Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'. All. You are listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. And here we are in April.
[00:00:20] Speaker C: Here we are in April. How are your allergies holding up?
[00:00:22] Speaker B: You know, it's not as bad as I thought. Now, my vehicle tells a different story as far as, like, the amount of pollen that's there. And it's funny because a few months ago, I can't remember which car wash it was in town. You know, they do the whole, like, oh, sign up for the monthly membership stuff.
[00:00:39] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: And I was like, oh, this sounds like a great deal. Well, then I really wasn't using it. And then now I'm like, I wish that I had kept the membership at the discounted rate because I literally probably need to wash my car every day. Yeah.
[00:00:51] Speaker C: But don't you feel like it's getting a little better? Like, it's not as heavy? Because I was trying to. I was trying to, like, this analysis because I had this theory that it only lasts three weeks. And I don't know if that's true or not, but I'm like. I'm trying to remember what point in time the pollen just kind of goes.
And it was really, really, really bad. I think right after spring break, it was, like, you could kind of see it over spring break. I was like, oh, there's a little dusting on the, you know, tables and chairs outside. And then the week after, it was like.
And it was tons. And now I'm kind of feeling like
[00:01:17] Speaker B: it's on the downturn.
[00:01:18] Speaker C: It's on the downturn. Yeah. Yeah. Because I love being outside.
[00:01:21] Speaker B: I do, too. No, it's my favorite part. And it just makes it easier to be active.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: It does.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Which, on that note, kind of. But random question. Do you use dry shampoo?
[00:01:33] Speaker C: No.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Really?
[00:01:34] Speaker C: Really?
[00:01:36] Speaker B: Your hair every day?
[00:01:37] Speaker C: No.
Okay, guys, let me just clarify this for just a second. I only try to wash my hair twice a week with shampoo.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:44] Speaker C: But I will wash it with conditioner, but I only wash it at the ends.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:48] Speaker C: Because my hair's kind of dry. It's kind of curly, so I don't have, like, a lot of oil. And so I just kind of. Like, sometimes I'll just wet my hair and that's it.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:55] Speaker C: And, like, rinse it out, but with the pollen, you kind of have to, like, wash a little bit more because it kind of gets in you. But why do you ask?
[00:02:02] Speaker B: I guess I was just thinking about that this morning. Well, for one, over the weekend, I'll preface by saying I was at Ulta and I had our youngest, Jack, and he was in the stroller, and we're, like, waiting to check out, and he had reached his threshold of just, like, being contained. And he threw. I can't remember if it was the dry shampoo we had or the foundation I had. He threw the people in front of us, and I was like, oh, my Lanta.
Cause I'm normally the person. If that was me being hit, I'd be like, control your child.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: Yeah. What a parent you are.
[00:02:34] Speaker B: So I was mortified. But no, I'm definitely a dry shampoo kind of person.
[00:02:38] Speaker C: Interesting.
[00:02:38] Speaker B: Okay, do the whole, like, wet my hair and re. Dry it if it didn't take so long to dry my hair.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: Yeah, you have very, very thick hair,
[00:02:47] Speaker B: but, yeah, I know. Drying shampoo is life for me.
[00:02:49] Speaker D: I was never really into it.
[00:02:50] Speaker C: I tried it. I didn't really know how to do it right. And so I just didn't do it. I'm very, I don't know, very low maintenance when it comes to hair.
[00:02:57] Speaker B: But your hair, like, you have the type that, like, it works for you.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: Like, it's a random wildness to it. Yeah.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: And it's part of your spirit and your personality. I don't know.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: I mean, that will not be the.
[00:03:11] Speaker C: We're not talking about hair. Although we could talk about hair. We could talk about hair and nails and all the vitamins that are out there to increase your wet biotin and collagen and the things.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Yes, for sure. No, I think that.
I don't know. Yeah. I don't know why I bring up dry shampoo.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: You know, I do think this is interesting. I'm just gonna change the subject because.
[00:03:29] Speaker D: Why not?
[00:03:30] Speaker C: Because we do that a lot. We just go, ready? We talk about all kinds of random things. But, you know, we are in April. We don't really have. I mean, we have, like, a couple weeks left maybe of recording the show, and then we'll take our summer hiatus. And I think it's kind of crazy how quickly this semester has gone and our approach this semester has been the two of us just talking a lot about random things. And sometimes we stay on track, sometimes we don't. Maybe it's upped our ratings. I don't know. You could let us know. I mean, people listening out there could let us know.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: But for those of you that hate that format, we have decided to revert back to having wonderful guests because we see the value in that because to
[00:04:05] Speaker C: keep us on track.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: Yes. And we need, you know, we want to talk with our other expert friends. But y', all, we are going to leave you on a cliffhanger as you wonder what are they talking about? Who do they have? Go to the restroom, grab a beverage, do what you gotta do. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:04:32] Speaker C: Welcome back, everybody. We're talking about dry shampoo today on the show, compliments of Sheena.
