Two weeks of UFlourish wellness activities kick off Oct. 25

As we start to emerge from a challenging year, take some time to build compassion, community and connections at the annual UFlourish event expo.

UFlourish, running from Oct. 25 to Nov. 10, features online webinars, discussions and teachings designed to support and build positive mental health and personal resilience in our UCalgary community. The event, hosted by the Student Wellness Services  and Staff Wellness, and supported by the Campus Mental Health Strategy, sees student clubs, faculties and units across campus offering programming to increase knowledge, awareness and capacity for improved mental health in our whole campus community and beyond.

“With the disruption we all faced with COVID last year, and continue to deal with now, I really wanted to find a way to stay connected with my friends and maybe make new campus connections,” says Fiza Rajput, student and UFlourish organizer. “I’m excited to see so many student clubs, and the broader campus community, participating. Taking part in an event could mean making a new friend, or finding a new way to study or cope better.”

The two weeks of activities and workshops are aimed at helping the UCalgary community build skills and increase campus connections, supporting their ability to thrive all year long.

Some events to look forward to at UFlourish include:

Building Bridges to Compassion

How does compassion fit in a world that is struggling with loss, division and inequality? Can compassion change the way we relate to others? Join Daranne Harris, compassion researcher and teacher, to explore the practical side of compassion. Moving beyond the warm fuzzy quotes of Instagram, Daranne brings together the science and heart of compassion to help people address the gaps between how things are and what they could be like. In this session, you will gain insight into the emerging science of compassion and explore in small and large groups how compassion meets the specific challenges you encounter in the world and how you might exercise compassion in your life to build bridges and effect meaningful transformation.

Oct. 28,1 to 2 p.m.
Register here

What is Languishing and Why is it Important?

As we continue to navigate the global pandemic and its impact, many have become numb or indifferent to the challenges we face and manage on a daily basis. For many, we’ve entered a state of rinse and repeat with a lack of simple motivation or enthusiasm. This state of stagnation with feelings of emptiness is known as languishing. Join Ronaye Coulson from Homewood Health for this one-hour webinar that will help employees better understand languishing in the context of COVID-19.

Oct. 27, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Register here

Understanding Grief and Supporting Each Other

Everyone will experience grief and loss at some time in their life. Whether is it the loss of someone, the loss of a job, your sense of community, or a feeling of loss that you can’t even describe, we all grieve. Led by Keeta Gladue, BSW’19, program adviser and team lead with Writing Symbols Lodge, and Master of Social Work candidate, and Julie Stewart, MSW’19, counsellor at Student Wellness Services, this workshop is to discuss the many kinds of grief, the impacts of loss, and how we can support one and other in the process.

Open to UCalgary students.

Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Register here.

UFlourish offers renewed focus on well-being

“This year’s UFlourish themes are connection, compassion and community,” says Dr. Andrew Szeto, PhD, director of UCalgary’s Campus Mental Health Strategy. “We want to open up opportunities and create awareness of existing mental health supports in the hopes we can renew our focus on well-being and create new connections with others as we move through another academic year within the pandemic context.”

Visit the UFlourish web page for a complete schedule of events.