Despite working in the business of wellness, the busy schedules of salon and spa professionals often leave little room for a proper work-life balance. Amidst the chaos of working life and serving clients, it’s absolutely vital to make time for your staff’s health and well-being, especially after the holiday season’s overindulgence! Making time for genuine, authentic wellness that serves the body, mind, and soul in your salon can add to staff satisfaction, increase productivity, and avoid burnout in the future.
With the beginning of the new year giving you the perfect excuse to set some resolutions for you and your team, here are some wellness practises that you should incorporate into the everyday routine of you and your team!
Related | Wellness Blog Reveals Benefits Of Mindfulness In Salons
Find Focus In The New Year With These Wellness Salon Resolutions
1. Be Mindful Of Your Breathing
Deep, mindful breathing has a huge amount of benefits, from stress management and nervous system regulation to pain release. Scientifically, “Shallow breathing doesn’t just make stress a response, it makes stress a habit our bodies, and therefore, our minds, are locked into,” says John Luckovich, an apprentice Integrative Breathwork facilitator in Brooklyn, New York. Headspace, a mindfulness app, continues: “Diaphragmatic breathing, on the other hand, can lower blood pressure, reduce heart rate, relax muscles, decrease stress, and increase energy levels.”
Make mindful breathing part of your salon routine by encouraging a daily five-minute breathing meditation with staff before or after their shifts, to dissolve any lingering stress and empower them to take control of difficult emotions. Mindful breathing can also be incorporated into meetings, where you and your team can take a minute or two before each one to breathe deeply and regulate emotions before having to tackle difficult conversations.
Find more information about this here.
2. Practise Gratitude
When was the last time you focused on what you have got, rather than what you haven’t? Studies show that people who practice daily gratitude; whether that’s writing down a list of things they’re grateful for, or just thinking of them every day, tend to be happier. What’s incredible about gratitude is that the only thing that has to change in order to practice it is your mindset.
Incorporate daily gratitude into your salon environment by starting a 30-day gratitude challenge, where you and your team must all list 3-5 things you’re grateful for, every single day for a month. Try to encourage team members to never mention the same thing twice, ensuring they don’t fall into the habit of mentioning things without thinking mindfully!
Being grateful does amazing things for the mind and soul; switching your mindset from a negative, lack-focused one to one that allows you to feel truly lucky for everything you have in your life; from that first cup of coffee in the morning to the family and friends that surround you.
3. Unwind From a Day’s Work With Yoga
Yoga is a great way to tune into your body, feel how it’s feeling, and take the time to let go of any brain clutter while also stretching out those aching muscles after a long day at the salon or spa. If you have the space, why not introduce yoga into your salon’s new year’s resolutions by setting aside some time each week to practice it in-house with your team before or after your workday? It doesn’t have to be costly or complicated; there are plenty of free yoga classes available on YouTube if hiring an instructor isn’t in the budget.
When starting out with yoga, learn to focus more on your state of consciousness than the look of the poses. Notice the temperature of your skin, the surrounding sounds, and be mindful of your breathing. Results will be felt in the form of stress melting away, improved mood, and a relaxed body. Here are some of our favourite beginner’s poses, their benefits, and how to do them;
- Supported Child’s Pose
- Relieves tension in the lower back, relaxes the body.
- Thread-The-Needle
- Detoxifies and calms the body, releases tension in the lower back and hips.
- Seated Wide Leg Supported Forward Fold
- Strengthens the spine, calms the brain, and releases tension in the groin.
- Resting Butterfly
- Helps intestine and bowel movements, while also reducing fatigue from long hours of standing and walking. Stretches the neck and lower spine.
- Savasana
- Helps relieve low mood, stress, high blood pressure, headaches, fatigue, and insomnia.
4. Take a Social Media Detox & Reconnect In Real Life
With so much of our time spent on our phones, laptops, and tablets, it can be difficult to disconnect and truly relax without some kind of device in our hands. While staying in touch with loved ones via social media can be fantastic, the constant barrage of bad news that the internet often brings can be upsetting, stressful, and frustrating.
This year, why not encourage you and your team to take a New Year’s social media detox, and replace hours of scrolling on your phones with fun activities like going for coffee or a run together instead? Alternatively, set up one day a month when phones are banned from the salon floor and teammates are encouraged to socialise face-to-face with one another, instead. While it may be difficult at first, a break from the internet will benefit everyone’s mental health, sociability, and concentration levels.
5. Spend Time in Nature Together
The benefits of being in nature are endless; from increased relaxation and activity levels to reduced feelings of loneliness and stress. Going into the new year, why not make a pledge with your salon or spa team to get more active and start spending some time together in the great outdoors?
From lunchtime walks to weekend hikes, morning sea swims, or even a wild card like rock climbing, spending time in nature together will not only help the people on your team to feel better on the inside, but will boost overall morale and lead to better communication and relationships both inside and outside the salon.
Remember, when working in the wellness industry, it’s important to lead by example and make sure your team are taking care of themselves in the same mindful, loving, and supportive way that they take care of your clients every day.
What wellness resolutions will you be bringing to your business this year? Let us know in the comments below or on Instagram.
Thanks for reading! #Togetherwegrow
Originally written in 2018 & updated for accuracy in 2023
