While the news is often full of negative stories, the past couple of weeks have been particularly brutal. Between the US travel ban and the Mosque attack in Quebec City, it’s understandable that people in general, and Muslim people in particular, might be feeling additional stress and anxiety. So, how do we take care of ourselves and our communities during such tragic times, when violence and discrimination are so clearly on our minds? Here are some ideas:

1. Be a good friend. Since Muslim Canadians were the target of violence in the Quebec City Mosque attack (a shooting our Prime Minister labelled a terrorist act), it’s important that non-muslims act as allies. It would be good to check in with your Muslim friends, classmates, and coworkers. Let them know that you’re thinking of them. Offer practical support and help. Let them know you stand for diversity and value the Muslim members of your community. Speak out against violence and discrimination.
2. Take media breaks. Sometimes, in our efforts to remain informed, we become glued to news, radio, and social media updates. While it’s important to know what’s going on, taking breaks from media is key to maintaining our well-being. Select certain times of the day when you will be media free.
3. Practice self-care. When times are hard it’s even more important to practice good habits like getting enough sleep, eating balanced meals regularly, and being active. Find a bit of time to do something to nurture yourself. It can be as simple as chatting with a friend, sipping a cup of tea, or playing your favorite game. Self-care may feel selfish when horrible things are happening, but we need to care for ourselves so that we can maintain our strength, stay well, and support others.
4. Act in solidarity. When things happen that remind us of the bad or negative in the world,
   

   Winnipeggers attend vigil to honour the 6 people killed in the Quebec City Mosque attack. Photo from CBC.ca

   we can act in ways that support peace and good. Attending a vigil or gathering of others who are grieving can be helpful. Donating money, time, or kind words to organizations that work for diversity and inclusion can help the minority group that has been targeted, while increasing our own feelings of well-being. Some organizations working to support Muslim Manitobans are Islamic Social Services Agency and Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council. At RRC, the Intercultural Mentorship Program offers students and staff opportunities to make friends, learn about other cultures, develop awareness of own cultural lens, strengthening the sense of community and creating a welcoming and inclusive campus.

5. Limit ruminating thoughts. If you find thoughts about the tragedy circling through your mind, keeping you from sleeping or concentrating on other tasks, take a few moments to write your thoughts down and then put the piece of paper away. Alternatively, you could imagine the thoughts being placed inside a balloon and floating away.
6. Reach out for help. Tragedies and uncertain times affect us all differently, depending on our personal circumstances, relation to the tragedy, and our coping skills at the moment. If you could use some support in coping, reach out.
   • RRC Staff can access the Employee and Family Assistance Program: http://blogs.rrc.ca/hr/wellness/employee-family-program/
   • RRC Students can access Counselling supports: http://blogs.rrc.ca/counselling/personal/

Breanna, Mental Health Coordinator

Written by Rachelle Pascal Carrick

Feeling a little down? Perhaps this may not be a complete surprise to you as today has been deemed to be the most depressing day of the year, “Blue Monday”. Popular culture has reported that the third Monday in January is said to be the most depressing day of the year due to a combination of cold weather; the post-holiday blues; over spending in December resulting in increased debt, and broken New Year’s Resolutions. Although Blue Monday lacks scientific evidence, it has sparked a conversation about mental health and the seriousness of clinical depression. Whether you believe Blue Monday is a “thing” or not, there are things you can do to improve the quality of your life and your mental health in the coldest months of the year.

Check out this link for tips and suggestions for improving your mental health.

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/01/13/today-is-the-most-depressing-day-of-the-year

The RRC Wellness Initiative is a movement at the College that’s partly formal, and partly organic. Formal: The wellness committee, the wellness steering group, and RRC departments. Organic: The many informal groups and individual students and staff who participate in wellness conversations and actions each day.

These actions, both strategic and grassroots, are moving the needle on wellness programming, resources and supports for students and staff.

Two years ago, the wellness committee created a definition of wellness.