[00:04:37] Speaker D: I'm just kidding.
[00:04:38] Speaker C: No, I think it's kind of nice just to talk about random things because, I mean, yeah, we're health and fitness people, but we're also just people people
[00:04:44] Speaker B: and we're random, like will say. So I'm gonna go ahead and just put it out there. Put the cat out of the bag. We were talking about wellness and work life balance today and me not washing my hair every single day is part of my work life balance.
[00:05:00] Speaker C: Yes, I. Yes. No, I totally get it. And if my hair lives on top of my head in a bun, that's just, you know, finding the balance in life. But because we're talking about wellness and work life balance, I had to ask a friend of mine that works on campus to come and speak with us a little bit about what they do because it's a good point in the semester to do that and we' talk a little bit about why it's important. But Ashley Bowman, program coordinator, wellness and work life balance is on the show with us again. I think it was a year ago you were on the show.
[00:05:29] Speaker D: Yeah, a year and a half. But you're back and I'm back. And to answer your question, I do use dry shampoo.
[00:05:34] Speaker C: You do.
[00:05:35] Speaker D: So weighing in there. Yes. But I'm also a twice a week shampooer. Yes. So somewhere in the middle between you two.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Okay, nice.
[00:05:41] Speaker D: I know that people want to know
[00:05:43] Speaker C: you're a curly haired girl. You have way more curl than I do. You have a lot of curl and bounce to your hair. So I guess that's just with the curly haired people, you have to wash less, I guess because it dries it out.
[00:05:54] Speaker D: That is absolutely true. And it took me years, I mean, decades to figure out my hair and to get it to a place where I feel confident and comfortable. But it's also low maintenance, like your hair, Whitney. It takes a long time to dry like your hair, Sheena.
[00:06:06] Speaker C: So hybrid.
[00:06:08] Speaker D: It's taken me a long time, but I finally There I kind of feel
[00:06:11] Speaker C: like people are like, why the heck are they talking about hair? But I mean, like it's part of your body and we talk about the wellness aspect of the body. But anyway, let's move on and let's continue this awesome conversation. So Ashley, tell us a little bit about yourself, our listeners that maybe haven't had a chance to listen to a past show. Just who you are, how you got to the university. Just who is Ashley in a nutshell?
[00:06:33] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. Well, that sounds easy.
So as you mentioned, I'm program coordinator for wellness and work life here at ua. I've been in this position for a little over two years and I absolutely love it. I love helping employees be their healthiest selves and get to the most well that they can possibly be. So a little bit of background about myself. I am a two time UA graduate.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Roll Tide.
[00:06:54] Speaker D: Yes, Roll Tide.
I have a bachelor's degree in journalism of all things. I started out in communications and still love it and use those skills today.
And after I started working at the university post graduation, some friends of mine, some co workers, invited me to go exercise at the Aquatic center back when we had group fitness over there. I'd walk over there on my lunch break and do my little workout class and go back and I started doing that. I got really into it over the course of probably six months or so. You noticed me and invited me an instructor.
[00:07:25] Speaker C: I did.
[00:07:26] Speaker D: It took a little bit of persuading and that's really what started my fitness journey. So my personal weight loss and fitness journey is what led to my discovering that I love to help others get to that same place that I found. And so that led to me going back to ua, getting my master's while I was working full time, earned my master's in health studies. I finished that a couple years ago. And here I am in this job.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: You know, it's so crazy about this. I'm like reminiscing about the past before the Aquatic center got redone. It looks awesome by the way, and the pools are awesome. But we used to have a little area for group exercise classes in the weight room. And I'll never forget because like Ashley, you were a regular. You were one of the tried and true lunchtime regulars. And I remember, like I would go occasionally, I would sub occasionally over there. And then like, I kind of just got to know people and you were always kind of like in the front. And I was like, hey, you ever thought about teaching yoga? And you were like, I remember you like looked over Your shoulder, like, who me? And I was like, yeah.
[00:08:18] Speaker D: And that's just kind of what we
[00:08:19] Speaker C: do in group exercise when regulars start coming. We're like, you should probably teach. And then it was just. You're also a personal trainer.
