And thank you for the reminder to connect to that innate stillness and loveliness within and not leave it behind when I walk into the office!
Thank you Victoria; I work in Aged Care; in a nursing home environment and yes sadly, I experience what you have expressed pretty much every work day. The employees all feel overworked and stressed which leads to them just not turning up for their allocated shifts which in turn leads to high staff turnover. Its a very dis-heart-ening cycle.Top of the list of my work place corner stones is ‘Put People First’, if this was truly implemented my work environment would be a very different place. Let the warm river flow, freshen, leanse and soften even the hardest rocks.
How awesome would it be if all workplaces had a foundation based on care and appreciation. Care of yourself and care of each other. Appreciation of yourself, and appreciation of each other. How could that care and appreciation not help but be expressed in whatever the service is your workplace provides. With our society’s escalating lifestyle related illness and disease statistics, it is obvious that the fundamental lack of care people have for themselves and others can no longer be ignored. Thus, true self care needs to become a reality for each of us individually and then collectively to turn the tide of how workplaces are currently being driven and how people are choosing to live.
I am living as a freelancer and I can do my own workflow. The huge pressure and exhaustion of the workers in the industrial world is coming through meetings, phone calls and emails. So it is the most important thing to claim every single day my own rhythm.
In business-life you always talk about profit. So if a business runs to make money I work for “making money”. That itself is already exhausting. But if a business is not about making money but a business that makes money to invest back into people it is one of true profit. In this environment employees are supported to bring in their quality in full.
I love this blog and can so relate to all that you share. I have been aware of this in the workplace and it’s something I am working on everyday, staying with the stillness and presence within myself and doing what needs to be done from there. This makes work and life very different from getting caught in the stress, pressure and overwhelm ( I end up feeling exhausted and resenting being there or doing what needs to be done, whereas work and tasks are a joy when I take care of myself and present all I have to share). But what I really noticed and question is just how prevalent and strong this is in every work place I have been, there is a growing pattern and trend for burn out, dissatisfaction and stress. I agree that there is another way we can approach our day and work which would make life much more enjoyable and vital for all. This is something that most definitely needs to be explored, as people are calling for it everywhere. Work and life are definitely about people and loving relationships first, this just makes me smile, and feel why would I not want to be at or enjoy my work.
What you have expressed here Victoria is revolutionary but also makes an incredible amount of sense! I remember feeling so drained on leaving my office job even though not much had been actually done! Your blog presents a deeper understanding of what is truly going on in the workplace and how this needs to change to foster a true way forward for us all
Great post Victoria, those in charge of workplaces need to realise that healthy, looked after workers are more efficient and profitable than sick ones. By pushing people to the brink they are creating the opposite of what their goals are. A productive , profitable workforce.
Jane that is a great point, we need to make sure we make daily choices to support us at work rather than feeling victims of the workplace. This is often over looked.
I can imagine a workplace whereby self-care is a pillar of corporate culture!
To be with myself and to be conscious of caring for myself while I am working is such a change as to how I used to work. It is so much more fulfilling and the day flows.
Self-agency, femaleness, self-care, stillness, people first – sounds like a (r)evolution to me. Beautifully expressed Victoria. And it is coming.
Love it Alan (r)evolution and indeed it is.
A workplace where people are practicing stillness and self-care – Yes please. It has made a huge difference in my life living in this way and my work life has changed enormously where I now love going to work everyday.
Victoria, your words really struck a cord with me especially “On the personal level, I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work”. It warms my heart to see that much-needed change is starting to happen. I worked in management for a multinational company some 20 years ago. The environment was still very male dominated for example, when I first became a manager the circular letters to all managers were addressed “Dear Gentleman’ and telephone message pads were pre-printed “Mr . . . . . . . . called”, “Please call HIM back”! It was never envisaged that a woman would make or receive a business call!! Consequently I had no concept of a ‘womanly work body’, or any notion of the power of femaleness. Rather I took on the male role, with far reaching consequences to my health (life threatening cancer at 50 in my most female part!). Through meeting Serge Benhayon and attending Universal Medicine workshops I have cleared nearly all my entrenched ideals and beliefs and can now see what a difference I could have made had I connected to the fact 20 years ago that “it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’”. Go for it Girl! It is much overdue.
Wow what a powerful blog, something that feels to be shared with all who work no matter the sector. “People before profit” is a world altering philosophy that if truly claimed by workplaces could make a change like never before seen. As you write, it begins with us each making the choice to self-care – what a simple choice to make.
Thank you Victoria – the feeling of a work place founded on stillness is indeed in such stark contrast to what is largely available at present. How awesome to be able to begin to found this, in as simply as choosing to be still and nurture ourselves, and reflect that there is a way to be efficient, productive and really enjoy what we do by virtue of these choices.
Hi Victoria, to read and know how this is familiar to so many people is actually deeply sad. Too often I hear people say that they can’t wait to reach the age that they can stop working and really start enjoying life again. It is so accepted that people work to pay the bills that they don’t even consider there might be a different approach to work. I recently met a worker who came to fix a door in our home and I asked him how the construction company was doing. And he said: “it is doing great, we have no issue with the economy crisis and we did not have to let people go. The only thing is that we will not have a salary raise this year, but we all have work and we enjoy it. And than he started telling me how the company takes care of the elderly workers. At age 50 they get a training to teach younger workers their skills, and they can start working 30% less so that their body will not be worn down at the age of 67. This will cost the company a little money, but they do not mind, because it is more important to keep the knowledge from the elderly workers in the company this way. So that they have a consistency in quality within the company. And the workers are very loyal to the company. So both the company and the employees benefit this way. It is great to have more of these reflections in society to see that there is another way!
Wow, Diana, what an awesome experience to come across a worker who shared his amazing employment story with you. These are the stories that need to get out into the world, to show that there is another way. I feel sure that if his company took in to account the money saved from employee absences, illness, etc. because of the dedication the workers feel in turn for being treated so lovingly and tenderly, the company would find that rather than costing them money their loyalty to their employees is actually saving them money in the long run. Thank you for sharing!
That sounds wonderful Victoria. Thank you for sharing this with us. Imagine how productive a company would be when people wouldn’t be bringing themselves down with coffee and food that is draining the body instead of nourishing it.
One day Businesses will come to know that it is possible to have people without a Business but it is never ever possible to have a Business without people. People are the Businesses’ foundations. If you do not take care of your foundations, what happens?
Fantastic point Andrew.
Good point Andrew, for a business, customer care is very important and most businesses are customer care focussed, but if the business doesn’t treat it’s staff with care, the staff are less likely to truly care about the customer.
Great contribution, thanks Victoria. I am sure that a people first organisation would be very profitable because there would be less absenteeism, much less unhappiness and stress. People would actually love coming to work and stop seeing it as a necessary evil to get their bills paid.How awesome is that!
Absolutely Gabriele, imagine a workplace where there is so little absenteeism because everyone actually enjoys coming to work and self-care of people is actually prioritized, not merely a part of the Mission statement or code of ethics but a living practice.
What a beautiful article Victoria. I also work in a corporate environment and used to seeing a total lack of self care of how individuals choose to live at work. There is a feeling of helplessness and being driven by what the ‘the corporation’ says they should do, or the flip side, there can be an act of rebellion that occurs. Neither is true, just a reaction to not feeling they are able to make their own choices to foster self care in the workplace. What you have presented is that there is a way for people to feel empowered within themselves, that there is another way for people to take responsibility for themselves and not be so impacted by their external environment. For me, this is an ever unfolding process, taking time for myself, connecting in with myself at different times throughout the day. To truly build a solidness within myself that isn’t dictated by everything and everyone around me.
Thank you Victoria, your blog has stuck a very deep cord in me and released a blockage that was there but which I had not been able to define – ‘faceless’ group of people called ‘staff’ or ‘human resources’ . How often we glorify the organisation that has HR resources without realising that it is just another name for the ‘Faceless’ staff that are not being truly held as the beautiful liquid gold that they are. I now know what I am to develop in my self first and in my work place – ‘it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for’ – thank you for bringing this revelation with your very simple, clear and truthful blog.
Thank you Victoria for sharing your experience of bringing self care and the quality of stillness to you work. I too have experienced how work can be joyful when I truly take care of myself both at work and outside of work. The techniques I use to support myself at work are simple but very powerful. One such technique is ensuring that when I am typing I feel every time my fingers touch the keys. Throughout the day I also take a moment to roll back my shoulders and open my chest and check in with how I am breathing. I know this might sound funny but often at work I can feel that my breathing changes depending on what is going on around me i.e. if I have just had an interaction that has been tense or demanding I will notice my breath becomes shorter and more restricted. I will begin to feel anxious in my body and a “let’s push through” mentality will try and take over. In the moments when I notice my breath has changed I simply stop, acknowledge what I am feeling and bring my self back to me by breathing gently through my nose. This moment of stop is so supportive and it means that I can let go of what has happened and once again give my full attention to that task at hand. Work used to be a chore for me but by introducing true care of myself at work my experience is now one of joy.
The challenging world today with high stress levels, pressures and imposed beliefs we all take on combined with pressured work environments with everyone together in this is a huge concern for health today. As you say if we all make changes for ourselves by taking time to self care and connect to our bodies lovingly we can all make a difference as we all effect each other. Putting people before purpose and profit and everyone will win. Great article and much love for all. Thank you .
It is a funny thought to think that we would put staff on the same priority of care to the customer. From the first day a corner store opened we have been told “The Customer is always right” – “The Customer always comes first”
I for one would like to see the business world take up this new model, bring equality to both sides of the service counter.
Your image of a gorgeous warm river softening hard rocks is so delightful. I am sure it is not simply an ideal, as we can all choose how we live, and this cannot but make a change to everything else.
Yes Rebecca I too can feel the warmth and fluidity that Victoria speaks about that she brings to her workplace, just through the simplicity of connecting to her stillness and essence. What a priceless gift !
What a great idea to exercise self-care in the workplace rather than follow the norm. It is a big ask to wait for the world to change before we change…be a leader of change.
I sometimes wonder about the motivation of those who support the non-profit sector. Would there be a difference between giving out of the fullness of your heart to serve humanity on the one side and giving to balance the way the money had been accumulated on the other side? If it is the latter, could that affect all those who receive the money? Would the guilt that came with that money have an effect?
A great point Christoph. I know I never like someone treating me with ‘pity’ or doing something for me out of guilt or duty – that feels horrible and belittling to me. But when someone is already full of joy about life and extends support in that manner, it enriches my day. As Victoria says “With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves” and those the companies serve would be blessed with the quality of what they receive.
It is very easy to get caught up in all the things that have to get done but I have noticed when I do that I do not speak to my colleagues with the care I usually would, I forget things and I feel exhausted and I just want the day to be over so I can go home.
When I remember to just do one thing at a time; work my way through the list without worrying if I’ll get it all done, I take the time to properly greet my colleagues and inquire about them and their lives, I don’t think about going home and I enjoy my day.
Beautiful reminder Laura, thank you – I will take your words into my day.
Joy at work – a rare moment hidden amongst the many that are not joyful – seems crazy and yet is our known reality. It is truly sad that we as humanity push and pursue the profit margin at the expense of the workers within organisations. This is even more crazy when you consider that those workers are actually the consumers outside of the organisation so the lack of care and integrity forever ‘merry goes round’. I love the phrase – people before profit – it feels expanded and supportive and you can feel how with that as the vision for any organisation how truly everyone who works and comes into contact with the business would benefit.