In part, we call it “a positive state of well-being, driven by a lifelong, dynamic process of change and growth within oneself, with others and with our environment. It is distinct from the concept of “absence of illness”. Our concept of wellness is holistic – it involves multiple dimensions, including emotional, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual /career, environmental and financial. These dimensions interact continuously, influencing and being influenced by one another individually and collectively. Do you find that this description resonates with you?

Interestingly, some leading research refers to wellness as a skill, not just a state. I’m interested in that concept – the idea that we can develop the ability to cultivate and maintain stronger wellness over time is a powerful one.

Many people find that when we speak of wellness in terms of dimensions, it’s easier to look at the areas that seem less in balance and to gain perspective on why and what to do about it (if anything!) For example, I’m not going to train for a triathlon this year because my husband just started a new business. I want to help him with his set up because emotional and financial wellness is more important to me and my family right now than completing the big race. So, that’s okay with me. Seeing this choice in the context of wellness dimensions, I  I feel less likely to put on the self-guilt about not tackling the triathlon.

Meanwhile, I’ve also noticed how much spiritual wellness has been a huge focus for me in the last year, and I can see how that’s filled a gap in my life compared to previous years, so it reinforces for me that this dimension is really feeling healthy right now and I want to keep that up.

What dimensions feel more in balance for you right now, and less in balance? Do you have a sense of why and does it make sense for you right now? If not, consider taking steps to work on that dimension of wellness this year. This might include using resources and supports available here at RRC, or it might involve things external to the College. Or both!

RRC uses the visual of a “wellness wheel” to get our definition across in an approachable way. Have you seen the wellness wheel around campus? It’s on event posters, on display banners and posters, and has been incorporated into various guide books and communications. Keep an eye out for it – it highlights events and programs that tie into the initiative.

Speaking of events, the Wellness Committee has done a ton of work over the past two years to deliver events and programming for the benefit of students and staff. This year, we expanded on our partnership with the Students’ Association to deliver Thrive Week from October 3 to 7 – a mental health awareness week for staff and students (previously just for students). Highlights we heard across the board were the therapy dogs and the featured speaker Nova Browning Rutherford. Our next signature event will be the 2nd annual Get Movin’ Challenge throughout February. We look forward to distributing pedometers, signing people up, giving away prizes, and reducing sedentary behavior during the coldest month of the year! We also have other key goals for the year, including the development of some personal wellness self-assessment tools, adding new wellness activities to our next RED Forum, and better targeting our newest employees to get them plugged into RRC wellness.

Lastly, I mentioned earlier that wellness at RRC includes grassroots individual conversations. I invite you to read an amazingly candid and heartfelt story from an RRC student named Cassandra Cardy who has initiated a conversation about her mental health with her readers via a blog post. It’s up on the Mind It! site and it’s profoundly moving. I urge you to check it out.

Red River College Students’ Association (RRCSA) has partnered with the College’s Healthy College Healthy Minds initiative to bring students and staff more opportunities to de-stress, learn about their mental health and join the mental health conversation. This week long series of events, held at both Notre Dame and Roblin Campuses, offers a wide array of activities for both staff and students to participate in including:

-Paint Night
-Meditation and Yoga
-Speaker Series
-Music
-Therapy Dogs
-Mental Health First Aid Training
-and more activities!

Please view the Thrive Week Guide below for times, dates and a full listing of all activities.

Notre Dame Campus Thrive Week Guide

Roblin Centre Campus Thrive Week Guide

Whether you’re moving, in transition, or you’re starting over, LifeWorks is here to help you through the changes in your life.

You may be leaving home, starting a new job, getting used to a roommate, or adjusting to life as a single person. Maybe you’re coping with a health change, or the challenges of a new phase of life. Contact LifeWorks any time, 24/7, to speak with a professional consultant for confidential support and resources.

