You are ENOUGH, we are ENOUGH…

Another school year!  I see some new faces and lots of familiar faces.  It is so nice to see the students stopping by, saying hi, making sure they connect now that they are back on campus after being away for the summer.  I love it!  My son also started kindergarten!  I am excited for him and I am nervous as well…

I read an article recently saying that educational institutions have the responsibility to make the experience of the students as meaningful as possible.  This statement got me thinking and it felt right.  Here I am, working from my office with prospective immigrant students and assisting current students in many different ways.  One big part of my position is to connect with students on a human level.  I will admit that this is the favorite part of my position.

I have worked in educational institutions for the last ten years.  I started as a student advisor in Vegas, then at U of M, and now at Red River College.  I like the energy of educational institutions.  I also realized that I am still a student.  I learn every day how to be a human and I love the stories I hear every day.  I secretly call myself the Story Keeper.

One day, the students we come in contact with will graduate and will go on their own path of life.  Many students will have the same diplomas and professions.  But each student is the only person who has custody of his/her own life.  Not only the life at school and work, but also at home, at the bus, in the car.  We all possess not only a life of our mind, but also a life of our hearts.

You may wonder how does this all related to Wellness?  Bear with me, I am just painting the big picture, I am setting the stage for the main message to unfold.  After all, health and wellness have different dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, etc.  All these dimensions are interconnected.

So, how can I do my part of making the experience of the students meaningful?  I can offer the best of me and be present for the students only when I operate from a place I know I am enough.  I am calmer and I listen.

What makes me ENOUGH?  I am enough because I am alive and I exist.  I am enough even if nobody knows my name.  Becoming successful doesn’t make me enough. It just changes my experience, but it doesn’t change me.

Being enough, I become comfortable with my background, my past experiences, abilities because none of those define me.  Now that I am enough, I don’t have the need to impress people because what people think of me is secondary to the way I think about myself.

As a mother, I have my daily challenges.  I ask myself often of the lessons I would like my son to know.  I read, I analyze, and then….I need a break from it all.  But there is one thing that I want my son to know—that he is wanted just the way he is and that he is loved no matter what.  It is all right to be open to learn more about parenting, but at the end of the day, the best gift children need is the unquestionable approval of their existence.  It sounds simple, but….it can be one of the hardest things to do.

I attended a workshop at the Manitoba Tourism Education Council called Managing Workplace Stress– A Survival Guide. I wanted to share some of the ideas and tips I learned with you.

We can allow stress to manage us or we can choose to manage stress. There are many different methods out there and just like the causes of stress are individual, so are the solutions. Finding the ones that work for you is a matter of trial and error. Some suggestions are listed below.

1. Think positively: the idea is to try to avoid negative thinking and over-analyzing what co-workers have said or done, as this increases your stress levels. If we allow the negative self-talk to start, it can spiral out of control.

2. Be realistic: As much as you may want to be Superman or Superwoman, you can’t be. Be realistic about what you can and cannot accomplish. There is no point in trying to complete a two hour task in 45 minutes.

3. Set Goals: Being realistic doesn’t mean that you should not have goals. Absolutely do so. Goals help you move from negative situations to positive situations; goals provide motivation and direction. Just remember to prioritize your goals and focus on the most important ones first. Recognize that you may need to give something up in order to achieve your goal and break large goals into smaller goals, so that they are more manageable.

4. Stop procrastinating: When you procrastinate or delay a challenging or difficult task, you increase your stress level. Instead of doing it, you think about, you stew about and you worry about it. Getting into the habit of attacking your to do list, instead of pushing it to the side, will reduce your stress level.

5. Learn to say “no”: We sometimes put additional stress on ourselves when we agree to take on more than we can handle. When someone asks you to do something, even if it is something we would like to do but simply don’t have the time for, it can be very difficult to say no. Examples:

Clarify your reason, without making excuses, for being unable to help.  ” I can’t right now because I have another project that is due by 5 p.m. today.” or ” I don’t have time today, but I could schedule it in for tomorrow morning.” or “Yes, I can help you by filing this paperwork and will get that done for you tomorrow morning.”

