A week for wellness

Thrive Week events to focus on many dimensions of health around campus

Bryan Young leads the Health and Wellness Peer Educator Group at U of W.

Supplied Photo

The University of Winnipeg (U of W) will see events all over campus from Nov. 5 to 9 to promote Thrive Week. These events are part of an effort to remind community members that their health is just as important as work and education.

Bryan Young is the team lead for the Health and Wellness Peer Educator Group, a student group which will educate and encourage people to think about their wellness all throughout Thrive Week, along with many other groups on campus.

“We’re very excited to have come together and been able to collaborate and communicate around different aspects of Thrive and how we want the week to turn out,”
Young says.

“The main goal is to encourage the U of W community to, well, thrive,” Young says. He hopes the week of events will help the community members to take the time to take care of themselves.

Young says Thrive Week focuses on the seven dimensions of health and well-being, which are social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, occupational, intellectual and physical wellness.

“When we think of health, we immediately go to physical or mental health,” Young says. “But there are so many other dimensions we’re trying to tackle.”

Thrive Week’s schedule has events that explore topics like budgeting, sexual health and study habits, as well as booths where students and staff can pick up a recipe or make a bookmark.

“The entire Thrive committee is planning a lot on the Wednesday (Nov. 7). We’re all doing larger events all day,” Young says. “We’ll be set up right by the security office on the first floor of Centennial Hall, which is a great location, because we can really engage students when they’re in between classes.”

Community members are also invited to take part in multiple exercise programs during Thrive Week.

Tricia Klassen, the fitness centre manager at U of W’s recreational services,  says classes like yoga, muscle boot camp, Zumba and BOSU body will be open for drop ins.

Klassen says many beginner students can sometimes be hesitant to join classes and use the exercise facilities.

“This is why we offer beginner orientations and programs that are supervised and educational,” she says. “We also take the issue of creating safe spaces very seriously. We encourage all students to participate, try the programs and judge the experience for themselves.”

The U of W's recreation services offer a variety of opportunities for students to take care of their health outside of Thrive Week as well, Klassen says.

“These include ongoing access to the Fitness Centre, student intramurals and a variety of programs that vary from beginner level to more specific training and include options for women and non-binary individuals,” she says.

One of the returning events from last year’s Thrive Week is the Condom Bar, which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 7 in the Riddell Atrium.

“We set up condoms, lube and STI information packets like a candy bar,” Young says. “We encourage students to know that there’s no shame and to take what they need.”

“The main goal is to engage with students and have conversations with them about thriving and about student groups on campus that can help them to thrive,” Young says.

 

The schedule for Thrive Week can be found on the Health and Wellness page of the University of Winnipeg’s website at uwinnipeg.ca/student-wellness/docs/thrive-week-events.pdf.

Published in Volume 73, Number 8 of The Uniter (November 1, 2018)

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