APRIL
In April, we will focus on “laughter and child-likeness”, meaning that you are encouraged to invite a sense of joy, wonder, curiosity, and play into your everyday lives this month.
During the month of April, there are 3 options to participate in Your Wellness Matters programs.
1. Wellness Challenge
2. Wellness Event
3. Physical Activity Tracking Challenge
********See all the details below
Wellness Challenge: Unleash Your Inner Child: An Activity & Coloring Sheet
Throughout the month, you will choose at least 5 activities from the checklist to complete and cross off. The goal is to have fun with this checklist! You may interpret and adapt each prompt to your life in the way that feels most joyous for you. Don’t be afraid to try something new, or silly, or child-like – that’s the point, to make space for moments where you can take life a little less seriously :) Along with a checklist, this worksheet doubles as a coloring sheet. You are invited to freestyle how you’d like the sheet to be completed. Add shapes, colors, people, hair, clothes, animals, objects…as much or as little as you’d like.
Wellness Event: Tuesday evening FREE movie at The Rivoli Theatre
We are excited to offer a FREE Tuesday movie showing to every full-time Y staff at the Rivoli! Grab a co-worker, friend or family for a movie night! We will be getting these vouchers to you in the first week of April. Contact Dana or Hannah if you didn’t receive one. Please check out the Rivoli’s website for upcoming movie offerings. This voucher can only be used on a Tuesday. There isn’t an expiration date on the voucher, so you can use it in the months to come. If you do choose to use it in April, you are able to use it as a Wellness Event submission for April.
Physical Activity Minutes Challenge
Track your physical activity minutes during April. If you reach the required goal, submit your minutes using this link: https://www.laxymca.org/
Prizes for the Wellness Challenge and the Wellness Event:
Anyone who completes and submits documentation for the Wellness Challenge or the Wellness Event using this link: https://www.laxymca.org/
Through your participation in the challenge/event and the activity minutes, you will be entered into a drawing. There will be a drawing where (1) participant from the physical activity minute submissions will win a meal with a coworker, AND there will be (1) participant from the wellness challenge/event submissions that will be allotted an amount to spend on material goods/any experience that brings them joy! While this is broad, we encourage the winner to think about any hobbies, special interests, and/or pastime activities that they would like to use the money towards. When the winner is chosen, they will be in contact with Hannah DeKeyser to purchase their chosen prize or experience!
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BONUS WELLNESS EVENTS IN APRIL: Mark your calendars for the following pop-up events!
Friday, April 4th 1-3pm at Houser Y: Annual Y-Staff Pickleball Tournament. This event is from 1-3 PM @ Houser Gym 2 courts C & D. To register, refer to the email previously sent out by Karen.
Thursday, April 17th 12-1 pm at Dahl Y Fitness Studio A: Join us in a fun hypnosis event: Enhancing Memory & Concentration by David J. Moitzheim, CH. This program is designed to enhance focus, confidence, and mental clarity—skills that are beneficial in leadership and team-building contexts. This is a unique and engaging experience, aligning perfectly with our commitment to holistic development. We are hoping to offer a similar pop-up event for members in the future.
To register, simply respond to the calendar invitation from Dana.
Feel free to wear comfortable clothing and bring a blanket/mat.
MAY
In May, we will focus on “Mental Health”, for May Mental Health Awareness Month. The Y has been working with the Mental Health Coalition of Greater La Crosse to put together ready-to-use tools and assets for area organizations to utilize for Mental Health Awareness Month. This May, we are focusing on 4 essential actions we can take to prioritize our mental well-being. We pulled from those tools to utilize for our Wellness Challenge this month.
During the month of May, there are 3 options to participate in Your Wellness Matters programs.
1. Wellness Challenge
2. Wellness Event
3. Physical Activity Tracking Challenge
********See all the details below********
Wellness Challenge: Resilience Worksheets
Put action behind taking care of your mental health, and take a moment to complete a resilience worksheet. Complete the "Mindfulness" and "Who is in your Circle" Resilience Sheets. Be sure to submit both worksheets to get credit for this challenge!
Check out the May Mental Health Awareness Calendar for other fun activities to do throughout the month.
Wellness Event: Mental Health Awareness Walk: May 29th at 12 pm
We will meet at the Dahl Lobby at 11:45 am to head to the La Crosse County Mental Health Awareness Walk. It's about a 1-mile walk through downtown La Crosse and back to the County Building for the resource fair from 1-2:30 pm.
*An invitation is sent for this event & take a selfie to submit for credit*
Prizes for the Wellness Challenge and the Wellness Event:
Anyone who completes and submits documentation for the Wellness Challenge or the Wellness Event using this link: https://www.laxymca.org/
Physical Activity Tracking Challenge
Track your physical activity minutes during May. If you reach the required goal, submit your minutes using this link: https://www.laxymca.org/
Check your wellness journey progress here
Dashboard refreshes every 2 hours
What is the Employee Wellness Program
Description
The Y offers a voluntary employee wellness program (Your Wellness Matters) to all full time employees. The mission of this program is to provide a worksite culture and environment that supports making healthy lifestyle choices. Programs are intended to educate, empower, and engage full time employees to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors. All full time employees who voluntarily participate in programming are eligible for rewards and incentives.
Programming
Each month will surround a different area of wellness where a challenge and or event will be offered for full time employees to complete/attend. Full time employees may submit physical activity minutes monthly as well.
Vision
Implement a comprehensive worksite wellness program that educates, empowers, and engages La Crosse Area Family Y full time employees to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Who is eligible?
All full time employees are eligible.