6. Find the Funny: Humor is another great stress reliever. It has been scientifically proven that a good belly laugh lowers blood pressure, reduces hormones created by stress, gives the immune system a boost, and creates a sense of well-being and happiness.

7. Get organized: Look around. If you would rather work around your clutter than deal with it, you could be inviting more stress into your life than necessary. Eliminate clutter, set up an effective filing system, gather essential tools, and manage workflow, and you will be on your way to creating an effective, less stressful workplace.

8. Assess yourself: Sometimes we are the cause of stress in the workplace.  Take a moment to honestly consider how you treat those around you.  Are you in any way contributing to the stressful environment in your workplace? If you are in a supervisory/management position, are you recognizing and rewarding your team members for their efforts? Are you being overly demanding? Are you providing the training and support that they need in order to succeed? Remember, your success depends on their success.

I hope you find the suggestions useful.

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Denis Waitley

For the last two weeks my morning ritual has been to walk up the narrow lane from our rented house in the French port town of Marseillan to the bakery, sometimes first strolling to the harbor to catch the sun rising over the Mediterranean. A short walk back home, I fill the French press with coffee and wait for the others to get up, the bread still warm. Next is a leisurely breakfast of goat cheese Brie (75% butter fat!) and confiture d’abricots (apricot jam) or mousse au canard (incredibly smooth duck liver pate) on a baguette or pavé au lin (artisanal flax bread), or perhaps a croissant or pain aux raisins,. And whether we settle on a medieval walled town, a twelfth-century abbey, or a trendy shopping district as our main destination, no French itinerary is complete without a lunch or dinner adventure. France is food country, and enjoying it is de rigueur.

Yet I was reading yesterday that despite a diet stuffed with cream, butter, cheese, wine, and foie gras (literally, fat liver), only 11% of French adults are obese (compared with 33% of us). The French also live longer and have lower death rates from coronary heart disease. They don’t diet and they don’t spend hours panting round the gym. Go figure!

So how do those alcohol-guzzling, croissant-munching gourmands manage to stay slim and healthy while we health-obsessed North Americans are comparatively fat and coronarilly challenged? Simple:

