It’s official, there is now an RRC team registered for the Color Me Rad run/walk on July 21! What is Color Me Rad? The website has a very “colorful” way to describe what it is….basically you run/walk 5km and throughout are attacked with color bombs. Really for no good reason, other than it’s silly and fun!

All proceeds from the race go to Camp Manitou, and everyone is a winner as this is a fun run/walk. Read More →

Want to get into shape? Want to make a difference? How you approach the later may actually help you to achieve both.

As raising money for charity is becoming increasingly difficult, taking on extreme challenges for charity can both capture potential donors’ attention and drive your motivation to work out like never before. After all, those adrenaline fueled stunts and epic, unforgettable, adventures do demand a certain level of endurance and physical prowess, non?

What can better capture the imagination than a six day multi-terrain race across the great, stony Gobi desert in China? Or perhaps eleven days whitewater rafting down the Zambezi into the depths of Victoria Falls, wrestling with the biggest commercial white water rapids in the world? Read More →

To kick off College Days, the Wellness Committee is hosting a series of events to eat, meet and greet, and move your feet. If you’re an RRC staff member, you can register for all the Wellness events here.

Come out for a free Wellness Breakfast

On the morning of May 30^th staff are invited for a free Wellness Breakfast at the Roblin Centre and the Notre Dame Campus (Voyageur Cafeteria) beginning at 8:00 am and going till 9:30.  The buffet breakfast includes a yogurt parfait bar, oatmeal, turkey bacon, back bacon, eggs, toast and beverages. Wellness Committee members and other helpers will be on hand to take pledges and answer any questions you may have. Please register for the breakfast using the link above.

Help support staff dependents to study at RRC

If you’re participating in the Wellness Walk-a-thon or the Rebel Run, you can drop off your pledge form for the Bursary for Dependents of RRC Employees at the breakfast or the over the lunch hour. If you do not wish to gather pledges we encourage a donation of $10 towards the award. The bursary was started back in 2009 from an endowment fund, which the Walk-a-thon has helped grow to over $20K. For more information about this award  and/or to get an application form, head to the RRC website and look under General Awards.

To date, the award has been given to eight recipients including Taylor Schapf (Business Administration, 2012) daughter of instructor Glenn Schapf.  Taylor shared these words with us:

It is outstanding how Red River College strives to open doors for their students to guarantee their education is being put to use in the real working world. When deciding where to pursue my post-secondary education, it was evident that Red River College was the perfect match for me. I knew that I wanted to receive practical training within a closely-knit student/instructor environment. I also knew that I wanted to receive my diploma in only two years and immediately start getting on-the-job experience after graduating. I can truly say that Red River College has exceeded my expectations and is preparing me for a successful career in the business industry. In receiving the RRC Dependents’ Award, I feel motivated to continue learning and enhance my skills as a future businesswoman.

Glenn and Taylor Schapf

Wellness Walk-a-thon Read More →

When the weekend is upon you, do you get cold sweats thinking about finding something to do to keep the kids active and engaged? Have you exhausted your activity selection in the city limits and need to find some fresh new ideas to keep your family entertained?

Oak Hammock Marsh has many family related wellness activities that are open to the public, and only 20 minutes north of Winnipeg. Check out the events page on their website to see all they have to offer. Read More →

Well, it may not be a perfect May 10, but it’s a perfectly good day to announce that your Red River Rebel Riders (rrrr…) are back with a goal of raising $10,000 for MS in this, our 10th year! This year’s ride will be September 7 & 8 in Riding Mountain National Park.

Yes, 2013 marks 10 years! How can you help to make it a perfect 10?

• Come out to our first event Saturday June 1: Bowling at the Dakota Bowling Centre from 5 to 8 pm. $20 ($10 for children 12 and under) will cover your bowling, shoes, pizza, pop, popcorn, and a donation for MS. Bring friends and family for a fun evening with the team. Call Marnie at 204-949-8521 for tickets (click here for details).
• Join the 2013 team. We already have 5 registered riders: Marnie Boulet, Guy Dugas, Gurdeesh Ghuman, Dayna Graham, and Michael Poitras. Train with us this spring and summer to get in shape for the big ride Sept. 7. Email guy@spright.ca for details or simply click here and then click on the Join this team button.
• Donate securely online at http://mssoc.convio.net/goto/rrrr. All monies raised go to supporting those suffering with MS or to MS research.

Together we can end MS. Help make 2013 a perfect 10! rrrr…

This week on the Monday Mash we share some great links on music, memory, and the martial arts.