[00:08:25] Speaker D: That's right. I've got certified to personal train a little over a year ago, so I've been doing that. And it's this whole thing, that one question that you asked me. And you're exactly right. I literally looked over my shoulder to see who talking about, because I had no concept of myself as a teacher or as that kind of person. And so that one question snowballed and changed my whole life, the whole trajectory of my career. And I'm happy about it. Pretty cool.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: I love what I do. That is amazing. And Ashley, forgive me if you might have already mentioned this, but I always kind of geek out about information like this. Where is home for you? Where is your hometown? Are you an in state or out of state?
[00:09:00] Speaker D: I am in state. I'm from north Alabama.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:09:03] Speaker D: So I'm from Madison County. Most people know Huntsville, but I'm not from the city of Huntsville. I just tell people. Huntsville area.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:10] Speaker D: Small town. Tony, Alabama.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: Okay. Hey, we're all 256.
[00:09:16] Speaker D: We have the same area.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: Well, Huntsville. Huntsville girl. Grissom's my like, oh, yeah, we don't talk about them.
[00:09:22] Speaker D: Little faux pas. Yeah, we don't talk about them.
[00:09:24] Speaker C: Where the Panthers go. Big red.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: I'm in the northeast corner of the state from DeKalb county, so my hometown is Fort Payne.
[00:09:31] Speaker D: Yes, man.
[00:09:32] Speaker C: Very cool stuff.
[00:09:33] Speaker D: North Alabama.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: North Alabama representing. Yeah. So with your current position with wellness and Work Life Balance.
[00:09:40] Speaker D: Of course.
[00:09:40] Speaker C: I know. I just. I'm very involved with you guys because Charles and myself were always doing wellness presentations. And we just had the Crimson Catch to 5K race last weekend. That was a great success and it was really cool and I think everything worked out super well. So y' all are very busy, but what do you do in your position? Like, what are you responsible for?
[00:10:01] Speaker B: What am I the responsible for?
[00:10:03] Speaker D: Ua.
[00:10:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:10:04] Speaker D: The wellness of ua. So for those of you who don't know, you probably have heard about our well, Bama program. That is our most popular program by far. We serve all benefits eligible faculty staff at ua. We're technically under hr, so this is part of your faculty staff benefit of working here. We give you a $50 gift card just for coming through a free health screening. We take a few measurements, and this happens every year.
We give you some information about your Health and try to educate you and guide you into improving that if it's needed or maintaining that and if it's not. So in addition to that, like you mentioned, we do offer wellness classes, both virtually and in person for everybody to attend. And again, that's part of the education part of things. We want people not only to know their numbers, because what do these numbers mean?
You may not know what your systolic and diastolic blood pressure are, which one is which. What are those numbers? What's a healthy range? What's not healthy? So even if you have that information, we want you to know what it means and know how you can get those numbers into the place they need to be if they're not already.
So we also offer wellness programming, like you mentioned. Crimson Couch, we have a 5k training program. Some of our programs like Crimson Couch are fitness based. Some of them, like Better Bites, are nutrition based. That may be mental or emotional health.
All aspects of wellness. We take on that responsibility in our office, Our little office of three ladies.
All the mighty.
[00:11:19] Speaker C: Y' all do all the mighty.
[00:11:20] Speaker D: Thank you for that. We appreciate that.
[00:11:22] Speaker C: It's true.
[00:11:23] Speaker D: That's what we do. We just try to help UA employees get to be the healthiest selves that they can be.
[00:11:28] Speaker B: Well, and you know what I love about that, too, because you are a department that is strong in my. And I think that lends itself well to having such good relationships with campus partners for collaboration and like, for offering the wellness classes and everything else. And when you were talking about, well, Bama, I wanted to specifically say that what I love about the $50 gift cards is actually getting them the day that you go to the screening. Yes.
[00:11:55] Speaker D: I will not lie.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: There have been times where I'm like, oh, I should schedule my screening this week because I legit will get.
[00:12:02] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: At the end of. I know where I could use this.
[00:12:06] Speaker D: Yeah, you need some extra gas money.
[00:12:08] Speaker C: Gas and groceries.
[00:12:09] Speaker D: So that might help.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely.
[00:12:12] Speaker D: And it is Visa, so you can use it virtually anywhere.
[00:12:14] Speaker C: And I'm kind of curious. And we'll get more into, you know, wellness and work life balance and all the things you do. But you definitely have your hands full and you're working at the rec center as well, supplementally and on the side. So what do you do for fun? Like, where is your.