So true Richard. Caring for the carers is something that is all too often overlooked. I remember being a visiting practitioner in residential care homes for people with disabilities. I used to massage the clients but the carers were probably in more need of it!
That’s very true Rebecca – the carers are often the ones who need to learn about self-care more so than the clients.
Victoria it is lovely to read how you care about the people you work with, and that you can do this because you choose this care for yourself first. I am with you, standing for the people first approach as this is what it is about for me in the workplace. As you say, when we take care for ourselves and each other in the workplace – people first – the product of service we will deliver will be of a currently unknown quality and that all without the need to focus on that aspect of our work. It will be a natural result of us working together in a caring and people first environment.
Self Care at work as you share can be as simple as walking away from the computer to take a much needed toilet break or making sure you take a lunch break and get some fresh air. Self care at work is about the ‘Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work’ and of course wherever we are.
“How different would work then be, and how different the quality of the work received by the client or customer? With a loving, people-first approach at work inside every organisation, I suspect profit and purpose would naturally take care of themselves.”
Awesome Victoria. A front page headline. Thank you.
I found many office environments can be hard and stressful to work in, so self care would be essential to bring this very much needed change to the way we work.
Me too Shirley-Ann, I am going to ask myself that question as I finish each working day, taking care not to be harsh and judging of myself as I do.
I found what you had to say very illuminating Richard. From the outside in it is so clear that an organisation’s values must apply to all, and are surely a nonsense otherwise. In the past I have worked, and now work in an organisation that, at least on the face of it, values its employees and their well being, and yet, these environments are still disharmonious and lacking in love. I wonder if this comes down to the lack of self worth of each person at work. When it comes to it, somewhere deep inside we seem to have the notion that work comes first, and is more important than the individual, and so the organisation struggles to live its values, because it is of course made up of all of us.
Good points Catherine. I can feel a temptation to point the fingers at the CEO and directors and say ‘you must lead by example’. The truth is however, that anyone in the organisation can stand for the true values of self-care, self-love, person centred working and be that reflection for others.
As people return to work after the holiday break, what if we “begin to exercise self-care in the workplace”? People before profits would be great to see in all workplaces. Are people returning to work refreshed – or exhausted from the festivities and excess drinking and food consumption? Self-care at home also would be my motto.
Yes Sue, we can’t just expect to switch on self-care at work if we are not doing it at home too. I am back to work today after the Christmas break and have been inspired to be more self caring from reading this article and all the comments.
When I read, ‘it is the quality of femaleness in particular that has the potential to be the true ‘change agent’ we are looking for,’ I feel how powerful connecting to and expressing from this quality can be. I am inspired, thank you.
Yes Victoria I agree that often in many organisations and workplaces the health and well being, including mental health of employees is often placed at the bottom of the list. Crazy really when you think about it because surely it is costing organisations more in decreased productivity, absenteeism and decreased quality of any work that does get completed than it would ever cost to look after your staff? The myth we have to bust is that it does not cost much or sometimes costs nothing at all to encourage self care in the workplace. But the benefits are huge.
I agree Kathie the love and support shown to us from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine is real and the most valuable thing in the world I am learning for myself.
The responsibility we have with bringing all of ourselves to what we do and the workplace from how we live is the first start in bringing a real change, a health, a livingness and less stressed self to the work place for everyone to benefit from.
Yes Shirley-Ann, I agree this is an opportunity for true self reflection.
“perhaps one day we would see businesses and organisations founded and run on a philosophy of people before profit ” Yes this is true and true that this is how Universal Medicine runs as a business. Making it about people first.
This would be amazing to see and experience in the work place. Recently I was told that I am ‘not adding any value’ to my manageress’s business purely because my sales performance has not met her expectations. I know that my value runs so much deeper than sales figures but she is choosing not to see that. It is purely a reflection of the way the business and retail world chooses to operate. I know that if I am valued as a person with all that I bring I am more likely to work more effectively and therefore produce more results.
Part of me wonders Rebecca if your manageress is able to value herself or indeed feels valued by her managers because they don’t value themselves or feel valued because…and so on and so on.
I feel very blessed to experience the love and value that I have found through Universal Medicine and fellow students and the encouragement to developed that within myself.
There will come a day when it will be about people before profit, as we all start stepping up and making changes in our work place the ripple effect will flow.
Right now I am sitting here feeling the effects of a day at work yesterday where the pressure was so huge and the time limit so tiny that I found myself going into drive in order to push through and get everything done. Having not done this for a while I can feel what this did to my body, and how if I were to continue in this energy it would make me ill. I can feel that I need to make a choice. Continue in the driven energy or claim myself and the energy I want to be in. I know that I often allow the expectations of the world to dominate how I operate, and I am learning how to claim my own space within it all. In such a demanding and busy working environment this sometimes feels impossible, but I know there is a way to embrace my job without giving myself away.
“Continue in the driven energy or claim myself and the energy I want to be in.” are words that I can relate to, Rebecca. To make the choice to stop and be in gentleness rather than pushing, tightness and striving is possible. Miraculously it can all change in a moment. Like you I am learning how to claim my own space in work without giving myself away.
“One is to begin to exercise self-care in the workplace – to start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim, but as discrete, solid beings with self-agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.”
This is such a great point. We are often under the impression that we are to be told what to do when, completely at the discretion of our employees. There is a balance, one which is about the individual working at their optimum with and in support of the company. Rarely do we work within these parameters and consequently we are left with hugely inefficient and dysfunctional workplaces, with large rates of sickness and absenteeism.
Yes jenny it is beneficial to re-introduce self-care and responsibility into the workplace, whatever level and whatever role one is holding in the company.
Yes lovely to read this and some of the more recent 302 comments. I feel very supported and inspired in the reading, Thank you everyone.
No doubt the tides of change are upon us. Managers are starting to become aware of the depth of support they can offer…because they quite often need it themselves. Self care, self nurturing and true support is evolving all around.
Where I work I have made supporting the staff a priority, the more they are looked after and truly supported, the more they can support the company, each other, and the environment they work in. It just makes sense.
Laura how beautifully refreshing. It makes my body sigh to read these words. I would work for you any day!
Just felt to share that in a recent new job experience, I found that I approached the work with a set of ideals which were actually not being asked of me – such as ‘I must continue until all the work is done’ or ‘I cannot stop for a drink of water’, but actually no one was asking me to do any of that or all of the other thoughts I had going around in my head. All the pressure was coming from me, and when I finally spoke up and said how thirsty I was, my colleagues were shocked and said “we don’t expect you go thirsty, if you need a drink, just say.” This is a huge learning for me, that actually there is the support there to be with my natural feminine caring self, but it is my responsibility to express this.
I felt for a moment how amazing it can be my workplace when everybody is in their stillness, in their power of femaleness, those discrete solid beings walking and talking and working with that quality, and yes, it would be a great change in the world, self caring so you can go to work and stay all day in joy, not in sadness or desperation, or hating to go to work which unfortunately is so common. That is a way forward and would allow to change that huge belief that one has to dread going to work, instead, enjoying and appreciating being there and giving all you have in a very gentle rhythm.
I agree with the comments, it is the little things we do consistently which make a difference and my colleagues at work notice everything and at times we do have some quite lively discussions about what I eat or drink, as there is a curiosity there and my colleagues are not the type to hold back with their questions.
I work in a supermarket that promotes a multitude of ‘healthy lifestyles’ but what I see from those I work with, including myself, the complete opposite. If I want to walk the talk then it makes sense to define what a ‘healthy lifestyle’ is. Universal Medicine has shown me many examples, the next step is mine to start walking those examples practically such as honouring how I feel – going to the loo when needed, putting gloves on when outside. The next step I feel is needed is to commit to those honouring moments consistently. I know what is expected of me at work, I do it everyday.
Yes absolutely Victoria, we can change the way we work. Self-care, the gentle and loving little things we can do for ourselves throughout the day act as a small reminders to come back to ourselves rather than get caught up in and carried away by a task, situation or deadline. I find these reminders really helpful. That we are worth taking care of will soon get noticed and change the way the workplace feels for us and others.
A great article Victoria raising a topic that requires much attention and discussion. A great company policy would be as you say “people before profit”
Wow – I love this article. Self care in the work place is crucial – after all we spend more time at work than anywhere else, but it’s not just at work – how we start the day and how we end the day are equally important. You will be surprised just how a few small choices that support us every day like taking proper breaks, getting a drink when we need one, going to the toilet when we need to, perhaps having a walk at lunchtime if you are in a seated job all day or if you stand a lot perhaps just sitting down for an hour and putting your feet up, can all make a huge change in your body and how you feel when you get home and while you are at work. It would make work a place we want to go to not somewhere we feel we have to go to.
It really is a choice to self care, I just made it tonight. I have been very busy with back to back meetings etc and all I wanted to do was get into bed, but I knew my body needed to be cared for with washing my face etc – my mind wanted to just get to bed, but my body wanted nurturing so I CHOSE to go to the bathroom and place a super lovely hot facecloth on and then to put a night oil on my skin, it just allowed me to check in and take care of my body… its the simple steps that we CHOOSE to do for ourselves that make a big difference – especially when stressed!
I can so relate to what you are saying Vanessa. The wanting to just get into bed after being stressed with a full on day. It’s like the wanting to close down and shut the world out. But as you say just taking small choices to nurture ourselves can reset everything like pressing a reset button on a boiler. The boiler might be malfunctioning but one tiny little press of a button the system begins to reflow and gets everything working again. The choice to take a walk, or lovingly oil our skin can re-imprint the stress levels we have lived in the day and we can sleep a deeper more nurturing sleep ready to prepare us for the following day. Your comment is a great reminder to take care of the little details we can so easily let slip.
A beautiful reminder Vanessa and Rachel. Thank you.
hi Victoria, great blog about the workplace. People first not Projects or Profits First would make a huge difference to any business.
So true without any imposition how powerful our reflections are on others, therefore it is so important for us to take responsibility in our lives and be a true reflection of love and light.
Yes this is true Shirley-Anne. The effect of reflection without imposition is very powerful, as Sue says to gently beam out self love and self care can be transformational.
Thank you Victoria .In your blog, going to work sounds a bit like trench warfare as in 1914-18. As people drop like flies, so they are replaced up at ‘The front’. As Kevin said, if the workplace was a more nurturing environment, then the workers would be healthier and thus more effective.
The concepts you discuss here are so desperately needing to be aired. I work in the teaching profession where teachers work beyond their powers of endurance and end up in constant exhaustion. The holidays are never long enough to make a full recovery and so the new term begins with everyone just as tired and ill as they were the term before.
I am inspired by your commitment to your female quality though. I find it hard to stay with it sometimes especially if I am confronted by a class full of disruptive teenagers but you have inspired me to look deeper at this quality within me. After all, the only person that can choose to leave this innermost essence is me no matter what is going on, and when I do how will others ever know there is a different way?
I really enjoyed this blog and can relate to getting blown around like a tumbleweed and being at the mercy of whatever emotion happens to be flying around. I have found that when I choose to breath my own breath at work things get sorted out quicker with no fuss, but when I do not there is drama and blame.
Now that’s a workplace I’d like to work in. But as you say, we can make those changes within ourselves and that reflection may just get the ball rolling for greater change. When i first started at my current job all the staff were squeezing in meals at their desks, while still typing away on their computer. I began to bring my meals into the staff room, on a nice plate, and take the time to eat in a gentle space. Now many of the staff have formed lunch dates, where they take turns in bringing in lunch, and they all sit in the boardroom, eating and chatting. It’s so lovely to feel their connection now.