1. Food for pleasure
   Not surprisingly, a recent study revealed that France is the country where food is the most associated with pleasure and the least with health (the US was the opposite). The French take their pleasures very seriously. Research confirms that they eat more slowly and enjoy their food more than we do. The French are in fact not gourmands (gluttons) but gourmets.
2. Red wine
   Did you know that moderate alcohol drinkers live longer than abstainers or heavy drinkers? For the French, a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine. Flavonoids, natural antioxidants found in red wine, are thought to promote health of the heart and blood vessels. As Louis Pasteur (the Frenchman we can thank for pasteurization) put it: “Wine is the healthiest and most hygienic of drinks.” King’s Head anyone?
3. Smaller portions
   People tend to eat as much as is put in front of them, even when only mildly palatable. Research has shown that French portions are notably smaller than ours and that, although the French enjoy a wide variety of very rich foods, they still consume fewer calories. I can’t imagine finding a 32-oz (about a kilo) steak on a French menu like I did at a steak house in Dallas (I opted for the 9-oz “Lady’s Fillet”, with red wine, of course.).
4. Eat fresh
   Granted, the 100-mile diet (167 km?) may be  a little easier to swing in the south of France than in Winnipeg. Not only can they grow just about anything down here, even the smallest French town will have an open-air market, a fromagerie for cheese, a boulangerie for bread, a boucherie for meat, a lingerie for lingering (ok, just kidding on the last one). Sure, markets and speciality food shops may be more time consuming and expensive, but what you get is usually far fresher and of better quality. I remember one restaurateur in Provence beaming as he explained that he didn’t even own a freezer.
5. Real food
   Ever seen that old TV commercial: “This is soup just like my mother used to make. My mother used to make Campbell’s.”? The French eat fewer processed foods and cook (not just reheat) at home more than we do, taking the time to choose the right ingredients. Home cooking is the best way to reduce your intake of preservatives, salt, sugar, additives, artificial colours & flavours, trans-fats, and who-knows-what else. Our over-processing even spoils otherwise healthful choices. Take peanut butter, for example. Most commercial brands suck out all the peanut oil, substitute cheaper hydrogenated oils, add salt and sugar or other refined sweeteners, and then homogenize the lot so it won’t separate. Holy cacahuètes!
6. No snacking
   The French tend to snack much less than we do. Instead, they try to eat more regularly. More substantial, richer foods have been shown to keep you satisfied longer, reducing that urge to snack. And less snacking on sweets and refined carbohydrates reduces our glycemic load and the risk of heart disease.
7. Une carafe d’eau, svp!
   Research confirms that drinking a good amount of water daily suppresses appetite, is good for the heart (one study showed that increasing from 2 to 5 glasses per day reduced by 41% the likelihood of dying from a heart attack), boosts energy (even mild dehydration of as little as 1-2% of your body weight makes you feel tired), has good effects on your skin, aids digestion (and with fiber, cures constipation), helps the body flush out toxins and waste, and can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45% and bladder cancer by 50%. One study showed that the French drink over three times the water that we do.
8. Naturally active life
   Daily walking is part of the French lifestyle. Their streets are much more walker friendly and full of pedestrians. Higher population densities and the number of multi-storey old buildings with no elevator also make for a lot more stair climbing. The French, especially in cities, walk, cycle (like your rrrr…), or use public transportation much more than we do.
9. Self-discipline
   It is true; the French deny themselves very little when it comes to food. But they also tend to eat very little of it: like a piece of dark chocolate after a meal rather than a big piece (or two) of cake. They know that denial isn’t healthy and favour moderation. And if they do slip into excess one day, they are more careful the next.

So, after my flight from Paris reaches Toronto and I am asked by a Canada Customs’ agent if I have anything to declare, I am tempted to say, “Why yes! I am going to adopt a more French lifestyle when I get back to Winnipeg and thoroughly enjoy my food!”

Did you know that sitting for prolonged periods of time can be damaging to your health?

According to a new article on MSNBC.com, several health experts say that new research is suggesting that people who spend the majority of their days sitting – whether it’s in school, at the office, in the car, or in front of the TV – are at higher risk for developing obesity and heart disease even if they exercise regularly.

Some companies are jumping on a new trend to help encourage their employees to stay healthy at work by offering them access to wellness programs and onsite gyms throughout the work day, as noted in a recent CTV interview. These companies have found that their workplace fitness initiatives were having a positive effect, noting their employees seemed “healthier and happier”, and came to work with more awake, alert, and energetic.

So how can those of us who spend the majority of the day behind a desk get more active at school, or on the job? If your workplace or school has an on-site gym, take advantage. If at all possible, try and go when you have a free period or lunch in order to break up all the sitting down you’ll be doing during the day.

Don’t have access to a gym? There are plenty of simple things you can do in the office or at your desk to help increase bloodflow throughout the work or school day:

• Try swapping out your regular desk chair with an exercise ball, which helps to improve posture and balance
• Use your breaks to move around; take a quick walk, go outside, anything to get you up and away from your desk
• Skip the elevator – use the stairs
• Suggest walking meetings when appropriate instead of traditional table meetings

Check out these articles from ABC News and Livestrong.com for more ways to stay healthy and active at work, or watch the video below for easy exercises you can do around the office, or at your desk throughout the school or work day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRl5hiM9VYI&feature=player_embedded

Submitted by Hayley Brigg, Creative Communications student

A great video by Dr Mike Evans that outlines a simple way to improve your health.