During this global pandemic, the need for mental health support has increased fourfold. As an employee, the best thing you can do for your mental health is to be vocal. If you are struggling, speak up or use the Wellness Together Canada free resources. Waiting causes longer term damage impacting productivity and quality of life. If you are an employer, ask how you can support your team every day. Then, make or get a Mental Health First Aid kit and put it somewhere visible to demonstrate mental health is just as important as physical health. Include things like motivational cards, mindfulness colouring sheets, stress balls, breathing exercises and general resilience tips.
Community News
Community Announcement
PCN Resources & Your Family Doctor
Your family doctor and Red Deer Primary Care Network (RDPCN) are here to support your health and wellness. They can help with whatever ails you, not just COVID-19. RDPCN group classes for help with anxiety, healthy lifestyle, grief, happiness, pain, diabetes and relationships are available through a live online format. Call 403.343.9100 to register. To connect with your family doctor call their office. Visit reddeerpcn.com for a list of doctors accepting new patients and for information on RDPCN programs.
Osteoarthritis & Exercise
1 in 6 Canadian adults has arthritis, the majority being osteoarthritis (OA). OA is a disease of the joint cartilage with multiple contributing factors including genetics, previous joint injury, body weight and muscle weakness. Pain associated with OA may cause individuals to avoid physical activity which can lead to secondary complications and worsening of symptoms. Physiotherapists are experts in exercise prescription for conditions such as OA and can help you safely engage in exercise in a way that can decrease pain, increase strength, allow continued participation in activity and possibly prolong the life of your joint.
Words to Live By
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” -John Wooden
Product Review: RELEAF Stick
ACTIVE RELEAF aims to encourage active wellness through the use of nature’s most powerful ingredients. With a synergistic blend of coconut oil, shea butter, essential oils, and broad spectrum cannabinoid-rich hemp plant extract, ACTIVE RELEAF’s topicals offer a natural alternative for pain relief. Try the Original Formula RELEAF Stick as a reliable remedy to soothe everyday aches and pains. For extra stubborn discomfort associated with joint stiffness, and inflammation, the Extra Strength RELEAF+ Stick is specially formulated to soothe quickly and be long lasting. Apply liberally to affected areas 3 – 4 times a day or as needed.
Book Club: Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both a memoir and a galvanizing wake-up call. It offers a piercing, electrifying examination of the restrictive expectations women are issued from birth; shows how hustling to meet those expectations leaves women feeling dissatisfied and lost; and reveals that when we quit abandoning ourselves and instead abandon the world’s expectations of us, we become women who can finally look at ourselves and recognize: There She Is.
Improve Workplace Wellness with Gratitude
At work, it is easy to feel stressed, overwhelmed or confused during times of uncertainty. However, research has shown that when meetings start with intentional gratitude and a short debrief at the end, collective intelligence and productivity increase substantially. How does it work? Put a standing item of reflection/gratitude/quick win in the agenda template and assign someone to share a positive note. When the meeting is over, check-in to ensure you met your objectives, everyone was heard, and everyone is ready to move upwards and onwards. For resources to support workplace health and performance visit WellnessWorksCanada.ca.
Healthy Fruit Pizza
Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease a 10- round pan. Mix Wet: 1 egg, 1 tsp. Vanilla, ¼ cup honey, 2 TBSP. coconut oil, Mix Dry in separate bowl: 2 cups almond flour, ½ cup coconut flour, ½ tsp. baking soda, pinch of salt, Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Knead and form into a ball. Bake 14-17 minutes. Let crust cool and then remove from pan. Spread filling on the crust. Filling blend until smooth.: 3 oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 2 TBSP. Honey, 1/2 lemon zest. Topping: 1/2 cup each of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries. Enjoy!
May Wellnessnews Available Online
Since the April edition, COVID-19 has touched all our lives. Our collective efforts to stay home and stay safe seem to be making a difference. Responding to this new reality, the May edition of the Wellnessnews is available online for your viewing and sharing pleasure. ALL the health practitioners, businesses and services found in this edition are OPEN for business, whether it be business as normal, by appointment or emergencies only, or via online service delivery.
Please share this electronic edition with your network of family and friends.
To view, visit the new RedDeerWellnessnews.ca page.
A Community that Cares
Fred Rogers once said, “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say, “It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.” Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” The time for shared responsibility is now, so I’m pleased in this edition to bring attention to many local agencies, organizations, and resources that work together to serve the vulnerable and the broader community. Your help is appreciated in getting this information out to your friends and family.
Diets Uncomfortable to Sustain
Most diets create a large calorie deficit trying to achieve rapid weight loss. This leads to fatigue, mental fog, hair loss, poor sleep and feeling cold all the time. We can only follow a no fat, no carb, no sugar, no fun, no anything diet for so long. No one will do anything forever that feels significantly unpleasant. Before you start any diet ask yourself, “Can I see myself eating like this in 12 months from now?” If the answer is no — then the diet you’re thinking about starting isn’t sustainable.