That’s a lovely example how we can inspire change without saying anything… just being ourselves.
Janine this is beautiful and so inspiring – how to lead by example and with reflecting self care to honour yourself at work, how others have chosen to enjoy and connect in this way.
A great idea Janine. I might start that today at work and go and eat in the staffroom instead of eating in front of my computer.
People first every time. How different the world would – will – be.
Yes Sue. A simple idea, yet it would make a huge difference. I agree with the points made by Kevin above also.
Thanks Victoria I love your vision. In reality, if employees realised that by looking after the people, the profit and purpose would be taken care of by less absentees and happier, more alert joyous people. .
If people were happier and less stressed in their workplace they would be less likely to indulge in over eating, drinking alcohol or drug taking, resulting in a healthier workforce which needs fewer sick days.
This makes a lot of sense, Kevin. A happier workforce is a more productive workforce, which means less illness and time taken off. It doesn’t make sense that profit is put before the wellbeing of workers. Perhaps those Friday night drinking bouts at the bar or pub wouldn’t be so needed as people wouldn’t need to dull or numb the effect of the week. Perhaps long term health would also improve and less burden placed on the NHS?? It would be an all round win for the whole of society!
Very true Kevin. This makes perfect sense. Though in my experience often the employers are indulging in over eating, drinking alcohol and drug taking themselves, so I imagine it must be almost impossible to introduce policies for a less stressful workplace as this would expose their own behaviours.
Yes indeed Kevin. Less stress = healthier happier employees and so a more efficient workforce with which, as you say, profit and purpose would be taken care of. People first would be a powerful work ethic.
It is possible to change the way we work, whether at home or in “the workplace ”
Universal Medicine teachings show and encourage us to make that change.
It is up to me to show by example. Let the river flow………
As a free lancer I rarely visit ‘head office’. I do however have many forms to send off. Often these forms would get lost and I seemed for ever to be providing duplicates. Then I decided to start ‘decorating’ my communications. Since then none of them have gone missing!
I wasn’t sure about prepaid brown envelopes, but they just looked so boring, out came the crayons. Recently I have had two acknowledgements of the fun the recipients have felt. So it seems even at a distance we can make a difference.
How different our working lives would be if indeed we were to embody our innate stillness! I believe such an organisation exists in Universal Medicine and that an independent student studied the organisation for her Masters degree. I have read it and she remarks early on that she notices a quality of stillness and calm that was distinct in the fact that it was so different to normal work places. We are so lucky to be able to observe and learn from people like Serge and other practitioners who walk their talk. It is deeply inspiring and, knowing we are the change agents, I will be building my ‘work body of stillness’ too.
So true Vanessa. We have a glorious role model in Universal Medicine, an organisation that shows us a different way. I am far from being able to remain consistently still in my work place, but am working on building my ‘work body of stillness’ as you are.
My work place is never the same two days running as I ‘fill in’ at various sites in quite a big area. But I feel that by continuing to build that ‘work body of stillness’ I offer an opportunity for others to feel a difference too.
Yes a glorious role model in Universal medicine and students like you who are building a ‘work body of stillness.’ All are showing me that a different way of work is possible, one that is more purposeful and yet more productive, just as a side product. The world needs to see this as there is so much work-based stress that companies are even beginning to recognise something needs to change in how we work.
“a philosophy of people before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose” this is beautiful, and yet such an alien concept. It feels so expansive and enveloping rather than the alternative which feels constricting and isolating.
I agree Jenny but it is so sad that it is an alien concept to even consider putting people before profits. It feels like a marker of how low mankind has sunk from what it can and should be.
In all the jobs I’ve had, what has made it enjoyable, (or not), is always the people I work with. When I have talked to others, they agree that the people you work with is important, and that you could be doing your ‘dream’ job, but if you don’t get on with your colleagues, then it can make life hell. So, it makes sense in so many ways that the employees of a company are supported and looked after. Self-care seems like a fantastic way to do this, and very simple. How many offices have a culture of coffee and cakes in the afternoon to get you through, and working through lunch breaks or working late to get more done. If these things don’t truly support the person long term, then they surely don’t truly support the company long term. I actively encourage my staff to leave the workshop for breaks and lunch, as I feel that this supports them, which will support the way they work too.
Beautiful Laura. I can feel how what you describe about your workplace is so very different to mine. There is so much pressure to do a zillion jobs at the same time with no time to do them, and an expectation of perfection. Totally impossible! I find it hard to put myself first in such a situation, and if I do it is not respected as a good choice in an environment that does not value this.
As it has been said, to make those chooses that are loving and caring for others and ourselves in the work place is super important as well as having a commitment to the job at hand and being everything that you can be in whatever needs to be done. It is a win win outcome for all. Communication I have found is a major part to this as well.
Awesome reminders Natalie, and the reality is everything is affected by how we approach it. Either taking full responsibility or not. I love to remember that taking full responsibility is not only supporting everything about me but also everything I come into contact. It is a great reminder that we are indeed part of something much bigger than just oursevles…all of humanity, and as such we have a responsibility there too. Isn’t it lovely to remember we are part of so much more…
Victoria, I loved your use of the words ‘self-agency’. We all have a responsibility and full capability to take control of our self-care and not get tossed around like you mentioned by a company’s protocol that does not sometimes take into consideration basic human needs and care. Recently at work I was asked why I took such a long lunch, as that was “not really what people do around here, especially airplane technicians, or the pilots for that matter. The interesting thing is that it was only a 30min. lunch where I do some gentle exercises, meditate for a couple minutes, and then eat. I explained that this is my daily ritual, I feel it’s important to take a moment to re-center myself and get still again (especially during hectic days of multiple challenges going on) and that it enables me to be more focused, think clearer, and re-energized for the rest of the work day, thereby in general more efficient, calm, and productive. This really created a “hmm, that’s pretty interesting” moment for my supervisor who then admitted that in his 30 years in aviation had never really sat down to have a lunch for himself, but would just grab a donut or apple or something and eat it while he worked. I then claimed that that is not my way, and it provided a moment for him to consider a more self-loving way, just like you mentioned in this beautiful article Victoria. We need to just do our thing with consistency and self-care, and especially in fields of social work, so people can learn by example. Why should anyone with mental, emotional, or physical challenges listen to someone who doesn’t even take care of themselves, anyway?
What a great example Michael. It shows how simple choices made to give support and care to your working day, and sticking to them, is so beneficial. I bet your supervisor has quite high stress levels, perhaps because of his choice to eat on the run, thus not allowing his body to properly assimilate his food
I love what you share Michael, it is very unimposing and it describes a very practical way we can reflect self care without needing to make any grand statement or shout “look at me”. 30 minutes doesn’t seem like that long a lunch, it makes sense to take time in the middle of the working day to refresh and re-set ourselves so we are able to best deal with the rest of our working day.
Michael, this is so true, your phrase “a company’s protocol that does not sometimes take into consideration basic human needs and care” is the problem. I remember sweating in an airless edit-suite at a London TV company, many years ago, during a hot summer and all our protests fell on deaf ears, until someone had the bright idea to suggest that our equipment was starting to malfunction as a result! In no time the air-conditioning technicians were summoned and we were restored to relative comfort. It seemed the equipment was far more important and valuable than the staff!
You make a good point Michael. In your situation with the supervisor and the lunch break you made a strong claim as to how you live on a daily basis, but if someone is going to offer advice and it is obvious they don’t take their own advice, there is no real authority.
I appreciate this example Michael. Firstly of how you have found a way of consistently supporting yourself in the work environment and are honouring yourself in that way. Also the detail and equality in what you expressed to your supervisor which shows your openness to sharing what you know and live. This is the gorgeous, warm river that Victoria mentions flowing at your workplace because of you and your choices. Beautiful.
Hi Victoria, this blog was a great reminder for me since I have been looking at how I am at work, how I can get pulled into the need to get the work done and forget my self care. I work full time and it is an area of importance because the way I treat myself at work affects how I am when I come home and depending on how I have been it sets me up for the next day so thanks for the pointers. I will be adding them to my list.
I know that colleagues at work notice the way I take care of myself. They are curious and take interest and very often tease me. But if I do something like slip with my food choices for any reason, and eat something they know is not usual for me, they call me up on it. It is as if they have grown to trust me in my loving choices and by slipping I let them down as well as myself. Another wonderful reflection and reminder to be consistent with myself.
That’s quite lovely, Rebecca that your colleagues now call you up on any choice you make that is unusual for you. Although work can be a stressful environment, when we begin to make strong changes to the way we are in the day and inspire others from those changes… the support comes back.
Moving towards a work place that puts people first and profit and purpose next makes prefect sense. And yes I can feel that profit and purpose would naturally develop from this commitment to supporting ourselves and others. Thank you.
I agree, Rosanna, when we quietly take care of ourselves, others do quietly notice, and then they have an opportunity to do something different themselves, or not, but that’s their choice.
I so agree when we quietly take care of our selves others do notice. We do not need to make a song and dance about it. It’s just about deepening the consistency and the energy automatically pulls others to notice and gives them a choice too.
Even by applying the smallest changes to my work I can feel my relationship with work has changed from a strain and blaming work for how I feel, to now claiming that I have an impact on how I feel based on how I choose to work.
One of the best practical small tips I can share is that one of my job tasks requires kneeling on the floor, so I bought a kneeling pad. At first people found ‘My beautiful garden – in big fancy writing’ amusing but agreed that it makes sense and is very easy to apply that level of care at work.
Jane I agree when we work with full considerations of others and ourselves, there is definitely a magic felt in the workplace. Everyone is more willing, playful and loving in their expression. How such small changes makes some huge difference, is pretty amazing.
So true Jane, as we make loving choices in our daily living, the difference in all we do and all who come in contact with us is beautiful to feel, as you say Jane, magic in the workplace.
This is true Jane. We have hard plastic chairs at work so I take a cushion to sit on, also a mat for my feet as they are on a cold concrete floor.
Yes, I agree they do notice, it is different, it is healthy, and it is great that someone is doing it. So I can now do it for myself.
Your river analogy reminds me of a story about the sun and the wind competing, to see who could get a man to remove his overcoat. The wind blew and blustered, but the man just wrapped his coat tighter around himself. The sun took it’s turn and gently beamed. The man warmed up and quietly removed his jacket….. Gently beaming out love and self care in the work place, life can be transformed for everyone if we all reflected out this way of being. People follow those who quietly set loving examples, not from being told how and what to do.
Great analogy Sue and so very true. The louder someone shouts the less we actually hear. Living by example rather than words will always offer a greater reflection.
Absolutely Tim living by example is the powerful reflection. The ripple affect that it brings is amazing.
A beautiful analogy Sue that really shows how we fight control and being ordered what to do but by gently receiving a reflection of love we remember we are that too. Thank you.
Sue I love what you share and completely agree, “people follow those who quietly set loving examples, not from being told how and what to do”. Serge Benyahon has been a great reflection in my life through his livingness.
So true Amita. I never responded to being told what to do but those who quietly set loving examples, they are the ones I sat up and listened to as I could see the results of how they inspired others. I agree, Serge Benhayon has been a great reflection through his livingness.