Guidelines
To be eligible to earn up to 16 hours of Personal PTO, participants must log at least 400 minutes of physical activity per month and provide their tracking information by the 5th of the next month AND complete a minimum of 8 monthly challenges or events and submit the required documentation by the 5th of the next month.
All submissions should be turned in at:
www.laxymca.org/employee-wellness
Please Note: We are committed to helping participants achieve their best health. If a participant thinks they might be unable to meet the physical activity goal for a reward or the monthly challenges as they are presented, they might qualify for an opportunity to earn the same reward in a way that is right for them. Please contact Karen Fortin ([email protected] or 608-519-5519) to discuss options further.
Rewards
Those who complete and submit documentation of reaching the physical activity minutes goal each month will be entered in a drawing to win a breakfast/lunch with a coworker of their choosing.
Those who complete and submit documentation for the challenge/ wellness event each month will be entered in a drawing to win a prize (prize revealed each month).
Participants will earn a submission for each physical activity and event/challenge they complete throughout the year. These submissions will be entered into a grand prize drawing that will be announced at the end of 2024.
Your Wellness Matters Team
Please contact any of the following Your Wellness Matters Committee members with questions or concerns:
Karen Fortin
Arianna Lewis
Maddie LaCount
Dana Boler
Anna Stindt
Matt Davids
Natalie Todd
Emma Fox
Julie Siakpere
Jeni Ludwigson
KJ McMillan
Dimensions of Wellness
Physical Wellness: Consists of recognizing the need for physical activity, healthy foods, and sleep, as well as preventing illness and injury or managing chronic health conditions
- Understand why and how your body works
- Feel competent at physical activity
- Become aware of how a lack of sleep, stress, and non-activity affect your body
- Develop well-balanced and healthy eating habits
Emotional/Mental Wellness: Coping effectively with life and creating satisfying relationships
- Develop, establish, and maintain intimate and loving relationships
- Become more aware of your feelings and accept them as valid indicators of what you are experiencing
- Develop assertiveness and confrontation skills
- Develop positive feelings about yourself by creating healthy self-esteem and self-concept
Social Wellness: Developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system
- Develop the ability to create and maintain close friendships
- Feel comfortable interacting with diverse individuals and groups
- Understand and accept those with different sexual orientations, gender identities, races, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status.
- Work toward becoming a responsible world citizen
Intellectual Wellness: Recognizing one’s creative abilities and finding ways to expand knowledge and skills
- Strive to be open to new experiences and ideas in all areas of your life
- Develop a love for learning and philosophy for “life-long learning”
- Expand your ability to create, develop, analyze, concentrate, understand
- Feel competent in intellectual and academic activities
Environmental Wellness: Occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support the well-being
- Become aware of how your external environment affects you
- Redesign your environments to more effectively support and reinforce your needs
- Be concerned about the future of the local, national, and world ecology and climate
- Minimize your contribution to the destruction of the outdoor environment
Spiritual Wellness: Expanding a sense of purpose and meaning in life, including morals and ethics (Does not need to involve religion)
- Explore personal values
- Become aware of how values develop and change from life experiences
- Search for meaning in life
Occupational Wellness: Gaining personal satisfaction and enrichment from one’s work
- Understand the relationship between your career choice and other parts of your life
- Develop effective job-related skills in assertiveness, confrontation, feedback, time management, and active listening
- Explore your interests, skills, values, and needs and how they relate to your career choice
Financial Wellness: Satisfaction with current and future financial situations
- Learning how to gain control of your finances so they work for you
- Understanding how to manage a budget, credit cars, checking and savings accounts, investments, and retirement funds
YMCA360
The Your Wellness Matters Committee wants to share with you all a great tool the Y has to offer. If you do not already know, the Y offers a virtual program called YMCA360 through an app or website. This program offers workout classes on demand so you can do them on your own time, anywhere! We encourage you to try these on-demand classes as well as looking into some nutrition and gratitude courses they offer! You can also sign-up for fitness classes at the Y on this program and possibly join challenges to earn rewards through the app/website!
Other Pop-Up Events
We will be offering other opportunities to be involved in other challenges throughout the year such as tournaments and Y employee-only fitness classes. Look for emails including the details as they are scheduled.
Dimensions of Wellness:
Physical Wellness
- Understand why and how your body works
- Feel competent at physical activity
- Become aware of how a lack of sleep, stress, and non-activity affect your body
- Develop well-balanced and healthy eating habits.
Emotional/Mental Wellness
- Develop establish and maintain intimate and loving relationships
- become more aware of your feelings and accept them as valid indicators of what you are experiencing
- develop assertiveness and confrontation skills
- develop positive feelings about yourself by creating healthy self-esteem and self-concept
Intellectual Wellness
- strive to be open to new experiences and ideas in all areas of your life
- Develop a love for learning and philosophy for “life-long learning”
- Expand your ability to create, develop, analyze, concentrate, understand
- Feel competent in intellectual and academic activities
Environmental Wellness
- Become aware of how your external environment affects you
- Redesign your environments to more effectively support and reinforce your needs
- Be concerned about the future of the local, national, and world ecology and climate
- Minimize your contribution to the destruction of the outdoor environment
Spiritual Wellness
- Explore personal values
- Become aware of how values develop and change from life experiences
- Search for meaning in life
Occupational Wellness
- Understand the relationship between your career choice and other parts of your life
- Develop effective job-related skills in assertiveness, confrontation, feedback, time management, and active listening
- Explore your interests, skills, values, and needs and how they relate to your career choice.
Financial Wellness
- Learning how to gain control of your finances so they work for you
- Understanding how to manage a budget, credit cars, checking and savings accounts, investments, and retirement funds
Social Wellness