What's your fun in life? Do you get to have fun?
[00:12:31] Speaker D: Do I get to.
[00:12:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we've been on trips together. We have fun. We went to London, what, three years ago now.
[00:12:37] Speaker D: Oh, gosh, it Was. Yeah, that was almost pretty dope.
That was wonderful.
[00:12:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:12:42] Speaker D: So, as you mentioned, I love to travel. It's one of my life goals to visit every continent in my lifetime. I've got three down, including North America, so hopefully continuing on that journey. You know, I guess I can say post Covid now. We're mostly post Covid now that travel has kind of opened up. I hope to get back to that. I'm actually taking a trip to New York in the summer for the first time with my sister and my mom. We're gonna go see a Broadway musical and do all those things.
In addition to that, I love to be outdoors, so I play disc golf, which is a growing sport, especially during COVID It's something you can do outside with your friends, that socially. Distance, avoiding pollen, hopefully. But like you mentioned, which you can wear.
[00:13:17] Speaker C: I know we're not really wearing a mask inside anymore, but maybe wear your mask outside.
[00:13:21] Speaker D: Sure, if you have to. But, yeah, it's just a great way to get outside, enjoy some fun with friends, get some steps in, and have a good time.
[00:13:27] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Well, I love that. And, you know, I'm just so grateful that you are on the show today. I know that we have so much more to talk about in regards to programming and what is work life balance? What does that look like? But, you guys, it's time for another break. You will catch us on the flip side. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:14:02] Speaker D: Welcome back, friends.
[00:14:03] Speaker C: You're listening to Fit to be Tied with Sheena and Whitney. And Ashley Bowman's on the show. She is the program coordinator over with wellness and work life balance. And I'm just gonna say if you
[00:14:13] Speaker D: guys, faculty, staff, I'm talking to you.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: If you haven't had a chance to be a part of this program, it's super great. And I'm gonna tell you why. I work with a client on the Reformer who is a registered nurse, and we were just chatting one day about, like, when you should get blood work and go to the doctor. And we're just kind of chatting about, like, general things. And I was like, you know, I like to go get my health screening because I can get my finger pricked and kind of see some levels. And it kind of is an indication whether I need to be looking at something or go further to the doctor. And she endorsed it. She was like, yeah, I think it's great that they do that. It's super. Helpful for people. And so having that come from a nurse who is seeing patients all the time and doing blood work and for her to say, yeah, that's a great wellness check to do was pretty great to know because I don't like going to the doctor. I mean, we tell you all to go all the time. I guess I could be better about it and go more. But the wellness checks are helpful. And that's. I think that's when I figured out my cholesterol was kind of high. Of course I freaked out because I was like, what am I gonna do? But then I was like, oh, genetics. You know, watch what I eat some things. But it is helpful. So if you. I think you'll have some more train or screenings coming up, right?
[00:15:20] Speaker D: We do, absolutely. So our next one is actually going to be, I believe at the student center. We have some coming up that for the rest of the semester we have one of the student center.
We travel around campus. For those of you who don't know so don't feel like you have to come to our building or come to the University Medical center, we basically come to you. There will be a screening in your area that's within walking distance of you. If you look at our schedule, we also have one over on the University services campus where we're located, the employee resource center. So if you're out there and like hr, Procurement, oit, you don't even have to come to campus.
That's what's so wonderful about it. We also are scheduling some summer screenings for only the second time ever. Oh, second time.
Last year we pilot tested one. It went pretty well. So we are going to be utilizing both of our nursing students and also some medical professionals from the medical school. So some of our residents who are studying to be doctors will also be serving as health coaches.
[00:16:18] Speaker C: That's cool. And I like that. I like when they have the nurses come. Cause I always. It's so funny. I love this. So. So I usually sit down and talk about my health goals with somebody and like I have a pretty good understanding, you know, whatever. We talk about stuff all the time. And so I just kind of sit there and like listen to them and they're like, do you get physical activity? I'm like, yeah, how many days a week? Maybe every day. And they're like, wow. And I was like, wow, I can't lie anymore. I have to tell you what.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:39] Speaker C: But yeah, I think that's great. I mean, take advantage of it, guys. It's a great opportunity.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: I agree. And you know when you think about the wellness classes that are available, you guys offer such a variety. Have you noticed that there are certain topics that your faculty staff tend to gravitate towards the most or topics that were new that you've been surprised, like, oh, wow, this actually resonated really well with our population.
