This connection space was attended by Margarita Álvarez, Enric Lladó, Andrea Vilallonga, Boticaria García, Alberto Soler and Patri Ramírez.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Friday 25 March 2022-. To throw ourselves into the search for happiness in all areas of our lives; to understand the emotions that a conflict generates in order to find the opportunity to solve it; to be aware of the image we transmit in order to work on the change we want to project; to take care of ourselves in a conscious way in order to live longer and better; to avoid putting labels with our expectations on the little ones and to love ourselves and dedicate valuable time to ourselves.

These were the conclusions of the seventh edition of ExpoBienestar Canarias, which took place this Thursday, 24 March, in the Sala Canarias of the Palacio de Congresos Gran Canaria de Infecar and was attended by more than 250 people, both in a face-to-face and virtual format.

Promoted and financed by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, and under the organisation of Infecar, ExpoBienestar Canarias hosted a programme focused on ‘Personal wealth and work balance’, thus addressing different topics on the professional environment, but also placing special emphasis on the importance of health and wellbeing in all areas of life, as well as in education.

“For me it is a pleasure to be on this stage today to lead this edition of ExpoBienestar Canarias. In the current situation, it is more necessary than ever to support events that advocate personal care and mental health, especially from a public institution,” said Marián García, better known as Boticaria García, before giving way to the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, to inaugurate this edition of ExpoBienestar Canarias.

“Since the beginning of ExpoBienestar we have wanted to put on the table the need to take care of ourselves, from the personal to the professional aspect, in order to achieve a balanced life, with special emphasis on this occasion on mental health, as a silent epidemic that has been made loud and clear as a result of the pandemic,” said Antonio Morales. “This event has become more necessary than ever, as a space for knowledge and debate on this type of psychosocial problems”.

With all this, the morning session of ExpoBienestar Canarias was opened by Margarita Álvarez, named by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Spain, one of the TOP 100 most influential women in Spain and one of the 10 most influential managers in the last three years.
Margarita Álvarez’s professional career is marked by one idea: to ensure that happiness is considered a relevant and serious issue in all areas of life. “Happiness is a concept that we have been studying for more than two thousand years and it is so difficult to define because we all experience it in some way,” she said.

Álvarez pointed to the need to incorporate happiness at work, “not thinking that today it’s a barbecue and tomorrow a different party, it’s not about that. What is important is growth, recognition, the footprint and relationships. Knowing that the work you do is giving you something in each of these areas”.

She was followed by Enric Lladó, a business consultant in the field of communication. A specialist in the Pragmatics of Communication, the discipline that studies language as a tool for transformation, his work consists of helping people, teams and organisations to use communication to generate positive changes around them.

“Where there is life, there is conflict. This was the first premise that Enric Lladó made clear throughout his presentation, where he disseminated the three parts that make up a conflict. “We will always find three elements: the link, the problem and the music, which symbolise the what, the why and the how”, he added.

Lladó guided those attending this edition of ExpoBienestar Canarias to break down the parts that make up a conflict in order to learn how to find the opportunity to solve it.

Image and Communication Consultant and international speaker, Andrea Vilallonga was in charge of closing the morning session of ExpoBienestar Canarias. Creator of the #mírate method on communication and attitude, Vilallonga encourages others to practice positive activism, to see reality from a different perspective, deciding to act to bring about change instead of waiting for it.
“Erotic capital is to take into account first impressions, communication and attitude. This is the one we must work on”, Vilallonga pointed out as one of the keys to changing the impact we have on others and which will help us to achieve what we want to transmit.

Vilallonga, in a talk full of good humour, invited the participants to analyse themselves because “in order to change our image we have to know what I transmit, what I want to transmit and create coherence between them”.

Afternoon session

Boticaria García was in charge of opening the afternoon session of ExpoBienestar Canarias with a talk in which she highlighted the importance of taking care of oneself. Doctor in Pharmacy, graduated in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and in Optics and Optometry, García advocated 360º care because “they say that diamonds are forever, but taking care of yourself, too”.

In addition, Boticaria García encouraged the audience to be sceptical, not to believe everything they read, “we must be aware of fake news and hoaxes, which do not come out of nowhere, but come to us from organised entities that seek, among other things, to put fear into us to turn us into puppets”.
After her, it was the turn of Alberto Soler, psychologist and communicator, who has more than 15 years of experience in psychotherapy and has collaborated on several radio programmes, television and the press. “Labels are put on very easily, but then it is very difficult to remove them”, she pointed out.

Throughout his talk, Soler pointed out that “we educate boys and girls differently depending on the expectations we have of them”. In relation to this, the psychologist analysed how real equality between men and women is not a reality today “because, among other things, it starts from the moment in which we educate our children, how we talk to them and how we treat them”.

The finishing touch to ExpoBienestar Canarias was provided by Patricia Ramírez, better known as Patri Psicóloga, thanks to her role in disseminating information in the media and social networks.
In her speech, Ramírez pointed out the imperative need to ‘take care of ourselves and love ourselves’: “self-care is a way we have of respecting ourselves. We have to choose ourselves, give ourselves time to connect with ourselves, or with a hobby, a sport, a break… whatever makes us feel good”.

With all this, ExpoBienestar Canarias put an end to its seventh edition, which once again brought together speakers and attendees in person in the same space, after having had to hold the 2021 edition completely virtually.