You can also log in any time to www.lifeworks.com to access helpful online resources such as these:

• A new infographic on Getting Over a Breakup.
• A new podcast: Coping with Loss. A leading expert offers guidance for those going through a death, divorce, illness, or other painful event and describes how to come out stronger and more resilient.
• Our recordings, Navigating Workplace Change and Growing Stronger Through Change.
• Booklets, articles, and audio content in our Change and Resilience Toolkit.
• Articles on Coping with Change, Growing Stronger Through Change, Deciding to Move in with Your Partner, and Thriving Through Workplace Change.

Call LifeWorks toll-free, any time: 1-877-207-8833
TTY: 1-877-371-9978
You can also visit www.lifeworks.com
(username: rrcefap; password: efap).

I’ve got two young kids, a full-time career, a busy husband, and no parents or siblings in Manitoba. It’s it’s hard to juggle all the moving parts that come with a fast-paced life. I’m sure you can relate in your own way!

It is said that wellness is many things: a state of being, a skill, a journey. I’m writing this post to share my encouragement about what it takes (and doesn’t take) to “keep it together!” This is my first post on this topic.

I heard a working mom once reply to the question, “can we have it all?” by saying what we often hear: “Yes, sure we can! We just can’t have it all at once.” You know what? That comment falls a bit flat for me.

I’ve heard a response that resonates more deeply, which is “no, we can’t actually have it all – and when we are able to reconcile this truth and make peace with it, life actually gets happier.” Now, that’s a statement that challenges me and makes sense at the same time. Why? It’s not about settling. This is about realigning what your priorities actually are, being grateful for the things you do have, and finding peace and happiness as you are.

One big struggle I deal with on a regular basis is the lack of immediate family I have in Manitoba. I came to live in Winnipeg nine years ago with my husband, but we weren’t sure if we were going to stay after he finished law school here.

Well, we stayed. It’s not a surprise that my family didn’t follow us out here – after all, life continues for them back home, but I never realized just how much I would be longing for help, support and overall sharing of life’s ups and downs with our parents and siblings who live two and three provinces away. I openly admit that I envy other moms who tell me how their kids are going for a sleepover to Grandma and Grandpa’s house on the weekend or that a sibling is helping out when someone in the family is sick.

So when I look at this one example, can I have it all? Well, if “it” includes having family present in our daily lives, then no, I can’t – at least not in the clichéd sense, and that’s not likely to ever change.

But there’s a beautiful saying by Theodore Roosevelt that helps me with this and I want to share it with you — Comparison is the thief of joy.

What a good thing to remember. And if you are like me, I love my joy! So what a powerful thought to realize that comparison allows joy to be stolen.

When I find myself in the mire of comparison, I will sometimes have a bit of a “pity party” – which basically just means that I allow myself to feel upset without self-judgement. Sometimes, along with that, anger or resentment bubbles up in there – I know how to let that fade. It always does. But while it’s around, it’s an ugly feeling.

When we’re comparing ourselves to others,  it’s good to get in the habit of noticing it. Just to be aware what happens in that split second can be so revealing. We are conditioned to think that comparison is a motivational tool that propels us to improve our own situation, but  it’s also a dangerous mental habit. Is becoming “motivated” by the act of comparing yourself to someone actually worth your joy?

In sharing with you my thoughts in this area, I’m also happy to tell you that there is one aspect of my life where I’ve actually got this lesson somewhat figured out. It’s regarding what my kids are “supposed to be doing” at their ages (of 5 and 3). I often get asked, “so did you put your kids in soccer this spring?” “Are they in hockey yet?” “What about swimming?” “Kindermusik? It’s the must-have class this year!” It makes me chuckle when I enter conversations like this, because I have a clarity that brings me so much peace.

Here’s my clarity: I can only do with them what I can, and I can’t take both of my kids to many of those kinds of activities at the same time without being run ragged, so I am choosy. I also need my own time! And on top of this, frankly, there is simply no rush – I really can’t say this enough.

