Indigenous Wellness Resources

• Indigenous Wellness Resources

Initiatives Worth Exploring: 

• The Canadian Cancer Society continues to spearhead Dry February for Canadians. Dry January is an American initiative, however, many Canadians became involved in Dry January. CBC reported on the benefits of abstaining from alcohol particularly during the pandemic wherein substance use has risen. The rise in substance use has also occurred in the US as reported by Harvard.  If you are “sober-curious” you may want to pledge sobriety for a month and see how your wellbeing and performance are affected.
• On January 25^th, 2022, from 1 PM to 2:30 PM (CST), Michael Ungar, Ph. D., a Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University will be presenting “Nurturing Resilience: Becoming More Rugged and Better Resources in the Face of Adversity” via Eventbrite. Registration is free for students. Resilience is about how well people can access the resources they need to promote well-being, and whether these resources are available and accessible in ways people experience as meaningful. This presentation explores nine strategies that can help young people cope with unusual amounts of stress, including a pandemic, in culturally and contextually relevant ways.
• Bell Let’s Talk Day is January 26! There are five ways to end the stigma and start a conversation. 1. Language matters. 2. Educate yourself. 3. Be kind. 4. Listen and ask. 5. Talk about it. Bell provides “Conversation Guidelines” on its website which will help you with terminology and discussion around these tough issues. Bell Let's Talk Day also gives us another opportunity to discuss the importance of taking care of our mental health. If you are struggling to cope or know someone who is, please reach out for helpLinks.
• There is a free Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course  online. In 1979 Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center's Stress Reduction Clinic. Today, MSR is offered in many hundreds of hospitals, clinics, health centers, educational, management and other settings around the world. The program is usually 8-weeks and is based on intensive training in mindfulness. It was initially targeted at people with chronic health problems, helping them to cope with the effects of pain, illness, and the impact of these conditions on their lives. Today MBSR is taught to people who are experiencing challenges in all areas of life.
• The Science of Well-being Course taught by Laurie Santos of Yale is available on Coursera also at no cost and is extremely popular. The Science of Well-Being course is focused on Positive Psychology. Positive psychology is the fourth wave of the psychology movement in which the pursuit is not mere treatment and recovery but of wellbeing.  Positive psychology is "the scientific study of optimal functioning," and "it seeks to identify the strengths and skills that enable individuals and communities to thrive.”  (see: Joseph Ciarrochi et al, “Contextual Positive Psychology: Policy Recommendations for Implementing Positive Psychology into Schools” (2016) 7 Frontiers in Psychology 1561, online: <https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01561> ) Martin Seligman, a past president of the American Psychological Association, is most recognized for developing positive psychology in the 1990s. 

Book(s):

Daicoff, Susan Swaim, Comprehensive Law Practice: Law as a Healing Profession (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2011).

Muir, Ronda, Beyond Smart Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence (Chicago: American Bar Association, 2017).

Martin, Nathalie, Lawyering from the Inside Out: Learning Professional Development through Mindfulness and Emotional Intelligence (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

Podcast(s):

There are several podcasts that provide further education on how to promote your wellbeing such as:

• Happiness Lab
• Ten Percent Happier
• The One You Feed

 Video(s):

CBA Mental Health and Wellness in the Legal Profession - The Law Society of Saskatchewan

 Canadian Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students:

National Standard of Canada for Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students commissioned by the Canadian Mental Health Commission of Canada, which provides policies, procedures, and practices for post-secondary educators to promote positive student mental health and well-being. In addition to promoting the wellbeing of students, the National Standard was also informed and developed around the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report. As such, the National Standard seeks to assist post-secondary institutions in creating “more inclusive and more equitable spaces where all students can flourish.” (at 9).