I couldn’t agree more, sueq2012. I’ve heard it so many times especially about teenagers – the more you tell them what to do, the more they want to rebel… or something along those lines.
Beautifully said Shirley-Ann and Sue. Such strength in consistent loving care. People notice!
That is a lovely analogy Sue, and as Tim says, “The louder someone shouts the less we actually hear. Living by example rather than words will always offer a greater reflection.” I know for myself I instinctively react and turn away when someone tries to persuade me while I will so more easily listen to someone who communicates by example.
So true, me too. I never respected a hypocrite when I was younger. I am very aware of what others communicate by example more than their words. If their words don’t match up to how they live then I feel it and don’t take notice of their words. I know when truth is communicated it doesn’t need to be forced or in a loud voice, it is naturally powerful.
Yes Karin, it is distinctive when truth is spoken, as you say, it does not need to be forced or said loudly, it is powerful and can be felt.
Sue this is just such an awesome analogy. I often feel like it is by being gentle, warm and radiant with myself that I get to truly enjoy my day. I have often thought “am I imposing on others in this way?” But the truth is how can I be when I am making these choices for me, it’s just the fact that everyone around notices that makes me feel this way. The opportunity to not hold back presents itself and gives you an even greater chance to shine. I am certainly learning this difference and with the support of Universal Medicine enjoying not holding back. Work or Home, both places should get to enjoy the real you.
I love what you’ve said about work and home should get to enjoy the real you. I feel a real loving warmth from this and feel inspired to bring the real me to all situations without apology.
Gosh Sue Q, very timely for me reading this, thank you! What a gorgeous image…
Great analogy Sue and beautiful supportive comments. The power of gentleness is so powerful.
Beautifully shared Sue. I love your analogy. I will carry this with me. Thank you.
This is a beautiful analogy Sue. Gentleness and tenderness have great power and I have observed that we are touched by it and we listen. On the contrary, if force is applied then only anger and frustration follow.
love it Sue! Quietly beaming.
I love your analogy of the gorgeous, warm river, slowly but surely softening the hardest of rocks as we gently bring self care into the workplace. Not just as the new buzz word but in the very practical and loving ways you describe. All this contributing to the type of ‘work body’ others quietly notice – but which will, over time be the true change agent for our workplaces.
I, too, love the analogy of the river and Rosanna you have deepened it beautifully. True self-care is so powerful and like a stone thrown in a pond sends ripples out in all directions, which others see and feel the benefits leading them to also choose self-care.
And those ripples spill out beyond the work place. Imagine a world where everyone went to, and came home from, work, feeling good about themselves, knowing that they were supported to self care, and that their employers truly valued them. The levels of all dis-eases would fall, giving our troubled NHS services some breathing space, and… and….The ripples don’t stop, everyone benefits.
I love the analogy of the river too and also a stone thrown in a pond sends ripples out in all directions – nature is forever giving us reflections. Self care in the workplace is so obvious really and as one person chooses that way or being, so others will feel the benefit and make those choices for themselves.
Yes Rosanna, a river can’t be driven, it goes at its own pace in steady flow. Sometimes the environment forces it into faster channels or slower meanderings, but it is always completely itself with its own internal rhythm. What a beautiful reflection of nature for us.
The next level that is very much needed.. looking at my sleep routine, food and exercise were a few basis starting points for me and made a world of difference.
Victoria, the simple examples of self-care at work you cited here are powerful: ‘These can be as simple as going to the bathroom when needed, making time to stop for lunch, closing our eyes for a few minutes at (or under!) our desks… Choices that honour us, in our bodies, at work.” So simple and so often ignored.
Priscila, Victoria, a great reminder. Sometimes it seems easier to override these things, yet we suffer the consequences later.
Universal Medicine can open up so many possibilities for us to progress in ourselves to be true to ourselves, but also being able to help others along the way.
A great vision proposed here about what our workplaces could look like. I work in the health care sector and the rates of burnout and drop out from the medical professions that I have seen are huge. We do need to put people first, ourselves first and start considering the quality of what we produce or do at work not just the end outcome or product. Otherwise as Victoria says we risk a future where we are not going to have enough well medical staff to treat the huge numbers of the ill.
I agree Ariana! And even though my office doesn’t have windows… the fresh air is coming in through the air con.
Hi Victoria, I love that you mention ‘self agency and being able to make loving choices at work.’ I have often experienced myself as a victim in the work place and the resentment I created in myself which was so horrible for all concerned.
For me loving choices include the simplest things but they are powerfuly effective -like how I choose to breathe and remembering to stay with what I’m doing and not get into overwhelm. This helps me appreciate my contribution to the working environment and furthers my appreciation of myself and others.
In the past I have felt like I needed to voice what I saw as injustices (!) But with this level of emotion behind what I said I was very clumsy with what I said and got understandably defensive responses, or I said nothing and festered! I can feel the way I have taken more responsibility for how I am in the workplace and see how it’s not all about me. I am sure in the future, when I do feel an issue needs addressing, I will be able to do so with grace.
I can relate to this Karin as in the past that’s exactly how I felt. Something would happen at work and instead of addressing it I would either react aggressively or clam up and fester. This way of dealing with things was normal for me and I had no idea there could be another way or, more importantly, that my behaviour was actually harming me and others too.Thanks to the presentations of Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon, I have learnt that by not holding back and expressing, in truth, any issues that come up can be dealt with much more harmoniously.
Hi Victoria, I loved reading your blog this morning before work. I can feel how incredibly beautiful our working day can be and how amazing for our colleagues to feel something different when we choose to honour our femaleness. I work in a hospital and can feel how that deep care impulsed from our stillness will ripple out to everyone we meet including our patients. This would take patient care to a new level. Thank you.
I love your article Victoria. I can feel the truth of what you are saying. Only yesterday I witnessed all my colleagues being exhausted at the end of a particularly busy day, and I was feeling totally ok and in fact still feeling fresh and lovely! The difference was that I had stayed with myself all day focusing on how gentle I could be in all of my movements and with all of the people that I met. I had a warm feeling in my body that stayed with me throughout the day, and I thoroughly enjoyed my day even though there were many challenges because of the busyness.
Rebecca it’s so true with what you say, being with oneself in all your day and focusing on your gentle movements with all the people you meet can make such a difference to the level of energy you have. Just like you, I too have experienced these days and am working on building a rhythm to bring this into my everyday life. When I am out of this rhythm I can feel the exhaustion kicking in very quickly.
Thank you Rebecca, you inspire me.
The workplace is a huge opportunity to change ‘the norm’.
I work in advertising where the motto is work hard play harder. And I see day to day how people at work abuse their bodies and push through.
Something as simple as bringing in self-care is a reflection of another way to work – one that does not exhaust or drain and cause us to seek relief. But is rather consistent, loving and supportive for everyone around us. And as I’ve chosen to live this more and more at work – I feel more connected, respected or appreciated by those around me. And it’s inspiring how different it feels.
I work in the NFP where I do witness how exhausted others become – so quickly in their career. Your article is a wonderful vision that I see in the future, however I feel with this awareness we need to start now (especially with the stats of illness and disease, particularly stress and depression) within the workplace. Wow what a difference it would make to our workplace considering we spend most of our day there!
Loved your analogy of a river on rocks, and I completely agree, if you make a business about people above all else, the rest comes naturally. If the employees feel the care you are giving people they will be inspired to follow in the same quality
So true Oliver once they feel the love and care it is impossible for them not to follow. As they will be able to see it’s about people and not just profits or making money.
Well said Oliver. Isn’t it strange that we appear to be so good at ignoring the obvious?
I Love what you have written here Victoria Lister and WOW what a template for the way forward.
People before Profit is our future if we are to be in business and have true success. We can make a difference, albeit small to start with, by taking care of ourselves everyday and reflecting to others that there is another way to live that gives you increased vitality.
Imagine increased productivity and staff that are not sick or avoiding work due to stress, and other issues that are work related, but instead loving work and like you say the profit will take care of itself. The quality in which we live has a huge effect on our work and if we choose to be responsible and take care of ourselves, this in turn benefits all of society especially our worn out medical system.
I find it so so refreshing to see you all out there really making this kind of change! I hear more and more people talk about how unbearable work has become…and here are excellent examples of how to start to move work into a more caring direction!
Yes how different life would be if we all started to go to work to care for ourselves, or go to the grocers to care for ourselves, or go to bed to care for ourselves or exercise to care for ourselves…instead of making all the other reasons we prioritize for doing something.
I love this blog Victoria. I was only speaking to a nurse this week and she was sharing with me how under pressure they are at work doing 12 hour shifts and the exhaustion that ensues from this. She told me that one day she started at 7.30am and did not get a break until 4pm and hardly had time to visit the toilet as the staff levels were so low due to illness. I understand the long shifts were originally introduced to cut costs as in 24 hours less people are required, but the knock on effect has been disastrous for some staff and begs the question of the level and standard of care a tired nurse is able to offer. I bet some feel like getting in the beds themselves!!
We came to the conclusion that we could not understand why a service such as a hospital does not seem to consider the well being of its staff which, of course, affects the care of the patients they are looking after.
Thankfully there are some programs appearing that support staff in looking at self care and it would be great to see this spread into every company globally as time goes on and see more people choosing to look at self care on all levels.
Yes Beverly unfortunately your story about the nurse you were talking to is not uncommon, I remember 14 hour days with very little time to pee! It is crazy that the very profession needed for health care is so overwhelmed with staff shortage and such little time it is easy to override our own health needs. Self care is needed desperately in all working roles but especially so in health care where we cannot be of true help to another if we are exhausted and running on empty. With true self care we are able to look after ourselves and then truly be a help to others.
Thank you Victoria for a great article and expose of the work place. It is all too easy to blame our work situation for how we are feeling at the end the day and yes there are many changes to be made in how an organisation operates but what this article highlights, and many comments have expressed, is that it comes back to our relationship with ourselves and our willingness to self care, take responsibility and support ourselves that matters and will bring the changes. I find it inspiring that in my work as I have made changes in my approach, changes do happen at work, even months or years later.
I can so connect to the beautiful common sense of your blog, Victoria. If feels as though no one is prepared to stand back and see the bigger picture, and you offer such a simple and easy way to begin the change of personal responsibility. As you have said, to simply honour when we need a toilet break or need to take a little walk away from our computer screen is all we need to do to begin the process of change.
I really resonate with what you say Victoria. I worked in the kind of environment you describe and became one of the walking wounded. In the end I crashed and burned after 18 years loyal service. I was replaced by two people as it turned out my job was too much for one! I look back now and realise that I ruined my health in order to feed a profit making machine which had a total disregard for people. Thanks to Serge Behayon and Universal Medicine I am learning how to take care of my Self and ‘choose my life’ instead of ‘letting my life live me’, a truly healthier way of being.
I find that how I care for myself from getting up in the morning, how I shower, what clothes to wear, how I put cream on my face and what I eat can set up a support for me for my day.
Thank you so much Victoria for sharing your experience with us, I for one can really relate to what you have shared. For myself, it was the case in the previous unit where I worked a chef and I have now moved to a different unit working Front of House as the pressure was so intense!
“Imagine a workplace peopled by men and women who embody a sense of stillness, a connection to self that precedes all activity” This is the way forward. People before activity. I need to remind myself of this also. I recall years ago when I was nursing that sometimes we didn’t get tea breaks or lunch breaks at all, especially in the day time. Then when we did get breaks many people snacked on sugary carbs for energy and /or smoked for relief. Nurses and doctors were pretty much universally exhausted. And these people care for us all when we are sick. Self-care in the workplace (and in our lives) – a basic necessity if we are to halt the exhaustion that prevails in modern society. I know my life is transforming as I take better care of myself and incorporate small changes into my daily activity and build my consistency.
