Throughout the last year, the Enrolment Services Student Support and Advising Team has organized a series of events to promote healthy living in and outside of the workplace under the Healthy Workplace Initiative Program (HWIP). On Wednesday, May 3rd, our final event was held at the UBC Botanical Gardens and despite the rainy weather our team still enjoyed this educational, fun, and health-inspired event!
I had never visited UBC’s Botanical Garden before so I was excited to get the day started! My Wednesday morning began like many others: I woke up and immediately checked the weather. Wednesday’s forecast: rain. And rain it did! But that didn’t put a damper on our moods as everyone was rain ready.
Well, everyone except for me. Despite knowing the impending rainstorm I decided it was a good idea to wear jeans, a hoodie, and a non-water resistant jacket. I don’t know what I was thinking. Nonetheless, I was (at least mentally) prepared for the day’s events: UBC Botanical Garden’s Food Tour and Tree Walk!
We were split into two groups: the Eagles and the Falcons. I was part of the Eagles and we set off on the Food Tour.
Before we began our tour, we had a 30 second meditation exercise. This was to set our minds up for the day’s events and be more attune with our senses, rather than just our sight. Our guide told to listen, smell, and truly feel nature. During the tour, we learned more about the importance of our environment, what it means to be and grow organic, how to be more sustainable, and how to incorporate this into our daily lives.
After the Food Tour, we swapped with the Falcons and we began our ascent on the TreeWalk. If you haven’t done the TreeWalk before I would definitely recommend taking some time to check it out – rain or shine! The Tree Walk had us traversing suspended walkways and tree platforms about 20 metres above the forest floor. This felt more up my alley as it was a little more adventurous and a little more active. It was a fun and different way to learn about the role trees play in our ecosystem, and gives you, literally, a different perspective when viewing the world.
The last planned activity of our morning was about reflection. We stood in a large circle and tossed around a green ball of yarn. When it was your turn to speak you would catch the ball of yarn, and say what you enjoyed during the day, your reflection. Before throwing it to the next person, you would hold on to a piece of string. Eventually, everyone was connected. This was to symbolize how not only everything and everyone has a cause and effect on our environment, but also how everyone on our team, in Enrolment Services, and throughout UBC is joined together. It also shows how each aspect of a person’s life is intertwined, and that includes health and wellness.
The afternoon was dedicated free time where we had a chance to practice our own health-related activity – whether it was physical (going for a run / hike), mental (mindfulness practice), intellectual (reading a book), or social (having tea with friends). It gave us a chance to incorporate better healthy practices into our workplace.
Personally, I really enjoyed the HWIP event at UBC Botanical Garden because I do not have many opportunities to see and interact with most of the SSA Team, so it was fun to get to know my co-workers outside of a strictly professional capacity. And my “free time” activity was a rainy hike to Quarry Rock in Deep Cove! So you really can’t beat an afternoon hike with a few amazing colleagues.
Big thank you to Fran, Kim, and the UBC Botanical Garden Team for putting on an incredible day!
Find more photos by searching#UBCSSAHealthyWorkplace on Twitter and Instagram.