Center for Workplace Happiness

Do you have a dog? Maybe more than “a” dog? No judgement – my life has been dog-filled for as long as I can remember. The family dog was a mixed breed cutie, my dream dog was a Siberian Husky, and I got my first one when I was 20. I haven’t been without a Siberian since, and most of the time I’ve had more than one. My current Siberian is Kacey, and her canine housemate is Archie the Standard Poodle. I can’t imagine life without a dog – if that sounds like you, too, then we’re already friends, whether we’ve met or not.

Dogs are a wonderful example of being in the moment. They are keen observers of “right now” though their main way of examining the world is with their nose, not their eyes. They’re also keen observers of us – think about the things you do often in your day. Chances are your dog knows what’s about to happen based on your routine. For instance, when I’m putting on...

Today is the day for an observance you probably don’t know about. By the end of this newsletter, I hope you’ll be planning ways to make this day a better one for you and those you love before October 10^th 2024. Today’s observance is all about something I work with veterinary teams to improve – mental wellbeing. Welcome to World Mental Health Day 2023.

First observed in 1992, there’s been a great need in our society for decades longer than that to eliminate the stigma around mental illness. When most of us were growing up, those with different mental abilities were considered “slow” or “nuts” or just plain “weird.” We’ve made a lot of progress as research has identified different mental diseases and conditions, instead of lumping everyone into the same category and “slow learner” classes in school.

Around the world, one in 8 people suffers some sort of mental illness or condition that sets them apart...

Today is National Relaxation Day and this week is National Aviation Week. What do those two have to do with each other and why should you care? This will tie them together, ease your stress, and give you wings, so read on. 

Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t have pilot’s licenses, and no one needs a license to chill. 

The same year that the first states – Massachusetts and Missouri – began requiring drivers licenses of anyone who wanted to operate a car on public roads, Orville and his older brother Wilbur made the first powered flight. They didn’t even have drivers’ licenses, and certainly didn’t have pilots’ licenses because those hadn’t been invented yet. Neither brother had a high school diploma, neither attended college, and yet with their fascination for aviation, their insatiable desire for experimentation, and their commitment to manned flight in a heavier-than-air motorized vehicle, they made discoveries and...

Are you feeling tense and stressed with too many thoughts flying around in your head? Do you have five minutes, a private space and a towel or yoga mat?

A super-fast way to calm the chaos in your mind while relieving the stress in your back is to take a yoga break and rest in child’s pose.

Spread out your mat or towel, sit on your heels, toes together and knees apart about hip-width. If you can’t sit on your heels, place a pillow between your bottom and heels. If you’re pregnant, place a pillow between your thighs to provide abdominal support.

Exhale your arms forward and long as you gently lower your chest to your thighs, place your forehead on the mat and relax into the pose.

Breathe long, slow, deep breaths and allow your shoulders to sink towards the mat as the tension in your neck eases. Stay as long as you need to, until you feel relaxed and in control. Child's pose for the win.

I’m Sandy Weaver and just like Kacey, I love veterinarians!

You have a tough job some days. Rude clients, no-show staffers and patients who are afraid of you and who sometimes, no matter what you do, have the nerve to go and die on you.

And then sometimes you have to help them die, and that’s hard even when you know what a gift you’re bestowing on their poor tired bodies.

There’s a song by Jimmy Buffet that has great advice for you on days like that – it’s called Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On. When you have a tough day, remember those six words.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Is your hospital having a stressful day?

I do now and then, especially when I find something fun to chew on and mom loses her mind!

Sometimes it feels like everyone is a gas can and you’re all waiting for someone to toss a match, right? That’s a terrible way to feel and a worse way to try to care for patients.

Can you all take 5 minutes at lunch to just sit and breathe? Put the answering machine on, lock the front door and all of you get together, shut off the lights, sit quietly and take long, slow, deep breaths.

Call a “take 5 breath break” daily if you can and watch the stress fall off of you and your team like hair falls off of me.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!