I agree with you wholeheartedly Sue – I know my life is transforming as I take better care of myself and incorporate small changes into my daily activity and build my consistency. Attending the Universal Medicine presentations with Serge Benhayon has certainly shown me choices available to be living this way.
I manage a team of 9 people, something I never imagined or trained for, but it doesn’t feel like ‘managing’. It naturally happens because I notice how each person is at work, and if they are having problems whether personal or with their responsibilities, and talk about it with them. I also make it very clear at meetings how important it is for them to take breaks, some people initially really struggled to do this, and still they can still get caught in needing to get everything done, so I’m consistently reminding them not to rush, that it is more important to take care of the quality of what we are creating. Another simple things I do is provide lots of herbal teas and non-caffeine drinks for everyone.
There are many aspects to self-care at work, the obvious ones being what foods we eat and the amount of sleep we have, but there are also subtle ones, like how we are at work, and the rhythm we start our day in. I find if I am particularly self-nurturing first thing in the morning and allow plenty of time to get ready and arrive at work with time to spare, then I am less affected by the buzzy-ness of everyone else, I can work steadily and calmly and get loads more done, a simple way of proving that Self-Care can lead to higher productivity.
Carmel I can completely relate to that, if I give myself plenty of time in the morning, I can work steadily and get less effected by the busyness and get more done.
This is great, you must be an incredible role model at your workplace. I can feel the integrity that you live by and bring to all of your life, an integrity that seems to include everyone in your life without exclusivity.
I love how you share by bringing the ‘womanly work body’ and ‘quality of femaleness’ into your working day. This is so powerful if we just allow it. I know how powerful it is as I have felt moments of it and it is amazing on those days and the sun is shining bright, but I am still working on it to bring some constancy and making it a solid rhythm in my day.
I see a future that you speak of Victoria but only through the inspiration of people like you. Through your livingness people will start to catch on slowly but surely and realise how business profit or otherwise can’t be run by sick or absent people.
Breaking the consciousness of ‘this is the way things are done here’ and making some changes to myself in my place of work reflects to others that we all have choices to individually make.
The beauty of realising the impact on many, of one person making loving choices about the way they live and work. The joy and importance of taking responsibility. Thank you for all that has been shared here.
Beautifully said Gill, thank you for highlighting the fact we can inspire others and reflect a different way by simply looking after ourselves and staying true.
I completely agree Samantha.
‘We need to live the change we would like to see’. Thank you, Eunice, so simple and so powerful.
I love it, it reminds me of the Michael Jackson song “Man in the Mirror” – we all know the words, but how many actually walk the talk?
Thankfully I met a man, Serge Benhayon, who does exactly that, and through his livingness inspires others to do the same.
Beautiful Victoria your article has inspired me to look more closely at my place of work and my responsibility to everyone there and the effect how I am has on this and the beautiful harmony I now it can be.
In the past, work places for me have always been places of extreme drive accompanied by hourly doses of caffeine. Having been clear of caffeine for six years, it seems to obvious to me how I used it to avoid any sense of harmony and to keep fuelling that drive. At the time it did not even occur to me how much I was harming myself, let alone anyone else, whereas now I can clearly feel how much this behaviour affected everyone I was in contact with especially my family that had to deal with the end result that came home to them every night.
This blog tells it as it is. Mostly I love how it flows from ‘tumbleweeds tosses around by the winds of workplace whim’ then we introduced the possibility of gentle challenge to bring change with ‘a gorgeous warm river slowly but surely softening the hardest rocks’ to begin to develop ‘people before profit or purpose’ this is gorgeous. Thank you and Universal Medicine for its inspirations to us all.
Thank you Victoria for bringing such a great light on the work place and how this can be if we all take responsibility for ourselves and realise and start to claim that we are worth it – just being loving rather than expecting a reward and recognition from others around us for everything we do as we do not feel our own value and hence get it confirmed.
What a beautiful place the work place can be in a natural harmony of appreciation if we claimed responsibility for ourselves.
Lovely sharing here Tricia, so true what you say.
This is a very good blog, practical and true. Through perseverance and consistency the people that are living in a way that you describe i.e. people that put self care and a stillness first, will eventually inspire others to do the same. It stands to reason a person that is less tired and more vital, takes less or no sick days, has got to be good for business in more ways than one.
So true Kevin completely agree, a person less tired and more vital will take less time off work and is more valuable to a business.
I agree Jane. What Victoria is suggesting about putting people first seems so obviously right that it is staggering that this is not already the case. We should perhaps be asking why, as a race of people, we value profits higher than people.
With absenteeism costing billions in the UK alone each year, yet so much drive for productivity, it’s like a bucket with holes. Patching up one yet the same water goes out another even faster. Having teams that are more vital and taking greater care for themselves would also mean they naturally provide a greater level and quality of service for clients.
It’s interesting that in the not-for-profit sector although making money is not the primary focus, there is still a drive as you say Victoria of being mission (driven). I know both 1st hand they are both equally as draining and exhausting because as the ‘driver’ there is no consideration for your own well-being with as you say the client being king. What I have come to realise is that to really care about our clients we have to look after ourselves too so that we are healthy, alert, clear headed and strong when we are offering whatever service we offer. This is something I would not have come to the awareness of if it was not for the support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Working with less stress, demands and deadlines doesn’t need to mean less productivity, in fact you would be almost certain that a people centred approach would reap the rewards for the businesses that adopt this way and were truly able to meet their staff on a personal level.
I agree Stephen and the rewards for the business would be measured in a new all encompassing way, taking into account the beneficial effects for staff and customers instead of only considering share holders.
Yes Stephen, and you can see that working in the companies that do care for their staff and their well-being, and communicate with them as well. When I walk into a couple of big stores I know operate like this I can feel that quality of care in the way it is passed on to the customers. And these companies don’t go bankrupt, quite the contrary. I heard of the owner and boss of a company making a choice to sell it to his workers; at first they resisted because they were very suspicious, but when they took it on board they discovered how beneficial it was for them all as they each took responsibility for the running of the enterprise and started to communicate and work with each other, and to feel their own value. The business thrived and its profits went up! How amazing it would be if alongside this they were also able to care for themselves in their daily lives in all the simple ways you describe Victoria. So beautifully expressed.
A great point raised here about the power of not giving our power away as people at work, or any situation.
It is so true we need to stand strong in the power we know we are, and not give our power away. But be true reflections of truth in everything we do. Stand strong in our deep knowing of love, and serve in this knowing.
Lovingly taking responsibility for the impact we all have and choosing to bring the simplicity of self care and our innate care for others to the workplace…yes please and thank you, Victoria.
‘…perhaps one day we would see businesses and organisations founded and run on a philosophy of people before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose.’ Oh yes – no longer companies that put ‘people first’ as one of their values but don’t live that – we are showing that there is another way to be in business – with self-care that inspires colleagues, bosses and a way of working with stillness that makes a difference to the atmosphere in the workplace, and to the goods and services we provide. We each have a part to play in making that happen.
Your inspiring blog shows how such simple changes in self care and supportive choices can bring about huge shifts in the workplace and to the service they provide. Thank you Victoria.
I love the way you have expressed your joy in this article Ariana.
What a relevant and inspiring article, Victoria!
I love your highlights: In the meantime, I feel there are a few things I/we can do right now, as individuals and collectively, that might begin to change the situation.
And (as many stated in their comments): people before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose.
I am working with people who have been fired/whose organisation is reorganising and it’s even bigger then. Like people don’t count anymore only the survival of the company/organisation. And the employees take it on, they don’t matter and certainly not enough to take care of themselves at work. It only takes one person, one example to change this. By not eating at your desk, cleaning up your desk and going for a walk during lunch, you bring something new colleagues can relate to.
Monika and Jane you make some great points here, I agree there could be some great blogs on redundancy . Jane what you shared ‘ Every decision, and action each organisation makes has an enormous ripple effect, which can either be harming or healing. One redundancy – has a ripple effect across the organisation and affects families and the local economy too’. This is so true, I have seen many people made redundant and I was also made redundant 10 yrs ago, when the IT market crashed. I was also one of the managers who was told I had to make lots of people redundant due to the IT crash. There was no real logic in who stayed and who went, the company I had worked for in the US was not about people at all, it was all about profit. So many people lost their homes, couples had to live separately from their partners to find jobs in different states, and I saw marriages break up due to financial stress. The list goes on.
A beautiful expression of what is happening in many places of work, and how we could change it. Much needed, thank you.
“To start to see ourselves not as tumbleweeds tossed around by the winds of workplace whim but as discreet solid beings with self agency, capable of making our own loving choices at work.”
What a beautiful sentence. This is true too , of course, with family and friends. Many of us have a history of giving our power away and this is a great reminder of how simple it is to change that way of being by bringing true self-care into our lives.
Very true Elaine I love this sentence too. It speaks loudly to me about taking full responsibility so that I can support myself and by doing so give my very best to all around me.
Absolutely Elaine, by taking responsibility to be all that we are in every aspect of our lives starts to change everything.
Jane I agree, it should be part of education at school in preparing us for work, how amazing would that be.
Beautifully said Elaine – work, home, relationships – it is all one and the same – to bring the quality of simplicity, loving choices and true self care to all aspects of our life, the ripple effect is endless.
Your blog is an inspiration. It would indeed be an amazing opportunity for the people in a business to work like this, and I’m struck by what a difference it would make to the products and services that come out of the business as well. That quality that is fostered and lived inside the business would undoubtedly be felt and enjoyed outside.
Well said Simon, it would change everything.
Absolutely Simon, the benefits wouldn’t just be for those within the business but for all who encounter it and its products.
So true Simon, it would change everything, products and service. The ripple effect would be endless.
Yes indeed Simon, this quality would benefit all through service and products.
Beautiful blog Victoria. The true potential and vision of the workplace that you describe is inspiring. As more and more people take responsibility for their lives and well being we will see a ripple effect. Simple changes can have profound effects on our environments and the people around us. I work in an office and have noticed many changes in my work colleagues. I have simply been me, people have observed my food choices, how I leave my desk and regularly do a lap of the office and never engage in office gossip. By offering these simple reflections the atmosphere has changed, colleagues are making different food choices and an awareness of self care has been initiated that was not there before. Simple self care practices are powerfully inspiring and beautifully unimposing.
You being you is all that is needed – a great example of how one person can serve so many. The simplicity of your actions is awesome.
I so agree, as people start to take responsibility, then the ripple effect will take place. The work place will be a place that is loving and supporting.
That’s it Amita – I am working with that myself in every relationship but also introducing it with my team at work. That taking Full Responsibility in everything that we do together, is fundamental for a harmonious and balanced working environment.
Very well said Amita the lack of responsibility and blame culture that has been encouraged in our society is huge. Once we start to take more responsibility in our work place changes happen around us, people are more willing to be productive and there is a renewed sense of purpose. Bring it on!
That is so true Amita, we tend to forget that even the smallest thing we do has a huge effect on those around us.
Yes Amita, Victoria’s article painted a beautiful picture of how a workplace could, and should be, and Annemarie is living that.
Well said Anne-marie.
it is very inspiring to read how you are all making so many simple choices that have this ripple effect in your work environments and everywhere else you go. Its awesome.