[00:17:05] Speaker D: Absolutely. And of course, like everyone else, everything changed for us during the pandemic. When we were sent home, we started doing classes virtually over zoom. We offered a lot more mental and emotional health topics in relation to that because people seem to really need it. We're all struggling because we felt isolated, anxious, stressed. We were at home. We were all adjusting to this new process, this new way of life. And so that is what we felt like was really needed on campus for our faculty and staff that we serve. And it seemed to be true. Now, post pandemic, things are a little bit different. We don't offer quite as much of that because people feel a sense of normalcy returning. Everybody's always interested in nutrition, actually, so we love. And those classes, Sheena, you've done one for us recently, is very well attended. And also exercise. Those seem to be the things that people are most concerned about, I would say stress. Stress, exercise and health and nutrition.
[00:17:58] Speaker C: And I kind of shift gears just a little bit because of what you do. And you see, you know, you get a lot of questions from people and you kind of have an advantage being a personal trainer because you've been through the training. And did you get. Did you get another certification or another training recently or did you?
[00:18:13] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:18:14] Speaker C: Which one was that?
[00:18:15] Speaker D: Yeah. So in addition to group fitness and personal training, I'm also a certified health education specialist. That's right.
[00:18:20] Speaker C: You got your choice. Chess.
[00:18:21] Speaker D: That much calls chess.
[00:18:24] Speaker C: Yeah, that's pretty legit. And so it gives you an opportunity that when faculty staff get their numbers, get their readings, you're able to kind of give them a little bit more advice, which I think is great. So I'm curious, wellness and work life balance. I mean, we always ask our guests questions about it, but you're in the throes of it.
[00:18:43] Speaker D: Yes, that's exactly right.
[00:18:44] Speaker C: Let's define it. I mean, defining wellness and work life balance. I mean, what does that actually look like? Is there a formula for success or is it individualized? I mean, what do you guys normally see on your side of things?
[00:18:56] Speaker D: Well, it's definitely individualized, but there are some things that everybody can do to improve their work life balance. And firstly, I want to say that work life balance is a bit of a misnomer I think everybody expects when you hear the word balance, you think of that perfectly aligned image of a scale where both sides are completely equal all the time. And that's balance. That's just not practical or achievable for most people in their day to day lives. So we actually prefer the term work life harmony because it's.
Yeah, it's sort of an ebb and a flow. There are gonna be times where your workout weighs your personal and you have to do some. A little extra there. They're gonna be times where your personal takes up more of your energy and there's gonna be extra there. So as long as it's that back and forth flow where neither side is completely overwhelmed, that's what we're aiming for.
[00:19:41] Speaker C: I like the word overwhelmed because, I mean, you're right. Finding balance can be overwhelming because we talk about this all the time about like, how do you have self care? Which we're gonna ask you that later. Just a little.
[00:19:52] Speaker D: Pretty good.
[00:19:54] Speaker C: But yeah, finding an ebb and flow I think is the right way to look at it.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: And you know, I think that, and I know we all just acknowledge that it's definitely an individualized situation. But you know, in terms of your elevator pitch, if somebody's like, Ashley, oh my gosh, I know the office you work in. Like, can you give me some tips about like how to have like a more quote, unquote balanced or harmonized, you know, wellness and work life lifestyle?
[00:20:20] Speaker D: Absolutely. I do have three things that I tell people. These are kind of the fundamentals of work life balance, in my personal opinion. The first one is setting boundaries. This is something that, especially during the pandemic, I feel like a lot of us lost sight of when we were working from home, because with the technology that we have, everything is easily accessible. Right. Like my email now comes to my personal cell phone. Everybody can reach me on my phone at any time, those kinds of things. If your work computer is at home, you're working from home, maybe outside of those hours, normal work hours, just because you can or you lose track of time.
So setting boundaries for yourself is very important.
Whether those are physical or whether it's mental. As far as work goes, maybe turning off those notifications for your work email. Outside of regular hours, set a timer for yourself to remind yourself to take breaks if you get caught up in a project or at the end of the workday when you're done. And those are very important to maintain.
So people set boundaries and then sometimes forget about them. It's okay to make exceptions. But it's not okay to let those things fade completely. You have to stick to it once you set it.
[00:21:22] Speaker C: I feel like work, I mean, you have to work to live and survive, and you have to make money. It's just what we do, you know?
