The Good Life Boosts Care Team Wellness with Stretch Breaks

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Thanks to The Good Life, more employees are able to enjoy a well-deserved stretch break during their shift to help work out the kinks in their body. While listening to relaxing music, The Good Life team guides employees to stretch their arms, legs, neck, back, glutes and shoulders. They also ask staff a Good Life question of the day to help take their mind off of work for a few minutes to truly relax. The Good Life has been doing stretch breaks on a small scale for years, averaging about 52 stretch breaks per month when it first started. Since August 2015, it more than doubled to 120 stretch breaks per month and continues to grow. The stretch program is currently led by Leanna Bowles, MS, PHR, wellness coordinator, The Good Life, and two interns, Lindsey Hartman and Chris Bentajado. During their stretch breaks, they regularly hear feedback about how much employees appreciate their visits.

Chris Bentajado, Lindsey Hartman and Leanna Bowles from The Good Life guide nurses through a stretch sequence. 

“It’s great seeing how excited employees are when it’s time for their stretch break,” says Hartman. “They see how good they feel afterward and notice the differences in their body when we visit.” When The Good Life first started doing stretch breaks, groups were a lot smaller because not many people knew about them and some were simply hesitant. Now, it is a resource for employees to find time in their busy schedule to relax and recuperate so they can work comfortably the rest of the day. “Employees regularly tell us how much better they feel after stretch breaks — they have more energy, they move better and just feel better,” says Leanna. “They also tell us they like the activity so much that they are doing their own stretch breaks on their own time.” The Good Life stretch breaks are regularly performed in the clinical care areas and periodically in non-clinical departments. The Good Life hopes to grow this program in the future to visit a wider range of employees more frequently, but until then, look out for Chris, Lindsey and Leanna to participate in the next stretch break.

Chris Bentajado helps employees stretch out their legs.

Long Beach Memorial employees stretch out their forearms.