Very inspiring Anne Marie. You have demonstrated just how easy it is to transform a culture of behaviour by simply taking care of yourself. Fantastic.
I totally agree Rowena what Anna Maria has presented here is awesome.
How power-full are we, when we are simply ourselves, as highlighted in this awesome sharing by Anne-Marie.
So true Anne Marie and your example shows us just how simple it is to affect the office environment without trying, just by holding true to the way you live and work everyday is enough.
Annemarie, it is beautiful the way you have inspired your colleagues, not by being noisy and imposing and promoting fear, as many ‘self help’ articles in the media do. Just simply, quietly, being you. The wonder of it never fails to remind me of how unimaginable my life would be without the Way of The Livingness as presented by Serge Benhayon.
Anne-Marie I love what you said ‘Simple Self-Care practises are powerfully inspiring and beautifully unimposing’. This is so true I have noticed the same thing with staff members, clients, friends and family. I feel everyone is aware that there is so much lovelessness that people are living in that people are hanging out to be shown there is another way.
Anne – Marie, you show how unimposing self care is , the reflection it offers and the ripple effect on others. Amazing.
Anne-Marie and Natalie, I love your two beautiful examples of the change a simple reflection of self-care can bring.
This is beautiful Anne-Marie, truly inspiring.
Awesome Anne Marie, how we can all have a profound effect simply by taking responsibility and then the ripple effect from people being inspired by our loving choices.
That’s great Anne Marie.
In my insurance business we were inspired to become an Investor In People (and get the logo) because we held strong views on the welfare of staff as well as service to our customers. How could our staff provide a service unless we provided for the staff? But the very body that was set up to do this, the company assessing us as Investors in People, has now been caught up in its own profit making targets and completely lost the plot, selling courses that do nothing for the staff. Our last visit was so uncomfortable that we decided to abandon the logo – and now we can consider the well being of our staff the way we know, inspired by Serge Benhayon and not some commercial organisation.
Awesome Michael. It’s always inspiring to hear or see someone say no to an established way of doing things to maintain their integrity.
I agree Shevon and Michael.
Yes i totally agree with what you say Shevon. If the logo is not true to the intention it was set up to represent then to represent it would be false. So inspiring to hear the company saying it is more important to truly invest in people rather than get a logo from a company unable to provide this for their own employees. Feels like true integrity which will be felt by whoever comes into contact with the insurance company. Beautiful.
Fantastic Michael. Its awesome that you are looking after the welfare of your staff and its always sad when a great idea, like the company assessing others to be investors, have succumbed to making profit before people.
A very good and bold decision Michael. So often with things like Investors in People, the words all sound good but something doesn’t feel right about it. I have found it so much better to trust my feelings and to put those first over what others may think.
Michael, great you shared this as we abandon them along time ago, they are all about profit no true investment in people. We like you have created our own way inspired by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. The continuous support we get from Universal Medicine courses and workshops are amazingly powerful. I have learnt more about people, staff, customers, humanity, business, communication, expression, self care, care of others, dealing with anger, aggression, rejection and the list goes on from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. If anyone wants to truly invest in people I would recommended Universal Medicine workshops and courses for self care and through this they can get to experience the investing in people through their own process of evolving.
Here Here Amita, I agree, well said.
Absolutely Amita wonderfully expressed.
Well said Amita
Very true Amita, the support we get from doing the courses presented by Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon is truly awesome. I feel I have learnt more about other people, staff customers, etc because I have learnt about myself first. If we don’t begin to truly understand ourselves first how can we understand another.
This is fantastic Michael, what a way forward for business in the 21st century. I love how you have seen through the company who were pretending it was about people when really it was about profits and greed. Instead you brought your own lived knowing to truly support staff. Too often companies talk the talk but do not walk the walk. At last we are waking up to the truth that no amount of selling, advertising and promotion can lead us away from our true knowing of where the intention came from.
Great idea, Michael, to set it up as you know how, with no power play or hidden agenda, just true care for the well-being of your staff
I know how much you care about people and your staff, well done for saying no to Investors in People and their logo.
Great point Michael, ironic isn’t? Even with the best intentions a company created to foster investment in people becomes victim of the ‘profit first’ mentality and most likely because it was not walking the talk.
A company I used to work for had for years invested time, energy and money just so they too could display the badge ‘we are special when it comes to our staff’ badge. The firm in the end also became disillusioned with the program and decided the money was better spent on the people themselves. I know someone that is always saying, you have to first invest in what is inside you and not on things outside you to bring recognition
Great points Michael, thank you for sharing. It is a fact indeed that we see so many offerings that lack the integrity of what they are presenting. Serge Benhayon and the teachings of Universal Medicine ‘walk their talk’ and they are an inspiration to all business and workplaces.
This is amazing what you are saying here Michael.The company assessing as Investors in People has lost the plot and this is where the whole thing is upside down. I am deeply inspired that your company is choosing Truth and not backing down from what you know is well-being. Imagine more businesses in the future run like your company and not for commercial profit before people as is the current way in most companies.
I love this claiming back what’s true Michael. Too often do corporations get wrapped up in what looks good, and it’s amazing to feel your journey there. I appreciate your approach because it shows you and your organisation standing up for what you know to be truth. Providing support for the well being of your employees will offer them the experience that makes being a part of your Insurance Company worth while, it is that understanding that makes the difference as it is that the staff will feel. Too often employees are miss-sold the dream about an organisation being “an investor in people” only to find this an illusion. What can possibly be more dis-heartening than finding out your employer wears it purely as a logo. I feel it would be lovely to one day get a message from the boss that said “We have let go of the the logo, because it didn’t feel right. We actually care about you individually and you are more important than an accreditation. What do you want us to invest in”…imagine what that would feel like.
My workplace is typical of what’s out there and I can relate to the lack of joy, stress, bullying, exhaustion, lack of self care and sick days amongst my work colleagues. I agree with Eunice, “we need to live the change we would like to see”.
Julie that’s true we have to start living the change then that becomes a reflection for others, this does change the energy in the work place. We are seeing this in our business, as we have started to live the change it’s now being filtered through to staff.
This is true of my workplace also Julie. Staff using cigarettes, energy drinks, caffeine and sugar to get through the long hours.
We have noticed as we live the change, our staff are giving up cigarettes, reducing caffeine, and looking at what they eat and how it’s making them feel. This is by our reflection and them feeling something in themselves to make a change.
Very true Julie.
“People before profit – or in the case of nonprofits, people before purpose” – I love these phrases. Great Article – thank you Victoria.
Absolutely Victoria, people before profit and purpose… it’s got to be the only way.
It’s quite a shock to realise that practically every work environment as you have written Victoria, “is that they are often demanding, difficult environments in which deadlines, a lack of resources and the quest for greater efficiencies and more outputs, outcomes and profits are ever-present. Often too they are unhappy places, characterised by high stress, poor health, bullying and grievances, and high rates of absenteeism or ‘unplanned leave’ – and staff turnover.” In the field of education it isn’t the profits that is king but results. Staff sickness and depression has become high. (Of course the children are also feeling the pressure too!) It is a sad question to ask of our times if there any professions or work places that don’t operate like this? As you recommend we need to be the change we want to see, by self nurturing and caring and start as individuals. We could be waiting a few hundred years for a paradigm shift otherwise!
Amazing Victoria. I couldn’t agree more. “People before profit” is the way. Most companies only care about money and forget about who works there. And as you said I am pretty sure that if the target of a company would be people, the profit would come. Thank you.
Gustavo, I so agree “People before Profit”, is the way.
I agree Gustavo, most companies will always put profit before people so it is up to us as individuals to show there can be a different way by making self-loving and caring choices for ourselves and let that filter through to other staff and management.
Thanks Victoria – this certainly is the case in the health service that employees are over-worked, stressed, demoralised and demotivated and that caring for the staff has fallen way down the list of the priorities. Yes we need to put people before systems – all people that is! And we need to live the change we would like to see – walk the talk as it were and not just point the finger at the system managers which is all too easy to do!
Thank you Victoria – amazing blog. I have witnessed people being put second many times at my school; the way that the system works is specifically designed so that the kids and teachers are not considered in every decision made. An example of this is the uniform that we are required to wear – a tartan skirt, white shirt which has to be buttoned to the top, clip on tie and blazer (which is required to wear to lessons and walking to/from school in any weather). My year at school was the first students that had this new uniform, and as you can probably assume it is highly uncomfortable – during the winter it is a struggle to find a coat that will go over the top of the blazer, and in the summer it is too hot to wear it! (But it is still the rule to wear the blazer most of the time)… This is just one of the examples of the students being put second, as for my school their reputation is the most important thing – and all they see is that the uniforms make us look ‘smarter’.
Great article, Victoria. You redefine the concept of ‘Employee Value Proposition’ into ‘Employee Valued Proposition’.
It’s a great way to not let work get you exhausted which is something I have yet to practice. It just goes to show that self-care at work is really important if we want to look after ourselves.
This article is awesome Victoria! I have been experiencing first hand what you are talking about – the company I work for says they are all about people, but they mean the customers, not the staff. I also see what you see, very few people enjoy going to work. But you present a beautifully simple way to change this, one person at a time.
The company I work for is exactly the same Rebecca. There is a lot of focus on customer satisfaction but it seems the staff take a back seat to when it comes to their satisfaction. I know that not everybody will always be fully satisfied but companies need to understand that if their are issues with their staff then that will filter down to the customer, so it makes sense to listen to staff concerns.
I agree Tim, we have had so many staff leave and new people replace that it started annoying customers who like to see a familiar face but never do. The happier the staff, the better the service.
A great article Victoria thank you, and great comments Jane, all very supportive for us all for self care at work.
Reblogged this on The Truth in Education and commented:
A great blog worth pondering on, so often in Education, and all areas of work, stress and exhaustion become the norm, but it doesn’t have to be that way ….
What a lovely vision Victoria, and I agree the way to do it is to be it ourselves.
Working in the hospitality industry is all about customers, but it’s not just about the paying customers, it’s about all the staff as well. Hospitality is about service, through service we reflect everything about ourselves and what we offer. I have always said there is no business without the staff, the staff make the business. So over the last few years I have been really working on looking after myself and this has been felt by our staff, they have started to look after themselves. Staff used to skip meals, drink lots of coffee and caffeine drinks to keep functioning, but that has changed. We provide free meals and break times to ensure staff look after themselves. Our staff make time to have breakfast if they are on early shifts or lunch and dinner on late shifts. The last 7 years being in hospitality I noticed the chefs are the ones that never eat. But now our chefs prepare a loving meal and sit down and have lunch with us. Just these small changes have changed the energy in the business. The staff are more joyful, we all have a laugh and a giggle, we are all equal just doing different jobs. We have had staff leave and come back, sharing that the love and respect they have had with us as bosses they have not had anywhere else. Our staff love coming to work and if we are in a situation and need extra help, staff are happy to do extra hours. No job is to small or big. It’s a lovely space to work. This has changed the customer base coming through. We get lovely feedback from our customers that you have lovely staff, you all make it very special, we love the feel of your hotel, nothing’s too much. This is what we are working to grow, a depth in the service we provide. We love what we do. Everyone is equal, staff and customers alike.
Very inspiring Amita. Thank you.
Wow! What an amazing blog and comments. So inspiring and informative. The case study, Victoria and Sally, will be such a blessing for humanity.
