August is National Wellness Month—a time to pause, breathe, and put well-being front and center. Whether you’re a people leader, HR pro, or just someone who loves supporting your coworkers, this month is the perfect excuse to encourage self-care, spark healthier habits, and build a culture of connection.
And no, it doesn’t require a company-wide wellness overhaul. Sometimes a thoughtful message or small moment of encouragement is enough to make a difference. In this post, we’ll cover why National Wellness Month matters at work, how to celebrate with your team, and how Kudoboard can help you bring those feel-good vibes to life.
10 Ideas for Celebrating National Wellness Month at Work
From quick morale boosters to deeper wellness programming, these ideas help your team connect, recharge, and take care of themselves together.
1. Start a Wellness Kudoboard
Invite your team to share self-care practices, inspirational quotes, or favorite wellness apps. Think of it as a collaborative wellbeing wall—where employees can post everything from meditation playlists to photos from nature walks.
2. Host a Midday Meditation or Stretch Break
Schedule a short daily or weekly break for guided meditation, yoga, or simple stretching. Whether you bring in a local instructor or use a YouTube video, the key is giving people permission to pause.
3. Launch a Hydration Challenge
Encourage employees to drink more water by setting daily hydration goals. Use fun trackers or group chat check-ins, and maybe give a prize for consistency.
4. Create a Compliment Wall with Kudoboard
Gratitude is good for everyone’s mental health. Use a Kudoboard to collect affirmations, thank-yous, and kind words from coworkers, and then share it at the end of the month.
Try a team appreciation board ➝
5. Encourage Walking 1:1s
Transform routine check-ins into “walk and talks.” Employees can take calls outside or around the office to add movement and a change of scenery to their day.
6. Promote Mental Health Days
Encourage employees to take a day off purely for rest or stress management—and communicate that it’s not only allowed, it’s valued.
7. Curate a Wellness Resource List
Invite your team to submit favorite books, wellness tips, apps (like Calm or Headspace), podcasts, or local therapists. Compile and share the list in a Kudoboard or shared doc.
8. Surprise Staff with Wellness Gifts
Small tokens like tea kits, journals, foam rollers, or desk plants can brighten someone’s day and show that you’re thinking about their mental wellness.
9. Encourage Gratitude Sharing
Launch a peer-to-peer recognition campaign with a group digital greeting card or rotating “wellness MVP” spotlight. Ask people to highlight how others contribute to a healthier work culture, and recognize employees who take care of themselves inside of your employee recognition software.
10. Host a Virtual Wellness Fair
Feature bite-sized Zoom sessions with experts in areas like nutrition, breathwork, ergonomics, or financial wellness. Let employees opt in based on what speaks to them.
How Kudoboard Supports Wellness at Work
Kudoboard isn’t just for birthdays and farewells—it’s a surprisingly powerful tool for promoting overall wellness and connection at work.
Here’s how you can use Kudoboard to make National Wellness Month meaningful:
- Create a Wellness Tip Board: Let your team crowdsource health hacks and mindfulness practices.
- Launch a Recognition Board: Boost emotional well-being by celebrating unsung heroes and wellness champions.
- Encourage Gratitude Sharing: Build a culture of appreciation and peer recognition with an ongoing board.
- Celebrate Team Wins: Acknowledge progress on employee wellness goals or simply applaud participation in a hydration challenge.
You can customize each board with images, videos, emojis, and scheduling features—so your celebration can be as chill or as creative as your culture calls for.
Inspiration Station: Wellness-Focused Kudoboard Examples
Sometimes the best ideas come from seeing what others have done. These Kudoboards show how teams are embracing wellness through gratitude, encouragement, and shared resources — all in creative, heartfelt ways.
A Living Library of Low-Key Wellness Practices
This vibrant board brings together a team’s favorite wellness practices—from simple morning routines to quick movement breaks—and shows just how accessible self-care can be. Employees shared their go-to strategies for feeling more grounded, like stretching between meetings, practicing a few minutes of low-effort yoga, or the underrated magic of making the bed each morning. The tone is approachable and encouraging, with contributors opening up about what works for them in real life—not just what sounds good on paper.
