Photo By Chantel Reles

Essential oils have become an essential part of my life. Their applications are diverse and have a wide variety of benefits. Considering a greater demand on industry for less harsh chemicals and synthetics in personal care products, society is looking at taking a more natural approach.

What is an essential oil? “A natural oil typically obtained by distillation and having the characteristic fragrance of the plant or other source from which it is extracted”, as said directly from Oxford English Dictionary (online, American English ed.). To expand, it is a hydrophobic liquid (repels from water). Whoa science! It is called essential not because it is necessary but because it is from the essence of the plant source. Read More →

The Wellness Committee would like to thank all of those who participated in the challenge. We are thrilled with the results and can’t wait to run this fantastic program next year. We would also like to thank the various departments around the College and Student Association who generously donated prizes.

Congratulations to all the winners of the Get Movin’ Challenge!

Bronze Level Winners: Serene Desmond, Tamara Schaab-Johnson, Don Gould, Allison Richard, Avery Sluce, Jason McMaster, Jaren Press, Luke Sadler, Kim Elphick, Krystal Boyce-Gaudreau, Kenneth Malczewski, Lisa Wolfe, Nernie Mandrick, Fae Arabnit

Silver Level Winners: Ashish Kumar, Desiree Guay, Dave Thomas, Faye Bychuck, Andrea Kozlowski, Tien Trieu Tran, Angelica Calvedores, Don Gould, Arleigh Mackenzie

Gold Level Winners: 250$ Sport Chek gift card: Kylie Clark / Thermea Spa Gift Package: Tien Trieu Tran / Fitbit HR Charge 1: Marie Delorme / Fibtit HR Charge 2: Mary Northover-Ramey / 100$ Lug bag: Megan Havens

To claim your prize, please contact Cole Skinner by email at coskinner@rrc.ca, by phone at 204-632-2397 or in person at GM20 – NDC.

Thank you everyone for participating and for sharing how this challenge has motivated you to be more active in February and beyond.

Send us your story to wellness@rrc.ca and visit blogs.rrc.ca/wellness to find out how the Get Movin’ Challenge has affected those around you – who knows it may be you!!

Keep moving, Your Staff and Student Wellness Committee

I have become a dog person – which is surprising to some of my family members – but now I cannot imagine my life without a dog or two around.

My first dog came into my life in 1999; a three year old Bichon Frisé named Rufus. He was the perfect dog to start a journey of dog ownership. My husband and I had moved to a northern BC community and I began the process of finding employment. Rufus saved my sanity during my hunt for employment. Rufus needed to be walked, so this forced me to get outside instead of staying in the house all day. Fresh air and a good walk kept me mentally healthy. There was nothing like walking a cute, fluffy white dog to start a neighbourly conversation.

Rufus came on all our adventures with us: Cross country skiing, mountain biking, hiking and camping. He was known to sit in a backpack while we were biking around town. He visited numerous job sites with my husband. The contractors in town all knew him. He travelled with us each time we moved to another province adjusting to each move easier than I. Rufus provided us with so much joy and he lived to be 14. An old dog in dog years.

Our house was empty without a dog around, so I was on the hunt for another dog to enrich our lives.

We went from small dog to large dog. We decided on a Golden Retriever. We picked Sheena up in July 2011. This was our first time as puppy owners. Sheena made puppy ownership a breeze. She was so easy to train. But we didn’t realize that a big head and big paws meant a big dog!! Sheena is a 75 pound female golden retriever.   We discovered very early that she does not enjoy Winnipeg summers. She is a cold weather dog; -35⁰C and Sheena is curled up outside in the snow. She loves chasing the deer and rabbits. She loves to exercise and also loves to chill while at home.

Puppyhood with Sheena was such a breeze that we decided to get another Golden Retriever. Sierra DID NOT make puppyhood a breeze. I kept asking the vet what was wrong and she gently told me that there was nothing wrong and that Sierra was a very healthy, normal puppy! Our two Goldens have the same mother but you would not guess it. Sierra is the exact opposite of Sheena in every way!!! I spent the first 18 months alternating between threatening to give her up and maybe keeping her. Today, Sierra is three years old and I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She is such a wonderful dog. Although she is full of energy and doesn’t stop from the minute she wakes up until she goes to bed, she is the cuddliest dog I have ever met.

SIERRA (on the left) Sheena (on the right)

At first, Sheena was not impressed with the new addition to the family but enjoys Sierra’s company now. Sierra absolutely LOVES her big sister. She spends hours trying to get Sheena to play with her and if that doesn’t work, she finds something to take from the garage, through the doggie door into the back yard. Sierra does not enjoy being separated from her sister. She walks around looking for Sheena and won’t settle down until Sheena is around. We couldn’t even run with them separately; once, my husband was running with Sheena and I was lagging behind with Sierra and, well, forget that – that wasn’t going to fly. Sheena sat down and no amount of pulling was going to get her moving – my husband had to run with both dogs.

