Online Wellness Resources to Help you Thrive in Uncertain Times

Posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2020

Written by Sarah Joosse, Wellness@Work Coordinator

Navigating these uncertain times with the COVID-19 virus may cause you to experience feelings of anxiety, loneliness or stress.  Wellness@Work offers deep compassion to you at this challenging time and hope that some of these resources help you cope with stress or anxiety you may be experiencing.

Access to counselling is available to U of G employees 24 hours per day, seven days per week through the University's EFAP provider, Homewood Employee Health toll-free at 1-800-663-1142.

The World Health Organization (2020), has provided the following suggestions for anyone who is asked to be in quarantine:

  • Pay attention to your own needs and feelings
  • Engage in healthy activities that you enjoy and find relaxing
  • Exercise regularly
  • Keep regular sleep routines
  • Eat healthy food
  • Keep things in perspective


Below, we have compiled a variety of online wellness-related resources to help you thrive while the world around us is rapidly responding to the global pandemic:
 

Self-Assessment Tools for your Mental Health


Mental Health Phone Apps

  • Workplace Strategies for Mental Health have compiled a list of apps for your Windows, IOS and Android devices.  There are apps that help you focus on meditation practices, stress reduction, building resilience and more.

Virtual Peer Support 

  • Togetherall is an online peer-to-peer community, offering a proven way to get better together through anonymous conversation.


Practical Tools and Daily Practices


Courses and e-Learning

  • U of T has launched a free online course called "Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19"

  • Yale is offering a free course called "The Science of Well-being"

  • Athabasca University is offering a free course called "Navigating Extraordinary Times"


Videos and Podcasts

Mindfulness and Stress Reduction 


Physical Activity 

  • U of G Athletics are now offering live-streamed fitness classes throughout the week. Follow "Gryphons_fitness" on Instagram to view the weekly schedule and live-stream the class. The classes are available online for up to 24 hours after they are live streamed. 
  • Have you been sitting at your desk for too long? Maybe working from home has you sitting on a hard chair or awkwardly set-up causing aches and pains. This quick 10-minute stretching routine from Gryphons Fitness will help!
  • Try a 15-minute High-Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.) workout with U of G's Fitness Program Supervisor, Lynne Skilton-Hayes.
  • Lalit’s Classical Yoga for Total Health and Awareness is being live streamed via WebEx on Tuesdays at noon. The link is emailed out by Lalit to those on his mailing list, or can be found on the "events" tab of the Wellness@Work website.
  • Random Acts of Exercise Videos are short videos created by Dr. Sally Willis-Stewart and 4th year Human Kinetics students demonstrating different exercises you can build into your day for a quick break.
  • HuffPost have compiled a list of streaming services, online resources and fitness apps and narrowed down their favorite stay-at-home services for staying active while in a quarantine.
  • YMCA has compiled a variety of home workout videos, for both you and your children.


Financial Health


Informative and Educational Talks 


Activities for your Kids 

  • Gryphon Summer Clubhouse
  • Camp Create 2020: AGG's Art Camp-To-Go program
  • Creative Encounters with Science: Camp-in-a-box experience
  • Follow @GuelphGryphonSummerCamps on Facebook for activity sheets, including artwork challenges.
  • Follow @uogarboretum on your social channels for scavenger hunt activities, informational videos from Interns and activity ideas.
  • Heart-Mind Online has an inventory of resources for families with the latest research, activities, interviews and more.


Blog Articles


Working Remotely 


Mental Health  


Coping Strategies for Stress and Anxiety 


Supporting Older Adults and Others 


Helping Children Thrive


Food and Nutrition 


Managing your Financial Wellness


Strategies for a Better Sleep 


Substance Use 


Leadership During COVID-19

Strategies to Build Resilience 

 

Six Daily Questions to Ask Yourself in Quarantine

Photo credit: Brooke Anderson 

We will continue to update this list as new resources are shared to help you focus on your personal wellbeing at this challenging time.

Additional wellness resources are linked to on the Resources tab of our website, broken down by the type of support you are looking for (i.e. mental health, grief and loss, physical activity, etc.). You can also check out our "COVID-19: Tips to keep you healthy and reduce the risk of infection" blog post for further information.

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