Sleep and Depression

I have been reading case studies published about the effects of massage on sleep and depression. In every single study the effects are the same- the massage group experiences lower cortisol levels (improving sleep), and lower anxiety and depression scores for days after the massages. They have tested this on regular people, fibromyalgia patients, pregnant women, depressed teen mothers, and chronic fatigue syndrome patients, and each study came to the same conclusion- REGULAR massage improves sleep, decreases anxiety, and decreases depression. In fact, here is a Reuters Health article I came across today about massage and depression saying that exact same thing. This is a very promising treatment for a condition that seems to affect a large population of the US, and to me that is exciting news!

Why is the U.S. behind the curve?

Everywhere I look online I see workplace massage thriving in the UK. In Australia it's been going on for decades. I have friends in Canada that say it's a normal part of the workday there. A lot of articles and research done on workplace massage have been conducted in other countries. Why are we as a country and a culture so slow to adopt new ideas, even when they've been proven effective by other nations?

Granted, we are starting to come around. If you look at my blog post a few back I have a list of a lot of companies in the US who provide massage for their employees and are enjoying the benefits of increased productivity, decreased turnover, and decreased health care costs. It's just interesting that we like to stick to what we think works in the traditional sense, and take very little notice of what other cultures are doing, even when it is proving to be effective.

The Massage Advantage Membership

We are excited to announce that we will soon be launching a new service option to our clients- A Membership! Clients participating in The Advantage Program will have the option to receive their massage services at work for a significant discount when signing a 6 month contract and getting set up on auto-pay. We are happy to be able to reward our clients even more for taking great care of their bodies! Look for it soon!

Perkville!

We are so excited to announce that we are launching our new client rewards program through Perkville! Now our clients can earn free massages just for facebook posts, tweeting about us, and getting their regular massages. We can't wait to reward our loyal customers!

Join the Workplace Massage Movement!

This week I spent some time researching companies across the country that currently offer on-site massage as a benefit. This is only from a small amount of research mind you, as the list goes on and on. But I was amazed to find that businesses of all sizes are starting to offer massage at work and they are really starting to see the benefits that choice. People are starting to see again the advantage they have when they invest in their employees. Here are just a few of the companies I stumbled upon this week:

Intuitive Research and Technology Corp, AL

Robins and Morton, AL

McMurry, AZ

Google, CA

Insomniac Games, CA

SAS, CA

Shutterfly, CA

Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman, CO

Inifinity Systems Engineering, CO

Integer, CO

Pinnacol Assurance, CO

Wilmington University, DE

Novozymes North America, NC

Dixon Schwabi, NY

Eileen Fisher, NY

Bridge Worldwide, OH

Johnson and Johnson, SC

AMX, TX

CHG Healthcare Services, UT

Ebay, UT

JetBlue, UT

Mozy, UT

USANA Health Sciences, UT

Soreson Labs, UT

Stampin’ Up, UT

Tahitian Noni International, UT

Williams Northwest Pipeline, UT

Noblis, VA

SnagAJob.com, VA

4imprint, WI

Acuity, WI

Worldwide and National:

AT&T

BellSouth

Coca-Cola

Delta Airlines

IBM

IKEA

Interactive Media

Rio Tinto

The Weather Channel

I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty impressive, and quite a promising indicator for the state of our economy.

Professional Organizations

This week I attended a luncheon at the Corporate Alliance in Salt Lake. It was a lovely experience. I really enjoyed how the people there were not just their to make contacts with other companies and promote their own, they truly were dedicated to helping one another in their businesses and building quality relationships. I look forward to getting more involved in this organization.

I also enjoy being a member of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and the Women's Business Center at the Chamber. These organizations have provided excellent networking opportunities for our company, and have been a great educational resource for our young and growing company. For us, these organizations have proven to be invaluable.

Employee Perks

Times are not as bad as most of us like to think. I recently attended a Human Resources Panel at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and got the opportunity to hear from HR people from Overstock.com, Neutron Interactive, and Spillman Technologies. These companies continue to grow through the recession, and not only that, they offer employee perks that are unheard of. How can Neutron Interactive offer a full catered lunch onsite for their 40 employees each day, or how can Spillman Technologies give their 210 employees access to various vacation timeshares at no cost? What is the secret these companies know that the rest of the world just isn't figuring out?

It's that you get back what you put in to your people. Companies like these (there is a whole list of them in Utah Business Magazine issue a couple months ago) are going above and beyond what they offer their employees because they have seen what a difference it has made in their company's culture, growth, and bottom line. I find that very inspiring when other companies are downsizing and doing layoffs. Perks and worth the investment.