 FACTS AND FIGURES
The University of Michigan Health Management Center has collected data on over 2 million people in over 1000 work sites since 1976. . Great investment. Web site
How much money are you
losing every year? 4 Minute Fitness™ teaches easy and effective stress reduction techniques which can lead to significant improvements in emotional health, including reductions in stress, anxiety, burnout and guilt. Lower back pain
4 Minute Fitness™ exercises almost every muscle in the body, especially the lower back. And gentle, full body movement improves immune function, keeping employees healthier! Breathing difficulties
4 Minute Fitness™ teaches dynamic, profound breathing techniques, and then continually improves unconscious breathing with simple daily practice. Poor Attitude
The positive imagery in 4 Minute Fitness™ can enhance performance, improve attitude, identify and eliminate office saboteurs, and decrease blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate and muscle tension." Poor Visualization skills
Some of the world's most successful athletes and business people use positive visualization to enhance performance. 4 Minute Fitness™ incorporates winning techniques used by professional athletes, leading to increased confidence (I CAN do this!), improved performance and greater personal expectation. 4 Minute Fitness™ helps employees re-focus on gratitude for all the benefits and joys these jobs offer in their lives. Emotional and immune challenges
Studies show that positive emotions enable us to function with greater efficiency and effectiveness. 4 Minute Fitness™ teaches techniques that focus on love, appreciation, gratitude and acceptance. Everyday. Vital Scientific Studies confirm the above statements
Job stress costs
employers more than $200 billion each year in absenteeism, tardiness, burnout,
lower productivity, high turnover, worker's compensation and medical insurance costs. One dollar invested in work
place wellness will save three dollars in cost savings of benefits. An estimated 60% of all
absenteeism from work is caused by stress. Depression, a common problem
among workers, costs the US $44 billion per year in lost productivity. A new study of more than 46,000
employees at 6 large companies found that costs linked to serious, persistent stress count
for about 8% of the total health care expenditures of those companies - about $24
billion annually. The California Worker's Compensation
Institute determined that job stress claims increased 700% from 1977-1988. A new study on stress in the workplace found
that 62% of the people surveyed experience what they call "a great deal of
stress" at work. That's up 15% from the previous year. In a recent 3 year analysis of over
46,000 workers from six major US companies, depression and unmanaged stress emerged as the
top two most costly risk factors in terms of medical expenditures - increasing health care
costs by 2-7 times as much as physical risk factors such as smoking, obesity and poor
exercise habits.
According to "Health After 50" (John
Hopkins Medical Letter, July,1999), on "Nipping Anger in the Bud..."
Practice a relaxation technique. The most popular are deep breathing (as taught in 4 Minute Fitness™), yoga and tai chi (a Chinese
martial art involving a series of slow, graceful movements). These techniques decrease
blood pressure, breathing rate, heart rate and muscle tension." Another John Hopkins publication (1999). "Deep
breathing may improve fitness levels in people with chronic heart failure. Yoga-derived
breathing training (as taught and practiced in 4 Minute
Fitness™) may increase oxygen levels and ease breathing
difficulties." Consumer Report, Feb. 2000. "A routine that
combines moderate exercise with meditation techniques, such as a concentration on
breathing, may give a two for one reward for stress relief. Tai Chi and
yoga are gentle, slow exercises that promote balance, flexibility, stretching and
mental calm." NEW STUDY! 4 Minute Fitness
Works! Chronic Stress, Movement and Meditation Physical activity and conscious
relaxation A review researched by Consumer Report, Feb. 2000: "Clinical studies have demonstrated that chronic stress can impair the body's immune system, and population studies have suggested that (stress) substantially increases the risk of a wide range of illnesses, ranging from colds and flu to asthma attacks, migraine headaches, heart attacks, and stroke. For example, a Swedish study involving nearly a million people linked job stress - lots of pressure or little power to make decisions - with a 60% risk of heart attack. In a study of over 10,000
government employees, workers who perceived that they had little control over their jobs
had twice the likelihood of developing coronary disease as employees with high perceived
job control. Physical activity and conscious relaxation such as meditation are two methods that may buffer the body against these stress-induced ravages." May 24, 2001. BCTV reported on a study that revealed that lower back pain was the second most common reason for missing work, second only to the common cold.
Dr. Andrew Weil (and other health professionals) have stated that stress is a primary aggravating cause to most illness. They believe that breath work is the most time and cost efficient method of dealing with stress. Breathing well helps people center the mind, work more effectively and deal with stress more efficiently. It should be noted that breathing is the only function that we do either completely consciously (voluntarily) or unconsciously.
Vancouver Sun review, from the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 8, 2000. "Dozens of recent studies show that optimists do better than pessimists in work, school and sports, suffer less depression, achieve more goals, respond better to stress, wage more effective battles against disease and live longer. The popularity of optimism research has convinced some scholars that psychology should focus less on misery and more on why things go right."
In 1976, golfer Jack
Nicholas stated that "my 'home movies' (mental imagery) are the key to
my concentration and to my positive approach to every shot".
Video + Seminar = Winning Combination 4 Minute Fitness™ seminars have the added advantage of offering employer specific topics in relationship to the video, as well as the vital aspects of team building and interpersonal interactions that only workshops can offer. And the seminars are fun for the participants. And each Power Phrase can be tailored to meet individual and organizational needs. The video is very popular and effective. The addition of the personal touch and the added energy can triple the success rate. What good is just 4 minutes a day? Over a year, 4 minutes a day adds up to over 24 hours - three full working days - devoted to adjusting attitude, improving breathing and immune function, and increasing muscle tone and flexibility. And any time spent doing 4 Minute Fitness™ expands into every aspect of every day.
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4 Minute Fitness™ Tai Chi Yoga Stretching Motivation
Meditation Breathing Imagery Stress reduction
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