Visually, the board is filled with calming photos, GIFs, and short notes that invite conversation. And because it’s open-ended, employees continued adding to it over time, turning it into an ongoing, shared resource that grows with the team.
Why we love it: This board becomes a living library of practical self-care, curated by the people who know your team best—each other. It fosters a sense of connection and authenticity while helping normalize the idea that wellness doesn’t need to be perfect to be powerful.
Bilingual Winter Wellness Tips
Okay, this board didn’t technically take place during National Wellness Month, but it does celebrate a season of wellness, so we’re including it. Cold weather didn’t stop this team from getting outside—and sharing what helped them feel their best. This bilingual Kudoboard invited employees to share their favorite winter wellness tips—and they delivered. With hundreds of entries, the board became a lively and long-running celebration of wellbeing across languages and locations. From snowshoeing snapshots to skiing videos to peaceful nature walks, employees contributed personal stories, photos, and advice in both English and French. Many posts offered gentle encouragement to get outside, stay active, and take time for self-care, even in the coldest months.
What makes this board stand out is its range of perspectives. Some contributors shared tips for boosting energy and mood through movement, while others focused on small comforts or mindful moments. The blend of visuals, languages, and storytelling created a dynamic and deeply personal expression of winter wellness.
Why we love it: It’s inclusive, creative, and engaging—and a great reminder that wellness can be shaped by culture, season, and individual experience.
Wellness Reflections Kudoboard with Guided Prompts
A simple pinned prompt helped this National Wellness Month board stand out by giving employees a clear, welcoming entry point to share their wellness experiences. With questions like “What’s your favorite way to unwind?” and “What’s a mindfulness practice you learned from someone else, and how has it helped you?”, the board encourages thoughtful, personal responses without putting anyone on the spot.
What followed was a rich mix of posts—some short and sweet, like “take a walk outside when you’re overwhelmed,” and others more in-depth, including reflections on breathing exercises like the 4–7–8 method that helped one employee manage anxiety. Others chimed in with haikus, calming GIFs, and feel-good resources, making the board feel both lighthearted and meaningful.
One especially memorable post came from an employee who shared a link to a free weekly Zoom art class, explaining how creative expression has become a key part of her mental health routine—and inviting others to join.
Why we love it: The pinned prompt is a simple touch that makes a big impact, lowering the barrier to participation and sparking real conversation. The result is a fun, honest, and supportive board that blends humor, vulnerability, and actionable ideas in one shared space.
What Is National Wellness Month 2025?
National Wellness Month was launched by Live Love Spa in 2018 to promote self-care, stress reduction, and healthy routines. Since then, it’s taken root in homes and workplaces around the country as people look for meaningful ways to prioritize mental, emotional, and physical health.
As hybrid work and rising burnout reshape the employee experience, National Wellness Month offers a much-needed moment to pause and prioritize.
Why it resonates in 2025:
- Mental health continues to be a top concern in the workplace.
- Hybrid and remote teams need intentional connection.
- Recognition, support, and flexibility are key to retaining top talent.
- Small gestures (like wellness-themed outreach or notes of encouragement) go a long way.
When is National Wellness Month 2025?
National Wellness Month is observed every August, and in 2025, it runs from Friday, August 1 through Sunday, August 31. Created to spotlight self-care, healthy habits, and stress reduction, this annual awareness month is the perfect opportunity to promote wellness in the workplace.
Let’s Celebrate National Wellness Month Together
Wellness doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes, a quick check-in, a kind word, or a community of support makes all the difference. Whether you’re running a full-fledged wellness program or just looking to uplift your team this August, Kudoboard makes it easy to show you care.
Start a Kudoboard and celebrate National Wellness Month with your team—one message, memory, or moment of encouragement at a time.
Bring wellness to your team
Create a Kudoboard to support self-care and connection
