Beth Moses, founder and CEO of Oh Well!, Inc, a workplace wellness firm in Indiana, has over 25 years of experience in the fields of business, wellness and healing. She is also author of the book It's All Well & Good. In this interview she discusses various workplace approaches to wellness and provides takeaways that workers can use to reduce stress and increase energy throughout their day.

You've been observing workplace settings and speaking to corporate groups for a number of years. What kinds of insights have you gained about workplace settings and their conduciveness to creating an atmosphere of wellness? In the last 15 years, I've learned that employers' commitment to that process has changed tremendously for the better. I think there was a lot of resistance to incorporating wellness into employee benefits programs, but then companies like Johnson & Johnson started taking it seriously.

I also think there's been a shift in the public consciousness toward holistic medicine and holistic healing. For instance, in the last five years yoga has come into the mainstream. Of course, along with that, I think many of the ancient practices that are associated with healing - yoga, meditation, massage, breath work - are becoming much more integrated into the definition of employee wellness.

There is also a greater sense of corporate responsibility around the issue, especially where it relates to health insurance. A lot of companies have started to fill in the gaps with more proactive, preventative programming. They're realizing the positive impact that employee wellness has on the bottom line in terms of absenteeism, turnover, retention and health insurance claims. One statistic I've seen recently that I'm sure many business leaders are taking notice of is that $200 billion is lost to the bottom line annually due to employee stress alone! [Source: International Labor Organization -Ed]

You speak to all kinds of groups on the power of integrating healing into their day. What are a few tips or exercises that you'd recommend to our readers? The first thing that comes to mind, and what everything comes back to, is breathing. If you can train yourself to come back to your breath and feel it as you go through your day, it will put you in touch with your body. This will help you be sensitive as to when to stretch, when to stop, when to get up and walk around, when to massage your shoulder and when to correct your posture.

Also, pay attention to both positive and negative interactions with your co-workers. Try to step out of your body and view what the person is saying not as personal criticism but as teaching. Our judgments - "I like that person, but I don't like that person" - get in the way of our relationships. If you can get past that, you can be a more productive individual because the emotional stressors won't be depleting you as much.

What can a company's leadership do in a formal way to promote wellness at work and reduce employee stress? I think it's about knowing what your population wants and needs, having a commitment to it and, if needed, working with outsourced companies to put programs in place and to help administer them. For instance, The Haelan Group in Indianapolis works with hospital systems and other large and small workplaces to help assess the needs of the population so that a company can create a customized wellness program.

From there, be creative and do something that addresses a holistic model that's physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, with fitness included in some form. Some companies provide an annual $500 pre-tax benefit for things like healthier foods at lunchtime or massages. In fact, if a company does nothing else, I would recommend a corporate massage program. It really helps to raise morale. Some employees have even told me that they'd like a massage more than the ham they get during the holidays.

One thing I would recommend for smaller companies that may not be able to provide health insurance is to create an on-site wellness program in which at first the employer pays for it, with employees assuming more of the costs over time as they get into a wellness routine and see the real value behind it. Other cost-conscious measures include structuring a wellness benefit into the "employee of the month" award and awarding wellness-based bonuses instead of monetary bonuses.

Editor's Note: Look for the revised Second Edition of It's All Well & Good on Amazon.com on Tuesday, January 9.