Axonista Wellness Month 2023: 4 ways we embraced wellness and rest
At Axonista, we prioritise our employees’ wellness and work-life balance by creating a remote work setting that promotes a positive and productive environment. We are proud to have won the Health and Wellness Award at the 2022 Diversity in Tech Awards. This award celebrates companies that champion wellness within the workplace.
We are committed to promoting wellness. Last year, we introduced Wellness Month, which was a huge success. We recently held our second annual Wellness Month in February. During this time, we participated in various activities to enhance our mental and physical well-being. Additionally, we had a company-wide Wellness Day to encourage our team to take some time to do something that makes them feel good.
Consider these four ideas from our Wellness Month to improve your remote team’s wellness program:
1. Relax & Unwind with Meditative Art
We had a fantastic online event with Therapeutic Art Coach Natalie. The session was a unique way for our team to unwind, relieve stress and promote mindfulness with meditative art techniques. We enjoyed this event as it provided valuable insights into relaxation.
Orla from our People Ops team now incorporates meditative drawing moments into her week:
“This event definitely left me feeling relaxed and refreshed. Natalie was a wonderful host, making us feel calm and connected even over zoom. Her guidance helped me to focus on the present moment and tap into my creative (although basic!) skills, as well as remind me of the value of mindfulness. My notebook is now bookmarked with meditative drawings and it’s proven to be a valuable tool in reminding me to pause and create moments of calm throughout my week!”
2. Promote Healthy Sleeping Habits
A good night’s sleep plays a crucial part in our ability to function, and it’s brilliant for our mental and physical health. For Wellness Month, we wanted to highlight the importance of prioritising rest and creating an effective sleeping environment.
We discovered our Axonistas are also big fans of sleep and how to improve your quality of sleep so this topic went down a treat. Scientist and author Matthew Walker was a big hit, and many Axonistas recommended his book “Why We Sleep” and his 6 tips for better sleep Ted talk.
3. Financial Wellbeing Talk
Wellness Month was the perfect opportunity to share the importance of financial wellbeing with our team. We had an informative session from CloudAccounts, who helped us with everything on Irish financials. At Axonista, we have many team members at different stages of their financial journey, so we were delighted to hear how this session benefited them.
Yuriy on our Engineering team learned about benefits he wasn’t aware of:
“The financial expert talk was very insightful. I discovered benefits I wasn’t aware of as well as got answers to some interesting questions, a great talk if you really want to understand the financial opportunities around you.”
4. Wellness Day
We believe that taking time to recharge and pursue personal interests is crucial in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. That’s why we organise events like this to give our team members the chance to disconnect and enjoy life outside of work. For Wellness Day, each team member took the time to do something valuable for them, such as attending a protest for an important cause, spending time with their pets, cycling, cooking, watching their favourite shows and getting some fresh air.
Borja joined us late last year, so this is his first Wellness Day experience at Axonista, and he enjoyed it.
“When given a chance to dedicate a whole day to doing what I enjoy the most, my attitude, mindset, and general well being significantly improve, recharging for whenever life feels crazy again. I personally try to exercise every day, but occasionally struggle to find the time when work days are busy, so the wellness day is a huge success, and something I was never offered by any other company.”
In conclusion, wellness is a team effort
Embracing wellness is not just an individual responsibility but also a team effort. At Axonista, we encourage our team to collaborate and support each other by sharing tips and joining events during Wellness Month.
We achieved this by creating events like Meditative Art that gave everyone a break from work and an opportunity to unwind and enjoy relaxing music. Our financial event created an opportunity for our team to ask questions. We also encouraged our team to share tips for a healthy night’s sleep. Along with all of these fun events we also provide an EAP service to all our employees and their families.
By making wellness a team effort, we were able to have another successful Wellness Month that continues to create a supportive workplace that helps everyone to succeed while also focusing on their wellbeing.
