October 10 is World Mental Health Day, and this year’s focus on workplace well-being highlights an urgent truth: for young families balancing office deadlines, childcare, household responsibilities, and team projects, stress isn’t the exception—it’s the norm.

CanBeWell and IASK are working to change that by offering accessible, science-backed strategies to support mental health at work, at home, and everywhere in between. With 12 presentations across three time zones, our World Mental Health Day events are packed with ideas to help families and organizations fill their wellness toolbox.

How is Dr Michelle Greenwell, CIH BioEW involved? As President of CanBeWell and on the World Mental Health Day committee with IASK, she has been supporting the presentations and resources available for this special day. This is a program that you will want to share with the loved ones in your life who are struggling to “do it all” and overlook their mental and physical fatigue. Read on…

Why This Matters

Workplace stress is no small issue:

• The World Health Organization notes that long hours, unclear roles, and lack of support are major contributors to poor mental health.
• More than 70% of Canadian employees are concerned about psychological safety at work.
• Empowerment—having autonomy, meaning, and confidence in your role—is directly linked to greater well-being, resilience, and lower burnout.

For parents juggling school runs and project deadlines, these challenges multiply. That’s why CanBeWell and IASK focus on empowerment through practical tools that can be used by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Moving Beyond “Take a Deep Breath”

Traditional workplace wellness advice often circles around mindfulness, stretching, or deep breathing. While valuable, these don’t always meet people where they are—especially when juggling multiple responsibilities or facing ongoing stressors.

Instead, we highlight bioenergetic wellness tools that integrate the brain, body, and emotions for a deeper reset:

• Emotional Stress Release (ESR) Points – Gently holding the forehead can help the body calm the fight-or-flight response, reducing stress and bringing clarity back to the mind.
• Cook’s Hook Ups – A simple posture that balances the brain and body, encouraging focus and calm, especially useful before presentations or problem-solving tasks.
• Switching on the Brain – Gentle cross-body movements activate both hemispheres of the brain, helping with concentration, decision-making, and creative thinking.
• Integrative Movement Patterns – Activities like cross-crawls or figure-eights connect brain and body, improving focus, coordination, and energy.
• Eye Tracking Exercises – Following visual patterns can improve concentration and relieve digital fatigue.
• Grounding & Nature Connection – Stepping outside, feeling the earth, or simply noticing the natural environment restores balance and reduces tension.
• Hydration – Drinking water is a powerful yet overlooked tool for energy, clarity, and resilience throughout the day.
• Movement for Calm – Practices like Tai Chi and yoga release stored tension, regulate breathing naturally, and calm the nervous system.

These strategies don’t require special equipment or long breaks—they’re quick, practical, and deeply effective for restoring balance during busy workdays.

Empowerment Through Self-Care

One of the most powerful findings from workplace research is that self-management matters. A 2025 study found that mental health self-management practices improve well-being, work performance, and resilience—even under high stress. When employees are given the tools and permission to use them, both individuals and organizations thrive.

That’s exactly what bioenergetic wellness tools provide: self-empowerment. Each person can learn techniques they can apply independently to reset their own system. Instead of waiting for external support, they have tools at their fingertips to reduce stress, boost energy, and enhance focus.

Creating Supportive Work Environments

For leaders and administrators, mental health is more than an individual issue—it’s cultural. Encouraging bioenergetic wellness practices means:

• Normalizing mental breaks – Just as coffee breaks are routine, organizations can encourage short wellness resets using ESR points, movement patterns, or Tai Chi.
• Providing access – Making quick reference cards, videos, or workshops available so employees can learn and practice these techniques.
• Modeling practices – Leaders who take “wellness pauses” demonstrate that self-care is valued and respected.
• Respecting family needs – Flexibility around childcare, remote work, and schedules reduces the stress load for young families and supports long-term engagement.

CanBeWell & IASK: 12 Presentations, 3 Time Zones, Oodles of Ideas

This World Mental Health Day, CanBeWell and IASK bring together 12 unique presentations across three time zones, ensuring accessibility for participants worldwide. Topics range from practical workplace tools to deeper explorations of bioenergetic wellness and how individuals can build sustainable habits for mental health.

