Welcome . . .
. . . to the Emergent WorkForce™ program by the Sound Wellness Institute!
This program offers you opportunities to help manage stress, to support your health and well-being, to assist in recovery from illness and disease, and much more. We say opportunity, because your success is entirely up to you.
Did you know that the World Health Organization has declared stress to be the health epidemic of the 21st century? The US Center for Disease Control has stated that over half of all deaths of those under 65 are from illness and disease that are rooted in stress. To us, that is unacceptable. In the Emergent WorkForce™ program, you will be shown powerful ways to manage stress in your lives – stress that you may not even be aware of.
The tools and techniques that you will learn over the next few months will support you in the workplace, in your relationships with friends and family, in the community and beyond. The methods are validated by science, from researchers at some of the most prestigious universities and institutes in the world.
And so, we welcome you to join us!
To ensure that you have an extraordinary experience, we have two on-line forms that must be completed.
Employee Information Form
First is an information form. We need to know any dietary restrictions that you might have, or health issues that our instructors need to be aware of. This is essential to creating a safe environment where your needs are accommodated.
This form is maintained in the highest confidence. Information relating to your health will never be shared with anyone other than the instructors and the Sound Wellness program coordinator. Information about your meal preferences will be shared with our Nutritionist, who will discuss your needs with the caterers.
Your responses will never be shared with your employer.
Pre-Program Assessment
Second, your input is critical to understanding the dynamics of your work environment. Through this understanding, we can tailor our program to best support your needs.
Please answer as accurately as you can – the survey is completely anonymous. We have no way of identifying who you are, so your responses are protected. Only a summary of responses from all participants will be provided to the company. Individual responses are confidential.
The assessment should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
Nancy Addison’s focus is on an optimal diet that will supply the basic needs of the body and fortify the body’s defenses, thereby improving health, increasing vitality, delivering greater longevity and preventing diseases associated with aging. These include heart disease, age-related muscle loss and fat gain, memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and the physical effects of aging.
When you give your body the right tools, it can do miraculous things!
When we play music together, there is a battery of hormones released by the nervous system, including Oxytocin, the bonding hormone, Dopamine, the ‘feel good’ hormone, Immunoglobulin A (IgA) an important immune system antibody, Serotonin, which regulates the sleep/waking cycle, and Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), Growth hormone (GH), and B-endorphin (B-EP), all helpful in supporting our immune function. 
There is a growing body of research that documents the benefits of gratitude. Experiments have confirmed an immediate increase in happiness, reduction in depressive symptoms, and increased wellbeing. These benefits have lasting effects on the brain and the individual.
We all have our own perceptions. It has been said that there is no one truth for our individual truths have been coloured by our perceptions and beliefs, our upbringing and past experience – just as our vision is coloured when wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Tibetan Singing bowls were traditionally used as an aid for a meditation practice, but they do much more. The slow repetitive movement of the playing stick creates an instant physical relaxation response, while calming emotions and focusing the mind, so there is greater access to creative solutions and inspiration. The Tibetan Singing Bowl can act like the restart button on the computer. They are natural stress-busters that can stimulate the natural healing ability of the body.
However, it can be easily suppressed by stress, by fatigue, or illness, with short term and long term consequences.
There are always distractions in an office environment. From the sound of a phone ringing, conversations in the hall, or a photocopier, or printer working away to name but a few. The distractions are compounded as more businesses shift to cubicles, which have been shown to reduce productivity by up to 60%. 
Brainwave entrainment is a thousands of years old practice.
In 1998, Robert F Furchgott, Louis J Ingnarro, and Ferid Murad won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery that our cells puff and release nitric oxide. Nitric oxide, is a gas that acts as a signalling molecule in the body. Since its discovery, the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical medical complex have spent hundreds of million of dollars investigating this gas. As a result, medications are now widely available to support cardiovascular disease, and others.
Let’s take a look at the software that handles stress or relaxation. The autonomic nervous system has 2 divisions that work like a teeter-totter. One division takes control, and the other yields. And then the other takes control.
There are two sides to our autonomic nervous system – the sympathetic (fight or flight) system whose purpose is to protect, and the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system whose purpose is to restore health.
Building on the ‘Office Fitness’ module, we look at ways to bring fitness home. There are many ways to incorporate an easy to follow fitness program, from walks to swimming, to shoveling the driveway. They all come with the benefit of supporting a healthy body, one that is more resistant to disease, one that has the energy to do things with friends and family, and one that strengthens performance. 
Keeping the mind and body well oxygenated is essential for peak performance, yet sitting for extended periods reduces blood flow in the upper body, with the corresponding drop in oxygen to the brain. Using deep breathing techniques, coupled with simple movement that can be done in the office, oxygen levels can be restored, invigorating the body and mind. 
Mindfulness has a significant impact on communication and safety. It is a proven way to reduce stress and improve health (physical, emotional and mental), thereby reducing absenteeism. 
One of the most powerful tools you have to navigate through everyday life is your voice. It is one of those things that, like air, is always there, but we pay little attention to it. Your voice is your communication center. And it communicates both verbally and non-verbally. Your voice communicates from many different aspects of who you are.