Employee Whole Health
Self-Care Resources for Your Whole Health
Whole Health empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest.
As VA employees, we provide care for Veterans and our families and it is equally important to give ourselves the same care and attention. The following resources are quick, virtual tools to help you manage stress and promote your Whole Health today and every day.
Resources for Your Whole Health
- Circle of Health and Personal Health Inventory: The Circle of Health illustrates the big picture connections between your health and other aspects of your life. The Personal Health Inventory is the first step toward building your Personal Health Plan.
- Live Whole Health | VA Mobile App: VA’s Live Whole Health app is a free, easy to use tool created for Veterans and others who are ready to take the next step in their Whole Health journey. With this app, you can fill out your personal health inventory, set goals, and learn more about Whole Health.
- #LiveWholeHealth: Includes numerous video resources to support staying balanced and resilient. Videos include topics such as guided meditation, chair yoga, acupressure, relaxation techniques, gratitude, and many more!
- I.M. Emotional Support Hub | Physician Well-being and Professional Fulfillment | ACP (acponline.org) Protect your health and well-being by connecting with easily-accessible peer support through the Physician Support Line, and affordable, confidential counseling is available through The Emotional PPE Project and The Therapy Aid Coalition.
Additional Resources
“To fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
Literature indicates that both expressing and receiving messages of gratitude are effective ways to bolster resilience in difficult times.
- #VAGratitude: Send messages of appreciation to each other.
- You Owned The Moment
- Supporting Leaders, Supporting Employees - Caring for those who care for others (13:35)
- Be A Leader that Nobody Wants to Leave / Outstanding Leadership is a Choice (12:59)
- Employee Experience: Improving Employee Recognition Part 1 (16:53)
- Employee Experience: Improving Employee Recognition Part 2 (15:08)
- Supervisor Week
- Leadership Engagement Group (LEG)
- Employee Whole Health Resources (Requires VA access)
Resilience
- Owning the Moment During COVID (12:59)
- Burnout Prevention (16:50)
- Finding Gratitude When Life is Hard - Creating a culture of gratitude- self-care, power of thank you, role model (17:20)
- What’s on Your Mind? (11:55)
- Smile Behind the Mask (10:02)
- An Innovation Revolution: Stories of the strength of empowering our own to solve the toughest challenges (8:26)
- Moving from Surviving to Thriving Recorded Webinar (62:00)
- To Take Care of Others, Start by Taking Care of Yourself
- COVID Coach App
Moments of Reflection
Videos to encourage pausing for empowering resilience.
Words of Encouragement
Songs
- Chaplain Juliana Lesher, National Director of VA Chaplain Service (1:27)
- Chaplain Melvin Jones, Hines VAMC (1:15)
Poems
- Dr. Marcia Hunt, National Mental Health Quality Improvement and Implementation Consultant (2:00)
- Chaplain Samuel Cabrera, Roudebush VAMC (1:24)
- Chaplain Sherri Headen, Roudebush VAMC (1:56)
- Leslie Barnes, Registered Nurse, Truman VA Hospital (1:37)
- Lelia Jackson, Senior Strategist, VHA Assault and Harassment Prevention Office (1:16)
Christian Focus
Meditation
- Delana Cole, Clinical Social Worker, Atlanta VA Mental Health Intensive Case Management (1:21)
- Chaplain Patricia Roberts, James A. Haley VA (1:52)
- Mary Desario, Social Worker & Local Recovery Coordinator, Stratton VA (2:03)
Exercise
Relaxation Practices / Mindfulness
Audio files
- Grounding Meditation by Christiane Wolf (5:00)
- Mindfulness of Sounds Meditation by Greg Serpa (10:00)
- Body Scan Meditation by Christiane Wolf (15:00)
Videos
- Mindful Muscle Relaxation (4:18)
- Loving Kindness Meditation (3:27)
- Breathing Exercises (6:53)
- Taking Time to Pause (9:56)
- Five Minute Stress Management (5:07)
- Acupressure (3:53)
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation (14:00)
- Mindful Poetry (5:27)
- Acupressure Self-Care for Headaches (8:37)
Moving the Body
Videos
- Employee Whole Health Body Scan (17:37)
- Yoga Demo (11:00)
- Tai Chi Demo (14:00)
- Chair Yoga (from WRIISC) (7:00)
- Mindful Hatha Yoga (from WRIISC) (8:00)
- Qigong and Energy Gates from WRIISC (4:48)
- C20 is #FromtheField4theField — Our goal is to get you current accurate information about what is happening in VA facilities and communities just like yours. Click here to opt in to C20 communications.
- Social Wellness Toolkit | National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Videos
- Spiritual Soul Work (14:44)
- VA Chaplaincy: A Passion For People (1:09)
Handouts
Additional Web Resources
- Parenting Course
- Cultivating Resilience in the Face of Adversity Course: For CEUs, VA employees can register on the VA Talent Management System (only available inside the VA firewall).
- Part 1: Learn the Basic Strategies for Building Resilience discusses common experiences with stress during times of crisis and adversity and provides strategies for cultivating personal and organizational resilience.
- Part 2: Apply the Resilience Skills to Home and Work Stressors provides specific application of those tools to specific stressors, such as parenting and working in a virtual environment.