The Wellness Proposal

Do you ever feel anxious getting up in the morning and don’t feel ready to take on the day?  If your answer is yes to this question, then you should develop an early morning self-care routine like 5 – 10 minute meditation to relieve your stress.  For any of you that is a student in University, we can all agree that this time of year can get a little stressful given that there is so much to get done from assignments and midterms. All of our negative, stressful symptoms arise from these events and can affect how we are able to accomplish tasks as well as cope with the stress.  There are so many ways to meditate and relieve your stress symptoms! Personally, I go on Youtube and listen to a 10 minute session of quiet instrumental music, but perhaps if you are interested in a more “guided” session, you could utilize the app called “calm”.  Some of us may find it difficult to settle ourselves down and meditate. I can totally agree with this. When I first started to do this ...

Spring has finally sprung and for many of us, we may be ready to say goodbye to the cold, damp and gloomy winters!  For me, continuing to complete daily tasks like school-work indoors has become more mentally straining than ever before. But, what I have been able to realize and learn throughout the last few months is the importance of taking care of my mental health.  Some of us may have felt more mentally drained given that winter is so cold and causes us to remain in our homes and stay away from the outdoors. But, now that spring is finally here and we can all celebrate new beginnings and think about the ways that we can adjust our lifestyles to achieve our best mental health possible.  In the past week, with the sun shining more and the snow melting, I have had multiple opportunities to take a break from my busy life and become involved in many spring activities! 1. Going on nature walks  Of course, getting outside and staying active is an important aspect towards...

Let’s say a dude named John had an argument with his mom today and of course, he feels angry, upset and maybe even sad. His friend notices this and confronts him.  John is one of those people who constantly say “I’m fine”.  His friend then says, “Are you sure? You seem kind of out of it today. Do you want to talk about it? John then replies, “No, don’t worry I’m fine” and he starts to laugh awkwardly  But later that day, he feels more upset and stressed, and then finds a wall to punch, which doesn’t help. Yet whenever someone asks how he’s doing, he continues to say he’s completely fine.  Does this sound familiar? Why do we try so hard to hide our negative feelings? Are we afraid? Afraid to be vulnerable? Afraid to look weak? Afraid to not “fit in”? In this day and age, we are taught that being positive and happy is good while being depressed and angry is bad. Perhaps this is a result of the constant circulation of super extraordinary photos and videos on social medi...

  I’m not good enough. I’ll never be as pretty, smart, or good enough as her. Maybe I’m just screwed for life. Why can’t I be like them?  Heard this before?  This is your inner voice talking. The one that feeds into your negative thoughts and makes you even more insecure the louder it gets. I know many people, including myself, have struggled and continue to struggle with self-love, as we have this urge to compare ourselves to our peers, friends, family members, and maybe even people across the world we don’t even know. Most of the time, we feel like we never measure up and end up feeling useless and unworthy.  Why is it so hard to rid ourselves of this negativity and constant cycle of comparison? One of the reasons is because we are constantly surrounded and being influenced by multiple different sources and environments that we cannot control. And that’s okay; we don’t have to control it. What we can focus on is how we react and respond to these sources and environ...

  Introduction: What do we know? Psychologists have found that a maladaptive explanatory (or attributional) style is an important factor that predicts learned helplessness . So, what do these words mean?  Let’s break these terms down bit-by-bit: Maladaptive Explanatory Style The term “maladaptive” essentially means “bad”. Think about it: anything that allows us to adapt to our environment (adaptive) is considered good because it ensures survival. On the contrary, things that lead us to “not-adapt” (maladapt) would be perceived as bad.  Explanatory style is the way which someone explains to themselves WHY a situation happens to them. here are three dimensions of explanatory style, including: stable/unstable global/specific internal/external To better explain each of these dimensions, we’ll describe them in terms of a hypothetical event, e.g. failing one’s exam: The terms “stable/unstable” refer to continuity →  whether or not an event is likely to repeat itself. If o...

  I’d like to start this blog with a message to all of those with toxic parents (one or both):   I’m sorry if you’ve had to manage the stress and if you have felt betrayed by the notion that a parent should be a major part of your support system. The truth is: they should be. But unfortunately, for you, it feels impossible. Don’t shame yourself for feeling resentment, just remember that at times it’s ok to feel that way because your feelings are valid. I’m sorry if you started to compare your parents to others and felt discouraged by the reality of your homelife. For some of you, this might have occurred if you visited a friend’s house and were shocked by their parents’ non-toxic behaviours. One might say that every household is different and has their own problems, and this is true. But for you, your household makes you feel unsafe and emotionally taxed. As you grow older, know that it is ok to stand up for yourself, and that you deserve better because it is not fair to walk ...

  Can you see the suffering and anguish that consumes me in this photo? No, you can’t.  Everyone has skeletons in their closet and this is my skeleton story.  On the surface, I seemed normal. At least, that’s what I wanted to be. I posed as if I was living the ideal dream. I’m smiling, but deep down, I hated every inch of myself. Although my body looks slim and fit, in reality, it was malnourished and very underweight. The sun glowed on my skin, and yet, I still felt cold and empty. I had painted the picture on Instagram of a flawless girl, with a perfect life. I yearned to be that girl; the one whose beauty everyone admired and wanted to be around. I knew I wasn’t, and yet it seemed like everyone else was. No matter how many times I ran, skipped dinner, criticized myself, and morphed every part of my life, it was never enough. I constantly set this invisible bar, higher and higher, until it was no longer reachable.  When this photo was taken, I was with my family fo...

  “Life is so busy; I never have time for myself and I never really take a sufficient break”. As students, we can relate to this common thought that consistently runs through our brains on a daily basis. But the truth is, no matter how busy life gets there is always time to do what we love! The real problem comes down to our ability to take a step back and recognize that a break is needed in our everyday lives.  Of course, online school has been in full swing for a while but some of us may still have some difficulties time managing as well as getting used to this online environment. Everyday, may seem a lot busier for a variety of reasons. Maybe we are taking more time to complete a task because we don’t have an organized schedule in place. Or maybe, all the screen fatigue has been taking a really huge toll on our mental health!  Based off of my personal experiences of completing university studies online, these are some daily struggles that I have dealt with. However, th...

  Now that we are close to the end of the first month of 2021, I was hoping you could ponder about the following questions: 1) Have you made any lifestyle changes?  2) Have you started to meet your New Year’s resolutions?  If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you have set a reasonable and attainable goal for yourself this year and you are off to a great start! But, if you have answered no to these questions, it is totally okay. This happens to many of us. We often set goals that may require more time and effort for us to achieve. Or on the other hand the goal we have set for ourselves may just need to be re-evaluated to fit our lifestyle needs!  Of course, everyone is always so excited once new year comes around. It’s a new year everyone creates a new years’ resolution thinking that they are going to totally transform their lifestyle. But, what ends of happening is that many cannot follow through with their plans and some may even give up! What’s ...