A way of living that supports us is both beautiful and necessary in the world we live in today, creating spaciousness in our lives and the workspace. Love this article and the following comments, thank you.
Spacious diary planning and the trust that all will be done in perfect order…how cool is that. And as we step into our workplaces with ever deepening levels of self-care and respect the ripple effect is beyond words, an impact to be truly appreciated. Thank you, Victoria.
Victoria, I love what you’ve written and so recognise this. I work in IT with support departments and it’s very much the customer is king and lip service being paid to staff care. They mean well but when push comes to shove and the client raises things they push the staff, not truly considering them and their care and pandering to the client rather than taking both client and staff into equal consideration. And ironically the clients you’re dealing with are being treated the same way in their own organisations so everyone is pushing off the stress and frustration to someone else – what a crazy merry-go-round. It will take some time to change, and I feel it comes from a complete disconnection to self in those working there, top to bottom, and this is where as individuals we can impact change to take true care in how we are at work and in that we do inspire, as you so beautifully put it, water breaking rock! Great reminder for me today to read this and remember it’s those little things we do to self care which are vital – thank you.
Great vision Victoria – I began working in an office for the first time the same time I began receiving esoteric treatments. When I first joined, the office was tense, “clicky”, people were unfriendly and it was all about celebrating anything and everything with beer and cake! In addition the place was under staffed and there were serious amounts of most unacceptable school yard type office bullying occurring. Obviously this was accompanied by lots of sickness. The thing that struck me was how people would still come to work, sick. The whole thing felt very uncomfortable for me as I reacted and took everything about the situation personally. Luckily however I was also receiving chakra puncture and beginning gentle breath meditation and began to learn that there was such a thing as coming back to myself. As I learnt to do this I became confident in my choice not to accept bullying, not to make my life about going to the pub on a Friday, not to eat cake day after day, not to moan and talk about others behind their backs, not to come to work ill etc etc etc. My office is a very lovely place now – we had a refurb, new management, the bullies left or changed their ways, people bake gluten/dairy free cakes, the pressure to go drinking has gone… It’s really amazing to see how my workplace has developed with me as I am on my journey of listening to and honouring what my body is telling me. So really it only takes one person to lead the way and all sorts of amazing things can happen for all people. Amazing what a difference each of us can make!
Go Rachael!
Truly amazing.
Wow, that is a place I would like to work! I could feel it as you described it, it would be so powerful and simple. I will commit to this ‘womanly work body’ as all change starts with ourselves – I am worth it.
The huge impact and inspiring ripple effect of one. Look no further than Serge Benhayon and know that we all make a difference.
Thank you for this revealing article and all the comments. Putting people first is turned on its head.
Very well said Mary completely different to how we’ve been taught.
Wow, just the phrase “people before purpose” is very powerful in breaking the notion of self-sacrifice for a “mission”. After all, it is a kind of hypocritical view to say a company and their employees should not take care of themselves during the very act of supposedly working towards caring for others in need.
During my first job as an aircraft technician, we were exposing ourselves to some very nasty chemical solvents, cleaners, epoxy resins, etc. and the horrible thing is how men (including myself at the time) tend to act tough as if they don’t care they’re exposing themselves to these toxins, and say things like “you can’t live forever”, or “it won’t kill me right away, anyways.” Fortunately, Serge Benhayon has offered us all a different way of looking at this, and if we are not taking care of ourselves, we cannot really be of any true service to others, as you have indicated so strongly here in this blog Victoria.
Hi Victoria, as a London bus driver I work in a garage with over 600 staff and the levels of sickness are very high. The main causes are back and shoulder injuries, stress and weight issues. But the main thing I have noticed is a lack of joy from management down to the cleaners. So, as Toni said, by choosing to be joyful and make self-loving choices myself, others will then have that choice to do the same.
Hi Victoria, I can really relate to your article. I have noticed that through making small changes to the way I care for myself, it has made a huge positive difference to the way I now deal with the demands of work. By honouring myself more, I now no longer get so overwhelmed and swept away by the demands of work. I am actually more productive and less drained.
I have found that building a strong rhythm and consistency in our own lives is one of the best ways to support ourselves and others in the work place. Going to bed at a reasonable time, waking early so that I do not have to rush, eating foods that work for me, exercise and caring for myself have made where I work so much easier to be, and I am less affected by those around me as I hold my rhythm at work. I am sometimes physically tired but I am no longer emotionally drained, and what is amazing I enjoy my work so much more. Thank you Victoria for raising this very important issue.
So true Victoria. I love the changes Sally has brought to her workplace, it is so needed virtually everywhere. I bet people are lining up to work with Sally.
I have recently encountered a work environment with high staff turnover. Whenever people are placed secondary there is a ripple effect that harms everyone. The benefits of valuing and supporting staff at work cannot be underestimated. Great article highlighting all this and love the analogy of the river and the rocks.
This post resonates with me and rings very true – I work in the financial centre in London and see this every day. I actually find that the more still I am, the more efficient and productive I become. The more care we take of ourselves, the more care we can take of our clients, projects, and colleagues.
Thank you victoria, this a very inspiring article, it feels like common sense and completely natural that people be put before profit in the work place.
This really hit the spot, it is such a supportive piece and left me with a real sense of stillness. Thank you
A great article Victoria. I love the phrase “people before profit”. What a great foundation for any business to adopt when so many think profit and turnover with little regard for employees, just what they can do for them. The concept of making people more important than profit would revolutionise the world we live in.
Such an inspiring article Victoria, this should be the basis for all organisations and companies.
Awesome Victoria, what a beautiful way for us to turn our work experience around, literally from the inside out. I know that when I am connected to the loving stillness within me, then work is a joy and something to have fun with. When I’m not then it all gets a bit heavy. But most importantly your post gives us back the power to make the change, rather than depending on something outside of ourselves, the company, the management, the work colleagues to make the change – every day I can make a different choice and it can inspire others to make a different choice too.
There is such a shift taking place at the moment in workplaces of all shapes and sizes all round the world. This sums up beauty-fully where we should re-align our focus. Great blog.
What a delightful blog and great analysis of the workplace. Everyone working with a group of people (almost everyone!) and especially all managers would do well to read your blog and start considering the important points you raise. Very inspiring.
I could really feel when I read your blog how crazy it is we do not all take equal care of each other, and all the things we put in front of basic care and respect of a fellow human being. And also the empowerment of truly making that choice and claiming it from here forward – that this world is about people and love first and foremost and everything else second.
Wow, this is an awesome combination of article and comments. I agree, we get so caught up in doing the work, whatever it is, we lose sight of ourselves. Simple self care at work is essential for our long-term well being and I’m sure that management who gave as much importance to staff as they do to customers will reap the benefits of greater productivity.
This is amazing Victoria. Absolutely beautiful and I can feel the real possibility.
Thank you Victoria for highlighting a major problem. In workplaces everywhere stress and illness are hitting the roof and it’s like we humanity have forgotten what is real and truly important. It is generally expected in most working environments to give and give till you are exhausted then still give more. Now I love hard work and feel hard work can be a blessing but as you have so beautifully expressed, there needs to be self care first. Whenever I get caught up in doing and lose myself, I tend to create more work for myself. I generally feel that’s what our working society are constantly doing by not being present or checking in to how we truly feel, we are constantly making more work for ourselves.
I love what you have written here, I feel a version of it should be in all employee handbooks!
“I have set an intention to start building my ‘womanly work body’ by committing to trusting my femaleness – my innate stillness and loveliness – and bringing these qualities with me to work.”
I had the pleasure of working with you while you were in England in May and I can gratefully say your presence was inspiring, bringing with you a stillness and spaciousness that benefited all those who worked with you. Thank you
Spacious diary planning… I love it, and you’re so right Jane. I’m learning more and more how important developing a natural rhythm and a way of living that supports me to work is key… and the trust that it will all be done in the right time.
It is amazing how we can so often (and for so long) block out the simple need to go to the toilet when it arises and the negative effect it has on the quality of what we are doing. Even as I am typing here, I have noticed I need the toilet but I was so engrossed in writing that I had not honoured that feeling!
Just the terminology ‘human resources’ takes the humanity part out of consideration and treats the people like commodities i.e. resources. Amazing how the words can be used to discount the people in the workplace, business or company. It certainly is time to make different choices at work as you say, Victoria – ‘from the food they eat to support themselves, to their ability to say ‘no’ when something doesn’t feel right – are noticed by their managers and peers; whose very ways of being challenge ‘the way things are done around here’, in the gentlest ways possible.’
Hi Judith, yes we need to be mindful of the words we use and the way we use them. I totally get terms like ‘human resources’ and ‘human capital’ from the business perspective – that is, resources or capital supplied in the form of people’s skills, experience and labour, as distinct from other resources that sustain a business, such as financial resources/capital – however they can de-personalise. At the end of the day, all businesses, even if highly automated with few tasks actually performed by humans, are about people… be it the people who program the robots or purchase the widgets produced by them!
Hi Amina, yes, the way things currently stand I do believe this is part of our future – we are getting more and more unwell and I suspect part of this picture is related to the ways we’re expected to work. Either way, employers, the economy and ultimately all of us will feel the long-term impacts… which means something will eventually have to give! It would be great if we could turn it around without having to hit rock-bottom first though…
So yes, I agree, the ‘one person at a time’ approach – that person being ourselves – is one way we can guarantee change.
Hi Toni, so well said… I guess what we’re saying here is the most effective way forward is to ‘be’ the change we want to see… not a new concept I know, but oh so valid. For me, what you have described is the ‘femaleness’ way, of being before doing, and leading by gentle example.
Victoria as I read your post I wondered about how much change I could have made when I was a company director, with HR and 24/7 IT support within my portfolio, if only I had been aware then of what I know now through Universal Medicine.
Then reading this comment about ‘being the change that we want to see’, I was reminded that yesterday at a briefing I spoke up and asked for peppermint tea, which the presenter then asked if she could share, abandoning her coffee. After 6 years of asking for salad lunches and explaining, when asked, why I don’t eat sandwiches at lunchtime, lunch was in the hotel’s restaurant with a choice from the salad bar… not a sandwich in sight!
So maybe we never retire, there is always the opportunity, in whatever role or however lowly it appears to be, to just be that ‘change we want to see’. Could it be that even in the way we get into our cars, drive and interact with other road users can be part of a change in how traffic flows?
Aside1: The briefing was about a research project into Health and Well Being, stresses of living and working.
Aside2: Why did I leave the directorship? What a consultant described as adrenalin burn out.
Bring on that beautiful warm river that slowly but surely softens the hardest rocks. Your workplace is very blessed to have you there Victoria.
Thank you Lyndy. And I know I’m not the only one who feels the same, so maybe all these small, warm tributaries will one day become an amazing Amazon or mighty Mekong!
I agree, your work place is very blessed to have light.
I do have to laugh at myself. As soon as I started to read this blog I wanted to immediately send it to our department manager but quickly became aware I am reading this blog because there is something for me to understand more deeply about what I can truly bring to the workplace (and everywhere).
Recently it has come into my awareness how I always have chosen to go big picture. I have always felt engaged with organisational change and am braced ready to go into battle to change it in the way I think it should be. But how have I been at those times? Certainly self care didn’t come into the equation. Your blog brings to light so many wonderful inspiring possibilities but none more powerful than me feeling inspired to simply bring true femaleness to the workplace everyday.