Participants will leave with:

• A personalized wellness toolbox they can use daily
• Strategies for balancing family responsibilities with work demands
• Tools to improve focus, reduce stress, and calm the mind—without needing long breaks or specialized spaces
• A deeper understanding of self-empowerment in mental health and how small, intentional practices can shift energy, productivity, and resilience

Research Highlights

• Self-management and empowerment buffer the impact of high job demands, improving flourishing and productivity.
• Psychological empowerment—autonomy, competence, and meaning—directly increases job satisfaction and decreases burnout.
• Integrating movement and brain-body tools supports both mental and physical resilience, especially important for busy families and high-stress workplaces.

Take Action: Join Us

We invite you to register at www.iask.org under Events → World Mental Health Day 2025, or at www.canbewell.org.

We recommend signing up for all three presentations and receiving the recordings to review at your convenience. Along with the recordings, participants receive a journal filled with tips and tools for easy reference, plus background information to support ongoing use of the practices.

For leaders and administrators, we encourage you to consider inviting our presenters to host a workshop or help design a wellness plan tailored to your office. Supportive action in the workplace creates an environment that not only nurtures well-being but also inspires success for everyone.

This World Mental Health Day, let’s go beyond awareness and into action. By embracing bioenergetic wellness practices, we empower individuals, strengthen families, and create workplaces where resilience and creativity thrive.

Are you interested in learning more and bringing it to your office or team? You can reach out to our office at info@greenwellcenter.com to book an introductory call with Dr Michelle Greenwell CIH BioEW. She will be happy to get you started with the best in workplace wellness.

The post World Mental Health Day: Empowering Mental Wellness at Work and for Young Families first appeared on Greenwell Center for Holistic Health.

This is the guiding spirit behind CORAH (Centre for Rural Aging and Health), a program funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care, with locations across three NSCC campuses including the Strait Area Campus in Port Hawkesbury. Designed to support individuals aged 55+, CORAH offers diverse social, learning, cultural, and recreational opportunities that reduce isolation and promote holistic wellbeing.

This special podcast episode features the talents of Michele MacPhee. Michele MacPhee is the Administrator and Project Coordinator for the CORAH program in Port Hawkesbury. With a strong background in community engagement and adult education, Michele is passionate about creating inclusive, empowering spaces for older adults to connect, learn, and thrive. Through her leadership, CORAH has become a vital resource for enhancing the health and well-being of seniors in the region, offering innovative programming that fosters social connection, lifelong learning, and holistic self-care. Her collaborative spirit and dedication to meaningful community development continue to inspire positive change across generations.

The Power of Participation

From group knitting circles to Tai Chi classes and creative workshops, CORAH’s programming cultivates more than hobbies—it nurtures joy, purpose, and connection. When people gather to learn and grow together, they rediscover their value in the community and open new doors to healing and vitality.

Dr Michelle Greenwell’s, PhD CIH, Tai Chi satellite program, running as part of the Strait Area CORAH offerings, is one powerful example. These community classes blend gentle movement, breath, and intention to invite participants into a deeper relationship with their body, energy system, and surroundings. The practice emphasizes ease, fluidity, and inner peace—cornerstones of self-care and stress reduction at any age.

Beyond its physical benefits, Michelle’s approach to Tai Chi offers a bioenergetic wellness lens, using awareness, goal-setting, intuition, and community support to guide participants into empowered daily living. This program has quietly become a hub of friendship, storytelling, laughter, and mutual encouragement.

Intergenerational Benefits: A Win-Win for All Ages

When seniors engage fully in community life, everyone wins. Intergenerational programming—whether through shared meals, music, movement, or mentorship—encourages the transmission of wisdom and emotional support between age groups. Located at the local community college, programs interact with youth through shared presentations, interactive workshops, and program development by students for senior participation. There are some very positive gains from this interactive approach.

Additional workshops for CORAH by Michelle have included Tea with Intention – exploring tea as a health aly with special beverage recipes and food pairings, Sleep for Wellbeing (featured on Telile’s Community Channel, Episode #146), and Chronic Pain Relief through BioEnergetic Wellness techniques have further expanded CORAH’s impact. These workshops introduce simple yet profound techniques for self-care, including breathwork, hydration, mindful movement, and tea rituals.

