GRATITUDE

As we usher in the autumn season, we are publicly reminded to give thanks.  Specifically, Thanksgiving Day is observed annually on the second Monday of October in Canada.  Did you know that Thanksgiving is rooted in Indigenous values, cultures, and foods?  Celebrating the harvest and giving thanks to Mother Earth is a tradition long-held by Indigenous peoples before colonial settlers arrived.  Having said this, it would be remiss of us not to take pause and reflect on the darker history of Thanksgiving, specifically, the systemic stripping of land, families, and identity of Indigenous peoples by colonial settlers.  Acknowledging the truth of the history and ongoing impacts of the residential school system in Canada is a crucial element of the reconciliation process.

While we are reminded to reflect on what we are most thankful for annually, research indicates that practicing gratitude daily reaps many benefits for our mental health and wellbeing.  Gratitude can:

• Increase feelings of happiness, and decrease feelings of depression
• Improve quality of sleep
• Decrease feelings of stress
• Increase resiliency and grit
• Improve self-esteem
• Enhance social connections.

In fact, practicing gratitude has the capacity to rewire our brains!  We have the capacity to train our brains to acknowledge the goodness in our lives, and harvest the benefits listed above.  So what can you do to get started?  Try one of these three gratitude practices:

• Create a gratitude jar. Write down what you are grateful for on a piece of paper and place it in a jar.  Over time, you’ll visually be able to see all that you have to be grateful for!
• Engage in a 5 minute guided meditation for gratitude.
• Write a letter to someone you are grateful for and express why you are grateful for this person. A recent research study of post-secondary students seeking counselling for anxiety and depression found that writing gratitude letters significantly improved their mental health.

Which gratitude practice will you try today?

Take good care of you,

Education Embedded Counselling & Wellbeing

GRATITUDE

As we usher in the autumn season, we are publicly reminded to give thanks.  Specifically, Thanksgiving Day is observed annually on the second Monday of October in Canada.  Did you know that Thanksgiving is rooted in Indigenous values, cultures, and foods?  Celebrating the harvest and giving thanks to Mother Earth is a tradition long-held by Indigenous peoples before colonial settlers arrived.  Having said this, it would be remiss of us not to take pause and reflect on the darker history of Thanksgiving, specifically, the systemic stripping of land, families, and identity of Indigenous peoples by colonial settlers.  Acknowledging the truth of the history and ongoing impacts of the residential school system in Canada is a crucial element of the reconciliation process.

While we are reminded to reflect on what we are most thankful for annually, research indicates that practicing gratitude daily reaps many benefits for our mental health and wellbeing.  Gratitude can:

• Increase feelings of happiness, and decrease feelings of depression
• Improve quality of sleep
• Decrease feelings of stress
• Increase resiliency and grit
• Improve self-esteem
• Enhance social connections.

In fact, practicing gratitude has the capacity to rewire our brains!  We have the capacity to train our brains to acknowledge the goodness in our lives, and harvest the benefits listed above.  So what can you do to get started?  Try one of these three gratitude practices:

• Create a gratitude jar. Write down what you are grateful for on a piece of paper and place it in a jar.  Over time, you’ll visually be able to see all that you have to be grateful for!
• Engage in a 5 minute guided meditation for gratitude.
• Write a letter to someone you are grateful for and express why you are grateful for this person. A recent research study of post-secondary students seeking counselling for anxiety and depression found that writing gratitude letters significantly improved their mental health.

Which gratitude practice will you try today?

Take good care of you,

Education Embedded Counselling & Wellbeing

WELLBEING EVENT – November 17, 2023

November is Thrive Month at UBC!  Drop by and spin the wheel to answer questions about your mental health for a chance to win a prize!  There will also be games related to mental health and social-emotional learning that you can use when teaching students in K-12.

GROUNDING YOURSELF

Hello Teacher Candidates!!  UBC has two main campuses that are located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam and Syilx (Okanagan) peoples.  UBC’s activities take place on Indigenous lands throughout British Columbia and beyond.  It is common at UBC gatherings to acknowledge the land on which one is situated.  Learn more about the importance of this at UBC by watching this short video, Why We Acknowledge Musqueam Territory.   To learn more about the land you are on, click here.

There is an abundance of land-based resources in BC, wherever you are located!  This offers infinite opportunities for you to ground yourself during your time in your program.  What does it mean to ground yourself?  Grounding is a technique that helps keep you in the present moment, shifting your attention away from your thoughts and feelings to the here-and-now.  It is a useful exercise to engage in if you are feeling stressed, anxious, and/or overwhelmed.   One such technique – the 54321 grounding technique – is using your five senses to pay attention to your surroundings.  Consider taking a walk to a land-based resource near you, and engaging in this grounding technique as you do.  Check out this video on what this could look like.  What are five places near you where you can take a walk and ground yourself?

While you are encouraged to access the land-based resources around you, please know you can practice the 54321 grounding technique wherever you are.

Take good care of you,

Education Embedded Counselling & Wellbeing

GROUNDING YOURSELF AT UBC VANCOUVER

Hello Teacher Candidates!!  UBC Vancouver is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.  It is common at UBC Vancouver gatherings to begin with acknowledging Musqueam territory.  Learn more about the importance of this by watching this short video, Why We Acknowledge Musqueam Territory.

There is an abundance of land-based resources at UBC Vancouver!  This offers infinite opportunities for you to ground yourself during your time on campus.  What does it mean to ground yourself?  Grounding is a technique that helps keep you in the present moment, shifting your attention away from your thoughts and feelings to the here-and-now.  It is a useful exercise to engage in if you are feeling stressed, anxious, and/or overwhelmed.   One such technique – the 54321 grounding technique – is using your five senses to pay attention to your surroundings.  Consider taking a walk to a land-based resource near you, and engaging in this grounding technique as you do.  Check out this video on what this could look like.  Below are some land-based resources at UBC Vancouver to get you started.

While you are encouraged to access the land-based resources around you, please know you can practice the 54321 grounding technique wherever you are.

Take good care of you,

Education Embedded Counselling & Wellbeing

Welcome Teacher Candidates!

Over the next eleven months, you can expect a wellbeing tip to be offered monthly through this blog.  These tips are introductions to strategies you may consider focusing on for the month to manage the stress you will likely experience while engaging in an intensive, professional program, especially during your practicum.  These tips are also an opportunity to experiment with wellbeing strategies you may consider taking with you into your professional careers.

Each tip of the month will have hyperlinks woven throughout.   Please click on them, as they’ll direct you to further resources about the wellbeing tip, such as videos.  Please see below for a preview of the wellbeing tips for Term 1 2023-24.

Lastly, you can also expect announcements and/or reminders of wellbeing events that will be offered throughout the year, so please take the time to read each wellbeing tip of the month in its entirety.

Wishing you a successful year ahead!

Take good care of you,

Education Embedded Counselling & Wellbeing