Let’s face it, our industry is unhealthy. We’re physically exhausted, we don’t sleep well, we keep weird hours, we live on salty junk food and we drink all the time. We have to bring the party, it’s our job, but we often get lost in the party. We become the party and we don’t know when the party ends. We all feel like we will live forever and we can keep going and never stop, but sooner or later it’s going to catch up with us. Our unhealthy lifestyle is not sustainable, but staying healthy is really challenging.
Our industry doesn’t have to be so unhealthy and although it seems impossible to get better, we can make huge progress just by making some simple changes. It doesn’t mean the party has to end, we just need a little more balance. My guest, Tanya Clark, had many great suggestions for small things you can change that will make your life as a bartender much better, healthier and more balanced.
Tanya has been in the industry for 14 years and she knows how unhealthy and unsustainable this job can be and how little support there is for bartenders and hospitality workers. She’s seen close friends and colleagues suffer serious medical issues as a result. A few years ago she felt she needed to do something about it and on a whim attended a yoga class. She knew right away that she found what she was looking for. Recently, Tanya became an operating owner and partner at MOXIE Yoga & Fitness in San Francisco, where we recorded this episode.
Tanya is also the founder of Jigger and Dash Wellness, a health and wellness program aimed at serving the hospitality industry. Tanya leads yoga and fitness classes, as well as talks about mental health and financial planning that fit the schedule and needs of working bartenders. “Self care should be more of a priority than a luxury,” Tanya said, “Because if you don’t take care of yourself, how do you expect to take care of anyone else?”
Tanya’s next table talk event is on April 29th, and is about core values and beliefs and how they affect our emotional welfare. Check out my interview with her in the above player, on this page or wherever podcasts are found. Tanya had incredibly valuable advice about getting motivated to exercise, easy strategies for eating better at work, drinking less but still feeling included and much, much more.
Make sure to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite player, we have great conversations with bartenders every week about staying healthy and all of the challenges we face in this industry. More importantly, share us with your friends and colleagues, this is such good advice and I think it can really help make our industry better. Stay tuned for more!
Cheers!