But when did it become this thing that that's all we do? Do you know what I mean? Where it's like. Cause I was thinking about that this weekend. I didn't have my phone on me, like, all day Sunday, or maybe even both Saturday, because I was, like, outside doing yard work. It was great. It was the most freeing thing. And then, like, the moment I look at my phone, it was like I had an instructor that was sick. And I was like, don't. You know, it's like that moment where it's like you're just accessible all the time. And in some of our roles, that's just the way it is. Like, we have to be that way. So how would. So for people that have jobs where they're, like, on call, they're managers, I know you had to take a call. You know, is that the same way? Does that work? The same way of turning off notifications, or do you have any other tips? Because what if you have to be on call?
[00:22:10] Speaker D: Absolutely. Well, if you're being paid to be on call, that's one thing. That's during work hours.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:22:16] Speaker D: But like I said, setting those reminders in your phone, turning off notifications, I would recommend that if your co workers or boss do tend to call you outside of work hours, train them to call you and not send an email or a text. If it's an emergency, you can ignore emails and texts, turn off those notifications, and, you know, if there's a real emergency that you're absolutely needed for, you can make that exception and take a phone call.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: No, I think that's good. And I think for individuals to feel comfortable sharing that with their colleagues, because I think sometimes you might have a co worker that sends those emails after hours because they see it as like, oh, I just want to go ahead and knock this out. They don't realize that they're causing you mental or emotional stress. I've had to tell some folks that before, but we've got some other tips coming up. I know, we gotta take a break. Whitney, I heard you breathe, and I was like, oh, no, I don't want to cut you off.
[00:23:03] Speaker C: No, you're fine.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: But okay. Hey, you guys, we're taking a quick break. We'll catch you on the flip side. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Shannon and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:23:20] Speaker C: And we're back. You're listening to Fit to be tied with Sheena and Whitney, and we're joined by Ashley today. And we're just trying to get you guys balanced out and create harmony in your ebbs and flows of wellness and work life balance. You see how I put all that together?
[00:23:34] Speaker D: And that was very good.
[00:23:35] Speaker C: That could be our name for this show right now. Anyway, Ashley's just giving us some info on, like, what she does in her department area. And so specifically faculty and staff, I think it's important to know that you can get a health screening and they're kind of everywhere. It doesn't cost you a thing. And in fact, Ashley will pay you with a gift card to get your health screening. And what do you do? You prick a finger and get some levels. Tell us about it.
[00:24:01] Speaker D: Yeah, walk us through this.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Walk us through us.
[00:24:03] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:24:04] Speaker D: So after you check in, we take you to do some biometric measurements, which means you stand on the scale. We do a quick height weight measurement. We do a waist circumference measurement to take your bmi. After that, you get your finger stick, which is where we measure your cholesterol levels. We get a breakdown, a ratio of the cholesterol as well as blood sugar and triglycerides, which are another blood lipid.
After that, you're gonna speak with a health coach, will do your blood pressure, and then you speak with a health coach about those results. The whole process takes maybe 15 minutes max, and you get a gift card, a free T shirt, and an apple on the way out. So we pay you. We fe you when we clothe you, dude.
[00:24:43] Speaker B: So my favorite part with the health coaching piece at the end are the different categories that you can choose from for setting those goals. Because everybody's gonna be different. And I think it could be easy to make an assumption like, oh, this person's goal is just gonna be related only to sleep, fitness or nutrition. But the fact that there are topics like finances there, that to me is always a huge one. That I'm like, oh, yeah, I am going to be more intentional with my budget or whatever else. So the fact that we're acknowledging that as a piece of our holistic health is huge.
[00:25:18] Speaker C: Yes, I think that's a good place to start. So, like, if faculty staff are like, well, we've been talking about our new year's resolutions. We've passed that point. You can no Longer make a New Year's resolution, but you can make a goal. But I think maybe a goal could be, I'm going to get a health screening this year and you have more opportunities. And I kind of want to go back because you showed us this little picture, little meme about defining barriers. I wish we could, like, show y', all, but maybe we can describe it. It's like what you use in your PowerPoint slides when you're doing your wellness presentations.
[00:25:47] Speaker D: Absolutely. So it's just a little funny thing to kind of break it up, but it's funny because it's so relatable.
So it's a picture of a house, and the house has just a single piece of a chain link fence. You know how a chain link fence has multiple posts and there's chain link between them? This is literally just the gate, and there's no other boundary around it. So the therapist says you have to set boundaries.
Okay. And it's literally just the gate. It's a completely symbolic and arbitrary boundary. And so that's what I want to impress on people is that, yes, it's funny, but it's funny because it's true.