I work in a government organisation that struggles with all the issues you describe but they have also pandered to the staff in the attempt to put people first … Health and Well Being Committee, Staff Forum, Staff Surveys, bringing in massage therapists, holding health and well-being expos … You name it. Watch this space, the term “self care” will be coming in to join the phrase “work life balance” and many other already bandied about terms in an endeavour to find solutions with no real truth in them.
I am very grateful for the bold typed passage “In the meantime” to call me back from the big picture and come home to me and my true responsibility as a “discrete, solid being of self agency” and I am feeling very inspired to continue developing a “womanly body of work”. Awesome!
Thank you.
Hi Suzanne, yes I too have noticed the proliferation of approaches used to try and ‘solve’ workplace well-being issues… none of which seem to have any lasting effect. It is a step forward though, in the sense there has at least been some acknowledgement from management that the issues even exist – I’m not sure if it would have been the case in the workplace Dianne described in an earlier comment!
I know what you mean, I too have fallen into the trap of wanting to agitate for change in the big picture sense, but have come to see it’s pretty much up to us as individuals if there is no understanding of how things might or could be different at the decision-making levels.
Right on, Victoria! People, all people including staff, ARE the profit and the purpose, but not in the way the employers see it. All people ‘profit’ in the sense of evolving towards greater love and harmony when the ‘purpose’ is the care of all people equally.
How I struggled to self-care in my deadly workplaces! Teaching hospitals & med schools & universities where the toxic, carcinogenic solvents went all through the air conditioning. And the air con which was set way too hot in winter and way too cold in summer (in spite of our many submissions to the management) so people were constantly down with colds and flu. With not enough paid sick leave allocated, sick people came to work and spread infection. On top of that was Golden staph living in the dust – one of my young, strong workmates almost died of septicaemia from a pimple on her lip breaking while working in the dusty darkroom. And we all lived in fear of it.
The chemicals we handled were deadly, and unusually high numbers of too-young people in the histology labs died of very rare cancers. I was extremely careful and thorough handling such chemicals to protect myself, and never let myself get lazy. But others did, contaminating the workplace. Not only that, what was accepted safety practice one year, became outlawed the next year when more information came about the dangers. Because I was excellent at safe toxin handling, I was asked to teach heaps of people from other labs how to do it, but that was on top of my already-heavy experimental workload, and I was given no extra pay, support or kudos. When they asked me to take on being the whole school’s OH&S manager on top of my full-time research job, I had to refuse or it would have killed me!
We had officially 45 minutes for lunch. By the time I’d get down to the cafeteria, wait in the crawling queue, make my diy wholemeal salad sandwich, go through the checkout and then find a seat, it was almost time to go back to work, so eating was rushed and stressful. No wonder I got ulcers all through my gastro-intestinal system! But had to keep working in pain and misery (2.5 yrs of it) on a pilot phase work-up for a big grant app until it was through or I would have lost my job.
Our government contracts said we had to stay at work each day until a natural pause in an experiment because we could not allow any experiment to be ruined, but sometimes that meant working until 8 pm or more. I did understand that – it could take 3 weeks work and thousands of dollars to get a few bits of tissue ready for the electron microscope, and I cared a lot about the quality of my work and the accuracy of the results. But we did not get overtime pay, ever. Long hours in a toxic building doing intensely precise, demanding work…. commuting…. getting home late…. rushed and skipped meals…..blood sugar wildly fluctuating…..home life on hold until packing everything into the weekend….. exhausted by Monday morning…. very stressful.
I refused to ever drink coffee or tea, eat sugary rubbish or take stimulants like other staff did to survive. 10 am in the tea room disgusted me and I avoided it: all those people rushing to the coffee with donuts in hand, desperate for energy. Instead I kept myself fit, ate very well, tried to balance my activities, went outside at lunch time as often as possible and meditated in the sun or walked among the trees. But suffered from up to 5 migraines per week and was constantly affected by them.
The stress on our superiors of getting grant funding was terrible: figures like only 25% of grants in the school got funding, and that left 75% of the employees and their families at risk of job loss. And the responsibility for that fell on our supervisor’s shoulders, creating competition, animosity and constant tension.
Then in the early 80’s with so-called “economic rationalism” the stress dial at universities went up many-fold. Colleagues went out on permanent stress leave, or went nuts or retired early or left suddenly with no severance pay and just scraped along. Others were dismissed because they disagreed with the over-inflating of management levels, the invasion and control by drug companies, and new protocols that put box-ticking ahead of ethics, students, quality of teaching, and quality of research. I even witnessed intentional tampering of personnel files in order to blacklist and dismiss “detractors” with no justification.
Well that was a long one, but it helps dispel the erroneous idea that scientific researchers live high on the hog with great salaries, cushy jobs and prestigious work in immaculate high-tech buildings. Perhaps they do in the private sector at the “cost of their souls”. But on govt grants, even the Associate Professors after 7 – 10 years of study and 25 years experience earned no more than what a junior manager would in the private sector, and had to work 60 hours per week on site plus many more at home to earn their measley incomes.
So after 25 years of my life in universities, I turned down an amazing offer to do a PhD fully funded and supported, and left university. However, aware that this kind of stuff was going on in all industries, governments and corporations, running my own business, as challenging as that is, seemed like the only option.
Hi Dianne, what a horrendous example of a workplace gone mad – one where the toxic nature of the environment was both literal and metaphorical, both physical and emotional… and where the ends were used to justify the human means.
I don’t doubt the integrity of the work you personally produced – you held yourself magnificently – but what possible quality could your colleagues, who were struggling even more, have brought to their work in circumstances such as these?
Yes Victoria, lots of unhappy workers, looking for every opportunity to ‘get away’. I had a telling experience 10 years after I left. I went back to Adelaide to visit, and thought I’d drop in on my old lab and see how everyone was getting on. The moment I walked in the door of the building next to the medical student lecture and tutorial rooms, I could smell a barrage of toxic solvents: methanol, glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, epoxy resins, osmium, benzene……. all known carcinogens and dangerous to livers and in fact every aspect of health. What are they doing in the general air supply of the entire, huge, hospital and medical school?! What rammed home to me is that, while working in it, one’s sense of smell dulls to the point of not being able to perceive the toxic air and being totally unaware of the danger throughout the entire building, not just around the fume hoods in the labs. But because I’d been away from it, I could smell it right away.
I went to my lab, walked in and got a big shock. There I stood, 52 years old, bouncing with energy, rippling with muscle, glowing with health, my hair still its original colour, skin soft and supple, feeling like I must have been away at light speed so that everyone back on Earth had aged half a lifetime in the 10 years that I’d grown “younger”. Even colleagues 10 – 15 years my junior were wrinkled and grey-haired, stoop-shouldered, overweight and unhealthy-looking, with an attitude of sad resignation and even depression. Faces looked up for a moment without recognition, then brightened when they recognized me, then wide-eyed when they could see and feel my vitality. One of the senior technical staff said: “You’re so young and strong!” They all wanted to know what I’d been doing to have so much energy and youth.
Later when I went back again for a visit just before knock-off time, as soon as I entered I could smell burning electrical wiring, insulation and fibro, and realized there was a fire in the building. But no alarms were going off and everyone was head-down finishing off work. I asked someone “Can you smell that burning?”. They looked up, dull-eyed, shook their head and went back to their work. I got the same response from several others, not the least interested in even finding out about their own safety. Blow it! I thought, I don’t care about admin regulations, I’m calling the Fire Brigade! I did so from the nearest lab phone and they were there in about 5 minutes. Still no alarms, still everyone around just working away obliviously. But the Fire Brigade found a major fire raging in the space between two floors! There were no smoke detectors between floors so the fire could have gone out of control before anyone knew. They evacuated the wing of the building and dealt with the fire before it could threaten human life and the structure of the building. Later the Fire Officer asked who’d reported the fire, and when the crowd pointed me out I thought I’d be in trouble because staff (including ex-staff?) are NOT allowed to call for outside intervention. All emergencies have to go through the hospital admin first. But after hours? – that would have taken too long, lives could have been lost, so I’d just acted. The Fire Officer congratulated me on my ‘incredible nose’ and thanked me for acting quickly. In my view my ‘incredible nose’, instinct for self-preservation and immediate willingness to think and act with regard only for human life rather than bureaucracy, are merely the normal responses of a healthy human. To me the whole exercise illustrated how negatively affected in so many ways by their environment the workers are in that building.
I realized that by leaving medical research institutions I’d gotten out of the ‘poison pit’ not a moment too soon. I felt a powerful desire to help these people in some way so I went to visit everyone I’d known, to bring some joy and the possibility of life lived differently. We need medical and scientific research and teaching for sure, but boy oh boy, do they need to change!
Wow Dianne, I had no idea the extent of what goes on. This and your following comment about the Fire are amazing to read and reflect on. Thank you for sharing.
Great piece Victoria. I have seen first hand how stress and poor health can affect a workplace and I now manage a team where for 2 years we have made the workplace all about the staff and the changes in the team and the business are quite astounding. By supporting the people who are hands on in running the business the business has as you suggested naturally taken care of itself. In fact it has gone beyond where it was and what was ever considered possible. We have new projects happening, energised staff who are motivated creatively, dedicated staff, less sick leave, staff caring for themselves first before the needs of the client which actually means the client receives a better quality service, outcomes are being celebrated regularly and most of all staff report how much they love coming to work or that it is the most supported workplace they have ever been in or experienced. Laughing happens a lot and it is an absolute joy to be one member of a team that puts people first.
Sally, this is so inspiring to hear! I can really feel the ‘space’ that has been created in your workplace – a space that holds people and releases any potential ‘knot’ before a stress-pull begins. Congratulations!
Sally that is so awesome to hear… I’m wondering if you would be interested in working with me to create a case study document that could be used as an example of how this simple re-orietation can change the way we work… How valuable that would be.
Hi Victoria, I would love to work with you, awesome. The value in making work all about people, making life all about people is HUGE, let’s go for it.
This is evidence based proof of how the way we live affects the way we work.
You raise many important points in this article Victoria. There are so many workplaces that claim to make people first, but the people they are talking about are the customers, never the staff members that they effectively place last. So many work places are filled with misery, and rely on a lack of alternative job opportunities to hold their staff.
I love your description of femaleness, and its value beyond price, in the workplace. By holding your commitment to that, all around you can be inspired. They will have the opportunity to see one who is deeply reflective, self-loving, and willing to be lovely in all that they do, say and think.
So far we (humanity) have strayed from those qualities, as shown by the workplaces that bully, harass and hurt their staff members, treating them as liabilities, rather than the precious beings they truly are.
Thank you
Wow, I love how you have built on what was first said Rachel, in your description of femaleness and staff as liabilities. I feel it’s important we get clear on both these things – on the ‘what is going wrong that needs to change’, and the ‘what could be’, and you have helped with both. Thank you.
This is such a lovely piece to read and sit with. What you have written is so very needed at this time and reminds us all that it is about people first and foremost, whether they are staff, customers or clients – we are all human beings and we are all equal and we are all precious.
Rachel, you’re spot on we as humanity have strayed from the true qualities. Victoria’s article is Inspiring and a beautiful reflection.
This is lovely, Victoria, simple inspiring words and ways we can be with ourselves in the place we spend so many of our waking hours!
Thanks Anne, and too true – work is where we spend so much of our lives, and when it’s not great, we can easily let it take us over. It would be wonderful if everyone brought a little more love and thoughtfulness to the table.