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3/21/2011 | Wellness Week provides refreshing break to focus on healthy living

For Penny Prebble, BLJC’s Wellness Week activities provided a nice break from her daily routine to become reacquainted with healthy living.

“It was a nice week,” says Prebble, energy co-ordinator for the Energy and Sustainability Group in Markham.

“It was a nice change to get away from the desk and take some refresher courses on some things,” she says, adding she did learn some new things.

During Wellness Week, which ran March 7 to 11, Prebble took in webinars on “Nutrition for Life” and “Staying Healthy at a Desk Job.” She also participated in a stretch and breathe class at head office in Markham.

She would welcome more such activities and appreciates that BLJC undertook an initiative to help employees.

“I think (Wellness Week) reinforces that this is the way you should be doing things in life,” Prebble says.

A first for BLJC, Wellness Week featured several webinars on various topics, and stretch and breathe classes at various main offices across Canada. A zumba class, chair massage session and a benefits fair with Manulife also took place at the Markham office.

Human resources consultant Rosa Bavaro says the week successfully engaged team members, with more than 150 signing up for the webinars.

At the Markham office, granola bars were distributed to team members as a healthy snack.

BLJC president Gord Hicks also had fresh organic fruit delivered to some of the main offices in Canada to kick off Wellness Week.

Bavaro, who also participated in some of the events, says team members provided a lot of positive feedback.

“In talking to some of the employees, it was something to change up their regular workday,” she says.

“It was something fresh and new, and it allowed them to move away from their desk and focus on themselves, and then come back to work. I think that’s why (Wellness Week) was embraced.”

Christine Babic, human resources manager for British Columbia and Alberta, says she also heard a lot of positive comments.

“I think (team members) appreciated the support from the organization, the effort and the message from the executive to everyone,” she says.

“It’s really about adopting a healthy lifestyle so that we can be more alert and productive in our jobs,” she says, adding there are also the overall health benefits to be had by using what was learned.

Babic, who knows first-hand the benefits of yoga and makes a point to be physically active during lunch breaks, showed her support for Wellness Week by participating in the stretch and breathe class at the BLJC-WSI office in Coquitlam, B.C.

“It was nice to see those exercises, which anyone could do, and hopefully people will start practising that because I know that this is what we do, we tend to sit at our desks all day, you get busy and work through lunch . . . and that’s very hard on the body.”

From those who signed up for webinars, Eva John in accounts payable in Markham won a draw for a Wii system. Rajib Saha, part of the finance team in Markham, won Manulife’s draw for a foldable chair and mug.