Thriving in the face of stress

Two stress busting events at Lethbridge are helping second semester students overcome the winter blues.

Shepell services is celebrating community wellness with a self-care initiative named “Thrive”.

Students are challenged to do relaxing or self-improving tasks to better their emotional health and well-being in the face of a stressful time of year.

One such event was a class on healthy eating and living with culinary instructor, Chef Doug Overes.

Chef Doug Overes prepares cauliflower soup for the students at his healthy eating class on Tuesday.

Chef Doug Overes prepares cauliflower soup for the students at his healthy eating class on Tuesday.

The chef discussed the surprising healthy and unhealthy realities of life, hacks to make cooking easier and the difference between good stress and bad stress.

Bad stress is when the tough events derail you and cause a breakdown.

Things like overworking oneself, relationship trouble, and loss of a loved one can lead to unhealthy stress.

Another contributor – and one that effects the lives of students most – is homesickness.

One multimedia student says the sound of silence hit her hard as she lives on her own for the first time.

Heather Borthwick grew up in a boisterous household and says the quiet atmosphere of an apartment away from noise is as nice as it is off putting.

The student is suffering with symptoms of second semester blues and says stress paired with homesickness has made for a rocky beginning to 2018.

“I really do miss my mom a lot just because I lived with her for so long,” Borthwick said.

She calls her mother daily and texts her throughout the day to give her updates on what’s going on in her life.

“The other day I sent her a little video of what we were doing in class,” she added, saying her mother seemed to really appreciate the extra effort.

Borthwick said one of the things that was different between her mother and herself was their interesting dynamic.

“She holds a very good balance of being my parent but also being my best friend,” she said, “not everyone gets that.”

Overes marked down healthy stress as something that motivates people to keep going and said a sign of such would be an influx of nervous butterflies.

“You know when you were young, that feeling you got before your first kiss or before a first test,” Overes began. “That’s good stress.”

Along with understanding the differences between healthy and unhealthy stress, Thrive pushed events to give students an opportunity to unwind.

Doggy De Stress is a canine centred event allows students the opportunity to meet two lovable pups, take time away from daily stresses and enjoy being in the now.

Tara Ludman, a natural resource compliance student, attended the event Wednesday afternoon for a rest between classes.

“I absolutely love dogs,” she said, petting a furry friend.

Ludman’s midterms come earlier than other programs due to their forays out of the classroom on fieldtrips.

“It’s a nice little time to relax, just pet some puppies and have fun.”

Students wanting to participate in the Thrive Wellness Challenge can pick up a calendar in centre core.

After the week is done, filled out calendars can be returned to Harmoni Jones in the health office for an opportunity to win prizes.

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