• Aikido turns conflict on its head. I’ve been fascinated by Aikido for years but have never followed my fascination into a class. The last session exercise classes here at RRC didn’t offer the Ki-Aikido classes that were offered previously and I was kicking myself for not taking the classes sooner. And since I hadn’t learned any form of Aikido yet I didn’t know how to redirect my kick and flow around it.
• If you really pay attention. This is a completely lovely story about paying attention. If you read it you can be warmed by a memory-story about learning to listen with the heart.
• SoundCloud. The SoundCloud website is an online audio distribution platform that allows collaboration, promotion and distribution of audio recordings by users. [wikipedia]. You have to sign up so that means another darn password to remember. But it’s free (or you can choose to go the paid subscription route) and you can find treasures to listen to! Or upload your own sounds, music and stories. There seem to be new audio files of all kinds uploaded every day. If you are a listener you will never run out of wonder. If you are a sound maker you will have an enormous audience.
• Virtual Choir. I had no idea I was a fan of choral music until I heard and saw Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir version of Lux Aurumque. The virtual choir concept and what Eric Whitacre has done with it is stunning and fascinating all by itself. He describes how it all started and how the process developed in this TED.com talk. You can find performances of choir music he has composed and conducted, some with virtual choirs on YouTube.  I started with Lux Aurumque and continued exploring from there. Transcending is the word that floats into my brain when I think of this music.

If you have a link or a photo that you’d like to share send an email to mkrywy@rrc.ca and we’ll try to include it in a future “Mash” edition.

This week on the Monday Mash we have another set of fantastic Wellness-related links to share with you.

• For those who love internet-radio here’s a couple of links for you.  CBC Music is a fantastic resource for Canadian music of all kinds – where you can listen live to CBC radio, find your favourite Canadian artist, or stream music from one of their online channels.
• If you’re into infotainment then Radiolab is what you need – such as this recent podcast about Stress (courtesy of my good friend Steve Page).
• If obscure art, literature, and popular culture is your thing, Maria Popova curates a fantastic blog called Brain Pickings.  If you’re not sure where to start, here is her list of 7 Must-Read books on the Art and Science of Happiness.
• Fort Whyte Centre has their 14^th Annual EcoAdventure Race on Sunday, April 21^st.   I’ve never participated, but it sure looks like an adventure, for the adventurous.

If you have a link or a photo that you’d like to share send an email to mkrywy@rrc.ca and we’ll include it in a future “Mash” edition.

This week marks the debut of the Monday Mash – a weekly list of Wellness-related links that caught our eye.

• Happy 40^th birthday to the Winnipeg Folk Festival! The lineup has been announced and tickets are on sale. The Festival is now five days long – running from July 10^th to the 14^th
• Here’s the ulitmate culinary companion – a recipe for Folk Festival Cookies that I found in the WFP archives. Five star rating.
• If migrating birds is your thing check out some of the bird watching events (and more) at Nature Manitoba as well as their birding resource page.
• Youth and Adult Soccer seasons are also set to begin. If you find yourself on the sidelines here’s some coaching resources that might help you out. Coaching Soccer 101 and the Manitoba Soccer Association.
• Ashley Blackman shared this post from Science Daily about the dangers of Second-Hand Smoke and linkages to Heart Disease.
• Melanie Bowen, a blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Blog Alliance has several interesting posts on the benefits of nutrition and exercise to help those who are battling cancer.

If you have a link or a photo that you’d like to share send an email to mkrywy@rrc.ca and we’ll include it in a future “Mash” edition.

I have a confession to make: I LOVE chips! Potato chips, corn chips, you name it – if they’re coated in colourful saltiness and have that satisfying crunch, I’m all in. In fact, for full disclosure here on the Wellness blog, I love chips a little too much! I try to resist their temptation, but when I do give in, it’s quite the episode. Let me admit, dear fans of health and wellness, that it’s actually quite Cookie-Monster-esque: crumbs flying everywhere, eyes bulging, and a few “om nom nom nom” sounds to boot! Yes, as much as I long to be the vision of health, I do have my vices.

If you recall the old Lay’s potato chips ads, Karim Abdul-Jabbar challenged us with the slogan, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”

Sadly, this is not a challenge I would even consider entertaining. I know full well I can not and will not try to eat just one chip . . in fact, sometimes I feel I can’t even eat just one bag!

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The much younger version of myself would have scoffed to think I would one day become a proponent of “the workout”. The way I saw it, working out was exactly what the terminology indicated – work! Why on earth, I argued, would any self-respecting lady put on those ugly sweatpants and tie up her well-coifed hairdo just to spend an hour of torture in the gym? The gym – ugh, a place synonymous with panting, gasping, sweating and turning red and blotchy. And for what? Those hundred calories burned on the exercise bike (the only machine I thought my clumsiness could handle) was only a fraction of what I’d consume later with my family-size bag of Doritos in front of the TV.

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