News & Event Updates
Are healthy choices on the menu?
Whether it’s to do your best, feel your best or both, we all have our motivations for eating better. But it’s not always easy to make smart food choices. Discover what works for your body and lifestyle with activities including Go for Fruits and Veggies, Sugar Smart and Health Coaching.
Completing well-being activities can also help you earn your wellness reward. Take your health assessment to access the activities at healthpartners.com/signin/livingwell or use the myHP app. Learn more on WHAM’s Well-being Activities page.
Join WHAM’s Racquet Brackets
Kick-off spring with a fun and friendly racquet sports tournament.
Get the blood pumping to your heart and brain with tennis or racquetball, or just stay in your work clothes and burn off some stress with table tennis. All experience levels welcome!
Spread the word and sign up by Monday, March 13 (one week only!). Your friendly WHAM Committee members will create the bracket to start; after each game, you record your results and progress through the bracket. Round 1 kicks off on March 20 and all games should wrap up by April 14. All participants are invited to attend a celebration and social hour the week of April 17 where prizes will be awarded! Visit our Well-being Activities page to learn more.
Spring Session 2 Classes for Staff and Faculty
Try our new morning movement & mobility class! Get guided mobility exercises designed by trainer Angela Nguyen that are tailored to your body and lifestyle to relieve pain, prevent injury, improve range of motion and improve performance. The class offers simple, easy-to-follow movement and mobility sequences that will take you from your feet, and up the kinetic chain over the course of the series.
Or, choose from our tried and true favorites: Circuit Training, Boot Camp, Yoga, Mindfulness, Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® and Dance Cardio.
Registration opens Monday, March 6 and closes promptly on Wednesday, March 15 at 4 pm. For class descriptions and to register, visit our WHAM Classes page.
WHAM Lunch & Learn: Navigating Conflict
Conflict is a normal part of everyone’s lives. Moreover, the way people handle conflict, anger, and criticism affects their work relationships and productivity. Many of our habitual patterns of handling conflict were developed early in life and are too limiting for the variety of situations we face today. In other words, our “software” could use some updating with more proactive ways to approach conflict that lead to more productive outcomes.
Stephanie McGovern, a Leadership Development Consultant will help us: understand the stages of conflict and how to intervene early, outline the seven constructive behaviors that help resolve conflict, and list the eight destructive behaviors that block creative solutions to conflict.
Please register to join us. This is an in-person event in the Weyerhaeuser Boardroom on Thursday, March 23 from 12:00-12:50 pm. Lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m. for those who have registered. Visit our Lunch and Learn page to learn more.
Master Your Mind
You want to be there to support friends and loved ones, and you want to feel present for all of life’s moments. But sometimes, that’s easier said than done.
myStrength and Wellbeats will help you build good mental health habits with mindfulness techniques, sleep and nutrition advice, endorphin-boosting exercise programs and more.
Completing well-being activities can also help you earn your wellness reward. Take your health assessment to access the activities at healthpartners.com/signin/livingwell or use the myHP app. Learn more on WHAM’s Well-being Activities page.
WHAM Lunch & Learn: The “How” in “Eat More Vegetables” [New date and location]
You’ve been told to increase your daily intake of vegetables – all Americans have. Yet, this is a common challenge for many people to make into a habit. So difficult, in fact, that only 1 in 10 adults meet this goal. Instead of telling you WHY vegetables are important, functional nutritionist Jesse Haas will share tips she’s gathered while providing nutritional counseling over the last decade for making vegetables a regular guest at the table. She’ll focus on convenient, accessible and delicious strategies to put this important health goal into action. Attendees will take home recipes.
Please register to join us. This is an in-person event in the Leonard Center’s Hall of Fame room on Wednesday, March 29 from 12:00-12:50 pm. Lunch will be available at 11:45 a.m. for those who have registered. Visit our Lunch and Learn page to learn more.
Your 2023 Health and Well-being Program
Your 2023 Health and Well-being Program is here. Each year, WHAM’s programming is designed with you in mind. Your participation in the health assessment helps ensure that we’re offering relevant and valuable activities and events. It’s quick, confidential and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. You’ll get a snapshot of your current health status, plus you’ll be one step closer to earning your wellness reward.
Sign in at healthpartners.com/signin/livingwell or download the myHP app to get started. If you have questions about the well-being program, contact Kelly Fang ([email protected]) or ask your division’s WHAM Committee representative. For help logging in, call HealthPartners at 800-311-1052 or email.
Annual Wellness 5k Run/Walk
The Wellness 5K took place on Saturday, October 15 during Family Fest weekend. This was a great opportunity for staff and faculty to model healthy behavior and self-care for their students, each other and the Mac community. It was also a great event for the teams participating in our Make a Move Challenge.
A big thanks to Tony Suputo-Swanson, Tiger Simpson, Audrey Seligman, Steve Murry and Scott Hintz as well as the Health Promotion and Athletics staff for putting on a great event. And thank you to President Rivera for getting the 5K started.
Don’t forget to record your completion of the 5K at healthpartners.com/wellbeing or download the myHP app and click on the Living Well icon. Find the 5K activity and mark yourself “Done.”
Please enjoy the 5K photo gallery:
Connect with our health coach to reach your goals
It’s time to team up. A professional health coach can be the missing link between setting goals and meeting them. Talk one-on-one with our certified health coach, Kelly Fang, about what’s important to you. Whether that’s back pain, nutrition, sleep, stress management, exercise or something else – Kelly will work with you to address your unique needs.
If you’re on Macalester’s benefits plan, take your health assessment to get started at healthpartners.com/wellbeing or use the Living Well button on the myHP app. Then contact Kelly to set up a time. In-person, walking and video appointments are free and open to all staff, faculty, spouses and domestic partners, regardless of your benefits plan. To learn more, visit our Health Coaching page.