So for us, my 5 year old daughter had some dance classes about a year ago, and she had some swim lessons in the winter. Meanwhile, my 3-year old son hasn’t started a single “activity” yet. And you know what? It’s great. Both my kids are both active, joyful, social, super bright, funny, silly people who have talents and gifts – some of which are developing with mom and dad, some at daycare, some on their own – and others which will develop as time passes. I’m looking at piano lessons for my 5 years old this summer. Maybe. But you know what?  I’ll never look back and wish I hadn’t “missed the boat” on getting them into 3-year old soccer twice a week and that they’ve lost some critical developmental milestone from not having had the chance to kick a ball and eat a snack (the most fun part of soccer). I just know this.

I share this lesson with you to encourage you – if you’re feeling like your decisions are sometimes being driven by the “norms” you see happening in your peer group, take a step back and remind yourself that you forge your own norm, no matter what stage of life you’re in. Your circumstances are unique, your needs are your own, and someone else’s life trajectory will never be the same as yours, so your decisions don’t need to be the same either. It’s about letting go of comparison.

What are the things you find you struggle with comparing against others? Do you take comfort in anything I’ve shared with you? What has given you peace? How do you “keep it together?” Parents and non-parents alike, I’d love to hear your comments.

Before I started gardening, I thought it was a nice pastime for sedentary folks.   Was I wrong !!!   8 years ago I moved into a new home & decided that on the May Long weekend I wanted to create a flower garden in a corner patch of my yard.   I’d never embarked on this type of activity before, so basically I winged it.   In a matter of 3 days, I dug up the space & charted out my flower patch; I hauled bricks from the store to the car to create the flower bed; shoveled a truck load of dirt into the garden. I was exhausted and elated at the same time!   My first DIY project was underway.       Then it was onto research of best plants to grow in that area – do I want annual or perennials? Or a combination … hmm, so many choices!   I especially enjoyed digging in the dirt, carefully planting my chosen gems

During the course of that summer, I proudly watched the flowers and plants grow & prosper, I felt a sense of accomplishment and happiness, which continues today as I’ve expanded into vegetables and herb gardens. I like the physical aspects of gardening as well as the stillness that I feel as I prune and pluck the weeds, at one with the earth.   I experienced the other side of the emotional spectrum as well – cursing the weather; disappointment when a prized perennial doesn’t return the next season; seeing my lilies get consumed by bugs seemingly overnight!

Check out this great article that captures all the fantastic health and wellness aspects of gardening – The Dirt on Gardening!

Nancy Cumbers

Most people understand the negative effects that improper sleep quantity can have on their daily activities. We’ve all heard a fellow employee say how they just need their five or six hours per night to function well the next day. As adults are recommended by the National Sleep Foundation to get anywhere between seven and nine hours of sleep per night, it’s already evident we don’t get enough on a regular basis. What most don’t understand is that proper sleep quality is just as important as quantity and can be just as troublesome if not satisfied.

When deprived of the rejuvenating effects of sleep, the brain’s ability to process new information is compromised along with creativity, logic and judgement – not a set of skills anyone would like to go a full workday without! In addition to the impact on the brain, the rest of body takes a hit without sufficient sleep on a regular basis. The immune system is typically one of the first in the body to shut down when we feel stressed; people often lose sleep over stress as well so the connection between sleep and the immune system is a natural conclusion. Migraines and headaches are more commonly linked to people getting a lower quality of sleep, and those conditions greatly affect our productivity throughout the day as well. Poor nutritional choices are also more likely to occur when insufficient sleep is achieved which can lead to higher risk for heart disease and Diabetes.

Our bodies love to sleep, and why wouldn’t they? Throughout the stages of sleep our bodies get to relax every muscle and repair some damage done throughout the day, lower our blood pressure and restore energy to recharge our systems for another extended period of being awake. Without this time to recharge, our systems continue to deplete until there is eventually a complete and total shut-down. A couple of extra hours each night dedicated to maintaining proper physical and mental health through sleeping may allow us less free time during each day but will most certainly benefit us in the long run.

