Using Movement to Improve Employee Wellbeing – Friday Distraction

One of the most interesting (and engaging) speakers during this year’s Qualtrics X4 Summit was Dr. Peter Lovatt. He’s a psychologist and former professional dancer. Now you might be saying to yourself, that’s an unusual career combination. Exactly what I thought when he introduced himself. But it totally makes sense for employee wellbeing.

In his research, Dr. Lovatt shares that dance can benefit individuals with Parkinson’s not only physically and emotionally, but cognitively as well. Now carry this idea forward to the rest of us. When we dance, we feel more energy which can have a positive impact on activities such as problem-solving.

What impressed me about Dr. Lovatt was his ability to quickly engage the crowd. I try to keep my dancing to the confines of my home where I won’t embarrass myself. (ha.ha.) Dr. Lovatt was scheduled to speak on two mornings. The first day, he spoke right before President Barack Obama. You would think the audience would be totally disengaged and focused on “the main event”. Not so. Dr, Lovatt immediately captured everyone’s attention talking about his research and the relationship between movement (i.e. dance) and our wellbeing.

On the second day, Dr. Lovatt was scheduled to come on stage right before Oprah Winfrey. Trust me when I say this…he was a rock star with a fan club going into day two. Dr. Lovatt continued his message of using movement to improve our wellbeing. I wish I could share our conference experience with you, but I have the second-best thing. His TED talk.

I wanted to share Dr. Lovatt’s message with you for a couple of reasons.

• If you’re planning an event, he’s someone to think about as a speaker.
• His TED talk is worth watching and sharing.

But probably the most important reason is that movement is important. I get up every day and see articles about stress, burnout, and the importance of wellbeing. I’m sure you do too. What can we do to make sure that we’re getting movement during the workday? Maybe it’s time to build in a 5-minute dance break. You can have a company-wide dance activity. Or just close your office door and boogie to your favorite tunes.

A little bit of dance might just benefit us all.

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