Hi everyone! It’s time for another mental health and well-being check in.

Hopefully you found new and productive strategies for your Mental Health Toolkit  to navigate the stress and anxiety of mid-term season last month. For those of you that may have missed it, check out the #GoPlay campaign, which makes for a great strategy to shake off your nerves. (Although, as winter weather approaches you may want to substitute your frisbee for snowballs!)

There really is no down time in graduate studies however. So although Week 6 is now a distant memory, it’s universally understood that workload anxiety, pressure and stress are part of the fabric of life.

This is why it’s important to continually…

a) practice effective coping and
b) make a conscious effort to prioritize well-being

Even though the GBC’s #GoPlay contest is over, you’re encouraged to keep the spirit of wellness and inclusivity alive! And luckily (in true GBC form), your Executive has introduced another catchy name that encompasses the campaign:

#Schulax!

Use the hashtag to promote awareness and share your activities in support of a mentally healthy campus.

Don’t Know Where To Begin?

If you, like many of us, don’t know how to define well-being for YOU, York University’s Mental Health Steering Committee has a super simple framework to get started. Check out the New Economics Foundation’s Five Ways to Well-being. Based on research about mental health, the Five Ways model summarizes simple priorities to participate in well-being as follows:

  • Be active.

  • Take notice of the world around you, and your own feelings.

  • Keep learning.

  • Give back to your community.

  • Connect with the people around you.

Learn more about each principle here!

Explore Five Ways to Well-Being