Tipping for Equity

It is Thankful Thursday. Today we give praise to Support Staff.

‘Support Staff is a community of hospitality professionals working alongside mental health professionals, and community organizers to change the structures of the hospitality industry. Support Staff’s goals are to break down the stigmas surrounding mental health, give employers better tools to better support their employees, and give hourly employees tools to better advocate for their well-being. The hospitality industry relies heavily on the emotional labor of its employees, which leads to the inevitable dehumanization of the individuals within this industry. It is an incredibly unsustainable business model, and has led to many untimely and preventable deaths. Support Staff’s target demographic encompasses all hospitality industry professionals within Chicago. Since mental health affects everyone — all socioeconomic backgrounds, all ethnicities, ages, gender and sexual orientations — nobody within Chicago’s hospitality community is outside of the scope of our work’.

To date their Comp Tab Relief Fund has given out over $75,000 of need based financial assistance to over 150 out of work hospitality workers.

For more information you can check out their website www.please hustle responsibly.org

To donate you can go to https://secure.actblue.com/donate/support-staff-1

Thank you Support Staff for the amazing work that you do!

Social media usage has been linked to numerous mental health issues including anxiety, depression and loneliness. On top of that, the technology we use to access it causes physical problems, too!

Have you been experiencing neck pain, limited mobility, balance problems, or frequent headaches recently? These may be symptoms of a condition called “tech neck.” Tech neck injuries are caused by the posture of having your head tilted downward and chin extended forward for extended periods. (ALL THE TIME NOWADAYS)

Take a break from social media to slow down, breathe (check out the square breathing post), and practice these stretches to counteract the effects of “Tech Neck!”

Have you found yourself feeling anxious or stressed out lately? Breathing exercises can help.

Box breathing technique is an easy and simply way to promote calm and focus. When practicing, it is important to relax the body and find a comfortable position. This may be a sitting position, or lying down.

Once you find a comfortable posture follow these steps:

* Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds.
* Hold your breath (with full lungs) for 4 seconds.
* Exhale out of the mouth for 4 seconds.
* Hold your breath (with empty lungs) for 4 seconds.
* Continue repeating this pattern for 4 minutes.

To get the most out of box breathing, try to also practice mindful breathing, remaining aware of each breath and how it feels.

Give this simple breathing exercise a try anytime you need a powerful calming tool.