Wellbeing Resources: Back-to-School Season, Financial Wellness and more!

When it comes to wellbeing, employers often find themselves challenged by how to approach a shift from a traditional wellness model to a comprehensive and holistic program that supports the whole person. Below you’ll find this week’s curated list of wellbeing resources. Feel free to share these resources, as appropriate, with your team. 

Career Wellbeing

• 5 Times Ted Lasso Showed Us What Great Leadership Looks Like – If you ask fans why they love the tv series, Ted Lasso, you’ll hear similar feedback; it’s a bright spot during a challenging time.  The main character, Ted Lasso, also provides a plethora of examples of how great leaders behave.  Read on to see why Apple TV’s Ted Lasso is a cheat sheet for good leadership. 


• Preparing for Your First Day Back at the Office – There are a multitude of effective routines that were lost in the sudden shift to remote work during the pandemic. As many workers prepare for the return to offices, they need to reclaim the routines they lost and manage their time well.  Here are some recommended steps to reduce trepidation.

Social & Family Wellbeing

• How to Support Kids Who Are Anxious About Returning to School – Back-to-school jitters are normal every fall. But as families prepare for the beginning of the 2021–22 school year, these run-of-the-mill worries are colliding with fresh uncertainties about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, leaving kids and parents more anxious than usual.  A professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University provides some strategies for parents. 


• Protect Play.  Protect Sleep.  Emphasize Connection.  This brief piece by psychologist Tina Bryson has some great advice for parents who are wondering how they can help their kids ‘catch up’ as they return to school. 


• 3 Steps to Support Family Caregivers – Are you caring for a family member or friend? Don't do it alone. Jessica Kim, CEO & Co-Founder of ianacare, will cover 3 mindset shifts + 3 tangible ways to mobilize practical and emotional support. It'll save you time, money, and stress! The event will take place on Thursday, September 23rd at 2 PM ET.

Financial Wellbeing

• 9 Questions to Ask Aging Parents About Their Finances – While people in their 40s and 50s learned much about money from their parents, now the roles are becoming reversed. Adult children should know where their parents’ finances stand in case of any emergency.  Speaking to aging parents about their finances isn’t easy. To begin this process, here are nine important topics that you may want to discuss with your parents.


• Financial Management: Strategies to Achieve Wealth Wellness – Join Clay Hessel, VP Wealth Management at GCG Financial (an Alera Group Company), to discuss strategies that you can leverage to improve the health of your finances. Join us on  Wednesday, September 22nd at 2 PM ET.

Physical Wellbeing

• 7 Fruits and Veggies That Are at Peak Ripeness Right Now, Plus Great Ways to Use Them  – Eating seasonally—meaning piling your plate with foods that grow naturally at the current time of year in your region—is not only extra flavorful, but is especially nutrient dense, cost-efficient, and environmentally-friendly.  Here’s what’s fresh and delicious right now!


• Eat What You Love: Precision Nutrition for Diabetes & Pre-Diabetes Care – Join Registered Dietician, Cassidy Vogel, to learn how to personalize your diet to prevent or manage type 2 diabetes.  Wednesday, September 22nd at 3PM ET.


• Healthy Cooking During Busy Times – Cook along with Gigi Verrey, of Very Smart Ideas!  Gigi will be teaching us how to make a delicious caponata that can be used on pasta, fish and more!  Along the way, she will be providing tips on how to make the most of fresh, healthy ingredients and how to maximize time in the kitchen. Join in on the fun on Wednesday, September 22nd at 6 PM ET.


• How to Start Your Garden Right: Grow & Eat the Healthiest Food Possible – Year-Round!  Join Josh Levine and Troy Smothermon of StartOrganic to learn how to grow your Green Thumb in order to grow your own food! Learn more by joining us on Thursday, September 23rd at 3 PM ET.

Emotional Wellbeing

• 4 Traits of Resilient People (And How You Can Become One) – If you asked most people how they feel right now, they would probably say some version of the word “tired”.  This a whole new level of tired brought upon by over a year of uncertainty and loss of ‘normalcy’.  Here are 4 ways to build resilience. 


• Loss, Languishing & Renewal: Defining the Effects of the Pandemic on Our Mental Wellness – Please join members of the Spring Health team to discuss the basics of loss, languishing, and renewal. As the pandemic edges on, this session will focus on how to mourn our numerous collective losses, address feelings of stagnation and emptiness, and work towards the possibility of renewed biological, psychological, social, and even spiritual fitness. Don't miss this session on Wednesday, September 22nd at 1 PM ET.


• Mastering Stress and Improving Resilience During Times of Adversity – STRESS!! It’s a key driver of all aspects of your mental health.  In this webinar, Dr. Evian Gordon, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Total Brain, provides a practical framework and training pathway to measure and master stress, negativity, and resilience. It focuses on the most recent evidence of what it takes to wire your brain’s optimal effectiveness.  How can we begin to reframe, and master, stress to build resilience and improve your personal and work life? Be sure to check out this workshop on Thursday, September 23rd at 1 PM ET.

Community Wellbeing

• Active Gratitude: Family Traditions for Kinder, Less Entitled, Happier Kids – Practicing gratitude can inspire your child’s resilience and generosity.  The goal isn’t to raise kids who sugar-coat their days. Life can be challenging at every age and some days just aren’t the best but there is always something to appreciate. Kids can learn to weather their difficult days a little better by adopting this habit.

Employer Focused Wellbeing

• Alera 2021 Virtual Employee Wellbeing Fair – Alera invites you and your employees to join us for our Virtual Employee Wellbeing Fair where your teams can hear from experts on many facets of health and wellbeing. We’ll host the event; all you need to do is invite your team.  During this two-day event, employees can engage in our daily fitness and mindfulness breaks and attend our keynotes on the six pillars of wellbeing.  September 22nd and 23rd. 


• Mental Health in the Workplace: A Panel Discussion for HR and Leadership -  Mental health experts from Spring Health, Total Brain, and NAMI NYC will join Alera Group to discuss evolving workplace strategies and the future of mental health in the workplace.  Mark your calendar for Wednesday, September 22nd at 4 PM ET. 


• Perfectionists to "Superheroes" - Learning to Deal with Imposter Syndrome (save the date, invite to follow or email andrea.davis@aleragroup.com to be notified when registration opens) – Have you ever felt that you aren’t as capable as others?  Have you felt like a fraud that might be uncovered?  Do you feel as if you need to always be a “superhero”? You might be experiencing Imposter Syndrome. In this interactive session for HR and leadership, we will review the signs and symptoms of Imposter Syndrome and talk about tools and strategies to help recognize and combat those feelings in your own life. Save the date and join us on Thursday, September 23rd at 4 PM ET.  Space is limited.