We set these quote unquote boundaries for ourselves that we don't respect and we don't enforce others to respect.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: And, you know, I think that it's been interesting to me, and especially as an employee that's been here since 2009, and I know, Whitney, you know, you and I, like, our times have come kind of been similar in terms of our professional life here, where it's so much easier to value and practice work, life, balance or harmony when your supervisor is also, you know, practicing it or encouraging it. And I feel like that I've seen that kind of trickle down over the more recent years. I think when I first started my position, it was like, it just felt like everybody was like, oh, I'm gonna, you know, stay and work until like, 9pm and I felt like the bad new employee that was like, okay, guys, I'm going to leave at 5pm and then I'm like, am I doing something wrong? Do I. Is there not enough? And so I feel like there has been just a shift culturally too. Not even just at ua, but just in general.
[00:27:23] Speaker C: Have you all seen that in your department where people are trying to maybe get more time off or ask y' all for, you know, advice? Because I feel like you're right. Used to is like, work, work, work. And even like people coming to the rec center, you weren't allowed to, like, really Leave for lunch and take time. But I'm finding that people are given more freedom and flexibility to do that. Not to mention now that we're kind of have some positions on campus that are more hybrid where we're able to work remotely, it is interesting that we have more freedom to do that. And I think it does create more balance.
[00:27:55] Speaker D: Absolutely. So just like I talked about those blurred lines before, that it allows your work life to encroach on your personal life, the reverse is also true. We've learned through this pandemic and I think even before that, over the past five to 10 years, where flexible work arrangements became more possible and companies like Google that were making work life balance and making that holistic view of health and wellness more mainstream. I think with those blurred lines, you're absolutely right. We've discovered that it is so very important to impress the personal and respect that as part of the work life, because all these things contribute to each other. Research. We know that happier employees and healthier employees make more productive employees more loyal employees. They're going to stick around. So that's important for employee retention.
From a company perspective, as well as those benefits, they really do increase that happiness and healthiness that contributes to an overall healthier organization as well.
[00:28:57] Speaker B: I like that. You know, I just. The fact that we've seen that shift, you know, we see it all together, the flexible work arrangements. And so, you know, as we start thinking about how to let our listeners know how to get involved, whether that's looking up programs or. I know you guys have your wellness ambassadors tell us about that. So tell us all the different ways to get involved.
[00:29:19] Speaker D: Absolutely. So as I mentioned, we are a small, as Whitney's a small but mighty group. Just three of us in wellness and work life, serving over 6,000 benefits eligible UA employees. And that's a huge ratio. So each of us is roughly responsible for over 2,000 people.
[00:29:34] Speaker C: Big deal.
[00:29:35] Speaker D: Absolutely. Oh yeah, it's so easy.
But we do have what we call our, well, Bama ambassadors. These are people around campus who serve as ordinary faculty and staff, but they also help us in spreading the message of wellness around campus. So they promote our programs by sharing information with employees. They encourage teams to sign up together for Crimson Couch. We have one group in continuing studies, I believe it is, that has started a lunchtime walking group. Aw, nice. So their group goes together. They sign up for Crimson Couch together.
So these are just people who embody and really try to share and spread that message of wellness for us.
[00:30:13] Speaker C: So if I'm a faculty Staff person. And I want to get involved and be an ambassador. Do y' all have a certain time of year that you're looking for ambassadors
[00:30:21] Speaker D: or is it kind of like, hey,
[00:30:22] Speaker C: if you're interested, you can apply or you can offer to be one. Right.
[00:30:26] Speaker D: So our ambassadors do serve a two year term. We typically our next term ends summer of 2023. So you'll be able to apply at that point. But that's not to say that we don't take that volunteers outside of our ambassadors. So if you're interested in volunteering at one of our health screenings at one of our events, we have the work life and wellness expo coming up in October, which is the employee health fair. We're doing a big return to in person event on that one. We would love to have volunteers.
You can follow on our website to find all those events and email us at wellnessa. Edu. Nice.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: Very nice. And another thing that I was going to ask as well, you know, when I was looking at your website, preparing for the show, you also do a spotlight on wellness on faculty staff. Tell us a little bit about that.
[00:31:11] Speaker D: Absolutely. So we love to showcase just like our ambassadors, we have people across campus who are embodying that message of wellness like we talked about. And that could be physical, it could be mental and emotional, could be financial. We just want to highlight and celebrate those people who are pursuing wellness and health and holistic happiness in their lives and share a little bit about those people because we find those stories inspire others. They say, well, so and so did this and I actually know so and so, or I've emailed with them or I've dealt with them and it shows them that it's possible, not just from wellness professionals.