Each offering builds a toolbox for daily resilience, helping participants respond to life’s challenges with grace and confidence. And more is coming in the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026—with new sessions on emotional wellness, energy balancing, and community healing already in development.

A Cup of Connection

This philosophy of intentional living is steeped beautifully in the HoneyBEE tea blend from the Cape Breton Tea Company, which was featured in this recent Be Well with Dr. Michelle Greenwell podcast. With warming ginger and soothing vanilla, this blend captures the spirit of community connection and vibrant aging. Paired with the affirmation:

“Feel the boost to your spirit and the playfulness and joy that transpires. A zest for life is encouraged with each sip.”

…it’s a gentle reminder of the sweetness and vitality available in every moment, especially when shared with others.

Just a little note that the HoneyBEE blend is great as an iced tea, and is fantastic in the Switchel Recipe as an electrolyte replacer. Any tea blend can be used in the recipe, but there is a fondness for the HoneyBee tea.

Moving Forward with Peace and Purpose

As we look to the future, programs like CORAH offer a blueprint for healthy, connected, and empowered aging. They remind us that when we include and celebrate our senior population, we all benefit—from stronger relationships and deeper empathy to a more peaceful and resilient society. And, yes, 55 + is considered senior, and includes many of us still in the workforce.

We encourage you to:

• Explore CORAH programming through NSCC campuses and virtual workshops
• Watch Telile Episode #146 for tips on sleep and Tai Chi
• Try a cup of HoneyBEE tea as part of your daily wellness ritual
• Check out the BioEnergetic Essentials book for accessible tools on intention and energy care
• And follow the Magnifying Peace Project to see how small actions ripple into big change

Together, let’s magnify peace, one connection at a time.

The post 🌿 A Zest for Life: Engaging Our Seniors for Community Wellness and Connection first appeared on Greenwell Center for Holistic Health.

What do you know about exercise?

“Exercise” is that buzzword that has followed us from the “looking good” era of the 60’s, to the “aerobics” era of the 70-80’s, to being out in nature with hiking and adventure of the 90’s, to targeted gym workouts and intensity levels in the 2000’s, to releasing stress in the 2010’s, to making the mind-body connection of the 2020’s and post pandemic. Wow, isn’t that a snapshot of time!?!

The Mind-Body Connection

The Mind-Body Connection: Are All Exercises Created Equal? Join Dr Michelle Greenwell and Michaela Jones on “Living Naturally with Michaela” today!

In this episode, they dive into the question: “Are all exercises created equal?” Michaela Jones, ND and Dr. Michelle Greenwell CIH explore the intricate connections between physical health, mental well-being, and trauma relief. Michaela will share about emotional ties to physical movement and how releasing stored emotions can enhance both mental and physical health. Meanwhile, Michelle will reveal the power of whole body movement to create a synergy in the body for mental health, as well as proper alignment and movement massage in promoting long-term wellness. Together, they’ll discuss why personalized approaches to exercise are crucial and how different forms of movement can uniquely support the journey toward healing and balance.

Here is the link to join the conversation live at 3 pm Atlantic, 2 pm Eastern, 12 pm Mountain, 11 am Pacific: https://www.youtube.com/live/HBFiLrQOCpk .

If you miss the “live” version, please find the recording on Michelle’s YouTube Channel, or on Michaela’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@livingnaturallywithmichaela.

Ready for the Perfect Class for you?

Michelle offers in-person programs and online programs. The fall schedule is just being finalized. Be sure to sign up for the blog to get the latest information to your inbox. You can find that on the bottom of the home page.

Check out the calendar for timing.

Consider Tai Chi, Movement Made Easy, Cape Breton Step Dance, or Qi YINtegration.

Perhaps you want to learn more about the healing arts. Michelle will be offering Touch for Health, Qi YINtegration, and specialty events through the later fall and into winter online. A great way to start honing your wellness skills on a self-care plan!

The post The Mind-Body Connection first appeared on Greenwell Center for Holistic Health.

The post Students! Find your perfect TEA! first appeared on Greenwell Center for Holistic Health.