News

Thank you to everyone who participated in October's Healthy Workplace Month contests and activities. Special thank you to Hilary Holmes for designing the Wellness BINGO activity and Alan Miller for creating the U of G Art and Objects Scavenger Hunt. 

Below is a summary of the contest winners who were awarded prizes:

Wellness BINGO Challenge

27 Wellness BINGO cards were submitted and entered into the draw for the Wellness BINGO Challenge.  Participants were awarded extra entries if they completed additional lines or the entire card! 

What is Gratitude? Emmons and Shelton (2005) define gratitude as “a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life” (as cited in McCabe et al., 2011, p. 183).

Individuals who are grateful have:

Throughout the month of September, Welllness@Work challenged faculty and staff to Take a Hike! and explore the outdoors. 

Three winners were randomly selected from the contest and were awarded a prize.

Below are the Take a Hike! Challenge winners:

Gerrit Bos

The Wellness@Work Programming Committee has planned another month full of unique wellness opportunities for you to take advantage of.  

As November is Financial Literacy Month, Wellness@Work is challenging you to try out the 30 Day Money Saving Challenge. Pick 3-5 things you will not spend money on for the month of November.  Spend 30 days watching your savings grow!    

November is Financial Literacy Month.

Wellness@Work is challenging you to pick 3-5 things you will not spend money on for the month of November.  Spend 30 days watching your savings grow!  

At the end of November, tell us how you did!  Send us a note to wellnessatwork@uoguelph.ca. Did you find it challenging?  Were you able to save quiet a bit of money?  Is this a strategy you will try again in the future to help save money?  We'd love to hear about your experiences! 

Did you know the University of Guelph's Employee and Family Assistance Program provides financial coaching to eligible employees?

"Achieving financial peace of mind is possible. By taking the right steps you can maintain a positive cash flow, get out of financial trouble, and be financially prepared should difficulties or a crisis arise. Working with a financial expert can help you gain control of your money."

Read Homewood Health's newsletter on the invisible wounds of mental health disorders.

"Mental health disorders often strike in two ways. On one hand there are the symptoms, the distress, and the disabilities caused by serious mental health disorders. On the other, are the impacts of stigma and the pain that people struggling with these disorders feel as a result of social disapproval1. In both cases, the strikes leave invisible wounds."

Colds and flu (influenza) are both caused by viruses. They can spread from infected people to others through the air and close personal contact.  This can happen when you shake hands with someone or if the person coughs or sneezes. These tiny drops of mucus spread from person to person. If the droplets get into your nose, eyes or mouth, or if you touch your face with your hands after touching an object that has the virus on it, you could be infected.

Is it a cold or influenza?

World Kindness Day is Nov. 13^th.

Let’s try today to make kindness the norm at the University of Guelph. As humans we tend to spend time and energy focusing on the negatives that affect us. When a moment of kindness appears, it’s as if a fog has been lifted and it’s lovely. It makes us feel good. We smile. But, then the fog rolls back in and we go back to ‘the norm’ of our daily lives. We don’t put in the effort to truly appreciate and reflect on those moments. 

On October 1, 2019, Simcoe Research Station hosted their first "Station Mile" walk/run to kick off Healthy Workplace Month at the same time as the Campus Mile walk on the Guelph Campus.  It was a beautiful sunny October afternoon!

11 participants walked or ran the one-mile loop around the research station grounds and enjoyed refreshments afterwards together.  A few ran the loop twice! 

The group is now exploring a weekly run or walk together and continuing their "Step-up Challenge" by logging their steps each week.