[00:31:45] Speaker C: Right.
[00:31:45] Speaker D: Because we're professionals. People say, oh, well, that's your job, to be healthy.
[00:31:48] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:49] Speaker D: But we like to showcase those average or quote unquote normal people who aren't health professionals who are still accomplishing those goals.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: No, Well, I just, you know, I know. Whitney and I were so grateful for everything that you've highlighted about your department. We selfishly would love to keep you for our last five minute segment, but y', all, we've got to take a break. You're listening to Fit to be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:32:22] Speaker C: Thank y' all for listening to Fit to be Tied with Sheena and Whitney. We are closing out another great show. But before we close out, we have to always ask our guests because it's just Something that, I guess we started it this past semester or maybe we did it last semester. Who knows? It all just runs together. But anyway, self care. We like to ask our guests what self care looks like to them. And so, Ashley, when you're thinking about your life and you're thinking about work and working at the rec center, family, whatever, how. How do you practice your own self care, your own time, what does that look like?
[00:32:52] Speaker D: Well, self care is very personal and it's very individualistic. So for me personally, I am an introvert, which means people drain energy from me, for lack of a better terminology.
So self care for me is usually quiet time. I like to spend some quiet time alone. I love reading. I'm a big reader, so I like to read books.
Just enjoying nature. As I mentioned, being out at the park, even if I'm not with other people, if I am trying to reach out, recharge those batteries, so to speak. Usually being alone does a pretty good job for me.
[00:33:20] Speaker C: I think that's a good point about recharging because I think sometimes people. Well, sometimes people need energy and they look for things like high intensity exercise, and that's their way of like, recharging. I'm kind of like you. I am extroverted around my surroundings where I'm comfortable, but I have to like, shut it down from people. I gotta, like, have quiet. I gotta just watch YouTube or lay on the floor and foam roll and listen to some music. What about you? Are you introverted or extroverted? What's your recharge look like?
[00:33:48] Speaker B: I think people would probably assume that I was extroverted, but I feel like I'm introverted. But I have to be like. I have to put myself in a certain mindset when there are large groups of people. My preferred tendency would be quiet, either alone or a small group of people to be with, as opposed to some raging party, which we're such ragers, we're not close to party.
So yeah, I don't know. But no, I agree with that. And you know, Ashley, when you were describing time at the park, I was just thinking, oh my gosh, it would sound so wonderful right now to just lay out a blanket on the water somewhere and just like literally lay there and stare at the sun and just enjoy life.
[00:34:29] Speaker D: It's called forest bathing. There's a terminology for this, forest bathing. You just go out into nature and just soak it all in. Interesting.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:34:37] Speaker D: Put your feet on the grass, on the ground. They've done some studies that, that have proven that connection between your bare feet or your bare skin and grass or ground can actually improve your mood, lessen depression, calm you down, reduce stress.
[00:34:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Like, how often do you stick your feet in grass? You know what I mean? Like, as an adult.
[00:34:53] Speaker D: Not often enough.
[00:34:53] Speaker C: Not often.
[00:34:54] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:34:55] Speaker C: Man. Wow.
[00:34:56] Speaker B: Forest bathing. Okay.
[00:34:57] Speaker C: Forest bathing. Instead of sunbathing, it's forest bathing.
[00:35:00] Speaker D: That's right. It's much better for your skin, actually.
[00:35:02] Speaker C: I do love the sun. That's my problem. I will bake in the sun. It feels so good.
[00:35:06] Speaker D: As long as you're wearing the. That sunscreen.
[00:35:07] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: Oh, man. No, no, I'm, like, right now I'm thinking about, like, being outside, you know, being hydrated while being outside.
[00:35:16] Speaker C: Right.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: That's another pet peeve, too, is, like, when you. When it's hot outside and you don't have adequate hydration.
[00:35:22] Speaker C: Right, Right.
[00:35:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:23] Speaker C: It's getting that time of year too important.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: It is. So our. Which we're not supposed to have call to actions on the show, per se, but I feel like this is an
[00:35:31] Speaker D: appropriate thing to say.
[00:35:32] Speaker C: Like, you have to drink water to live. So.
[00:35:35] Speaker B: Yeah. So we're not saying, like, go to a specific, like, company or brand or whatever. But I digress, y'.
[00:35:41] Speaker D: All.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: It has been a fabulous Sunday. Thank you for listening. You have been listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:35:53] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