There are certain practical steps we can take to ensure our mind and body are ready for a solid night’s sleep:

• Create a sleep routine – go to bed and wake up at close to or the same time each day (even weekends, there’s no need to “catch up” if we consistently get enough).
• Make physical activity a consistent part of each day, but not within 3 hours of going to bed.
• Limit intake of caffeine, alcohol and nicotine in general but especially during the evening hours as these stimulants will work against our brain’s desire to fall – and stay – asleep.
• Make the bedroom a haven for the weary. Darkness, quiet, comfortable temperature and sleeping area are all essential to creating an environment for a great sleep.
• Turn away from the light – all light. Luminescent clocks, plugin nightlights and personal technology like phones, tablets and computers all contribute to keeping the mind in a state of constant awareness.

Find ways to help achieve the sleep quality and quantity you need to be your most productive self. If you can’t think of anything right now that’s fine, go sleep on it.

They say if you take care of the minutes, the hours will take care of themselves. That, however, is an almost 350 year old quote. In today’s hyper-connected world, we talk about nanoseconds.

How many times have you anxiously been drumming your fingers waiting for that 5MB text to send from your mobile phone, or for that card verification to say, “Approved,” so you can get out of the online store? As you “waste” 4 seconds just WAITING you think of everything you have to do and how little time you have to do it. You don’t have time for this!

Balance is an elusive concept in this out-of-control world, and we could all use a little help achieving it. Here are 9 steps to bringing balance to your life. Yes, it’s a link, so be patient.

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/9-tips-to-create-a-balanced-life/

Take your time…and spend it well, sometimes just by yourself.

By Chef John Royal

In planning what to write for my wellness blog post, I kept coming back to how much I need to spend quality time with my family and friends.   How hard it is in this busy life to find time for everything; work demands, a happy marriage, kids, pets, household, parents and all of life’s things that need to get done.

One thing that I find always falls to the bottom of my list is me!

We all want our family and friends, work, and relationships to take priority, and in order to do that, you need to take care of yourself. Sometimes the best way to recharge your battery is to do something that you love to do, by yourself.

Biking and walking are great for me. Some people want to relax at the spa to rejuvenate or perhaps a massage, some like to sit at the coffee shop and spend two hours with the paper and crossword. Time to think by yourself while doing something that you enjoy is one of the great pleasures in life. I find that another great destressor is to fall into yard work for a few hours. Painting is also bliss for me (not all the prep or cleanup though!)

Make time for yourself to be busy or lazy or active, but make the time for you, and the people you surround yourself will be better for it!

In our family we found that the only way to be able to spend time on individual hobbies or have personal time was to plan for it. If we didn’t plan for it, it didn’t happen.

Once we all got into the habit of having a few hours of personal time each week, planning came easier, and everyone in our family is developing themselves in one way or anther. Right now, some of the individual pastime’s in my house include: reading time, running, origami, gardening, and Lego. Outside personal activities include swimming, biking, dog walking and the ongoing maintenance and renovation of a 110-year-old home (that one is mine!)

In our house we use team work to gain some personal time. Having our kids help with small things like the cleanup of toys or making sure their laundry was in the hampers, all helped the grown ups and kiddos to have more time together – and on our own!

I have found that our family spends more quality time together and we also have more time to ourselves. We are all more engaged with each other and find we are more engaged at school and work.

As RRC employees we have a wonderful resource available to us with our EFAP (Employee, Family Assistance Program) Called lifeworks. I have included below our common staff login to the website and a few search recommendations in relation to this topic. Happy reading!

Life works website log in for RRC staff members:

www.Lifeworks.com

Username: rrcefap Password: efap

Great references that I found on the lifeworks website are the: “Work Life Play: Making the most of every day” 52-page booklet (available in .pdf format)

Once logged in to lifeworks, at the top search bar, a search for: “work life balance” will come up with a multitude of great resource articles and media on this topic.

One other web reference I found helpful was an article at about.com titled “How to find time for yourself” by Elizabeth Scott, a Stress Management expert.

Here is the link to that article.

http://stress.about.com/od/lowstresslifestyle/a/find_time.htm

Enjoy time to yourself!