The dogs absolutely love the swimming pool/lake/river. We had to put a gate around the pool to keep Sierra out. As a puppy, she decided to jump in while the summer cover was on the pool.

SHEENA (on the left) SIERRA (on the right)

Dog ownership enriches your life in ways I am not eloquent to express but I would be remiss if I did not mention that dog ownership is not for everyone; dog ownership is work and they cost money. But if you are ready to accept the work you will find the benefits of dog ownership far out-weigh any work. Dog ownership ties very deeply and personally to my sense of wellness and mental well-being.

Ready for dog ownership? Consider adopting a dog from many of the dog rescue organizations in the city. I have provided a link to three:

http://www.winnipeghumanesociety.ca/

http://manitobamutts.org/

http://petrescueshelter.com/

March is Nutrition Month!

Eating well can boost your health and help you feel your best. Almost half of Canadians (45%) say, that eating healthy meals and snacks while at work is challenging, according to an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for Dietitians of Canada[1].

National Nutrition Month is brought to you by the Dietitians of Canada every March and this years’ campaign slogan is Take a 100 meal Journey. The Nutrition Month 2016 is dedicated to making small healthy changes to your eating habits and making them stick.

Are you running short on time and often resort to eating out, or feel stressed when it comes to preparing meals? We all have time constraints and challenges that can alter our eating habits. Dietitians of Canada has provided some great strategies to help you make small kitchen changes, and make them stick! Click here to view the fact sheet providing suggested healthy snacks, meal prep, cooking tricks, and snacking recommendations.

This fact sheet also has great strategies to put in place if you find yourself eating out of boredom or when you’re distracted.

How much you eat can be just as important as what you eat. Click here and follow the steps outlined on this fact sheet to help you keep track of healthy portion sizes. This strategy has you using your hand to estimate portion sizes.

For more fact sheets and additional details on Nutrition Month including eating tips and recipes, visit the ‘Dieticians of Canada’ website here.

Supporting Your Wellness

The LifeWorks website contains useful tools and articles to help you budget, save for a strong future, and weather difficult financial times. You even have access to seminars at www.lifeworks.com.

This month the recommended Podcast is ‘Building your Financial Resilience’. Take charge of your finances!

[1] ©Dietitians of Canada. Nutrition Month 2015: Eating 9 to 5. February 24, 2015. http://www.dietitians.ca/media/news-releases/2015/nutritionmonth2015.aspx.

The RRC Wellness Initiative, in conjunction with HR Pay & Benefits, is pleased to offer a Financial Wellness “double-header” on Thursday March 10 for all College employees. Come to both, or come to one!

Both sessions will be in the ETV Studio, Notre Dame Campus, and will also be live streamed and recorded for future viewing at your convenience.

Session 1: Pre-Retirement Information Session – 8:30 am to 11:45 am (also live streamed and recorded for future viewing at your convenience)

Geared for employees who are 1-5 years from retirement (but open to anyone), this session will get you thinking clearly about the steps to take and the decisions to make. Practical, detailed information from presenters Maria Evaristo from RRC Pay and Benefits as well as Randall Newmann from the Civil Service Superannuation Board (CSSB) will help prepare you for your transition and you’ll have time to ask questions too. If you’ve attended this session previously, you’re welcome to attend again.

—

Session 2: Financial Wellness Lunch and Learn – 12:00 pm to 12:55 pm (also live streamed and recorded for future viewing at your convenience)

Bring your lunch and join engaging presenters Karley Middleton and Scott Anderson from HUB STRATA as they connect the dots between financial wellness and mental/physical health, and offer clear messages to improve this area of your life today including 10 steps to financial wellness, setting long-and short-term financial goals, estate planning, and when the best time to make a will is (NOW!) Don’t miss this session.

This session is geared for employees at ALL stages of their careers from “just started” to “just about to retire”.

If you are planning to attend  either session via live streaming or prefer to watch the recorded version later, contact hrsld@rrc.ca to receive an information package. (You don’t need to register). Just let us know which session(s) you are interested in. To watch via live streaming, click here at the session start time. You can  ask questions or add comments by clicking on the word bubble on the bottom of the screen.

To attend these sessions in person, click here to register. Don’t forget to sign up for both sessions separately (if you are interested.) Max seating for both sessions is 35.

For more details about these sessions, check out the Staff Learning and Development microsite.

With the wonderful idea and motivation set in place by The Wellness Committee with the February’s Wellness Get Movin’ challenge, office C517 actually took it “one step” further and created an Office Challenge, with a collective monthly goal of 2 000 000 steps. We had a wonderful response to our “steppin’ challenge” and we are now seeing that we have underestimated the energy and determination of our office mates. What started out as asking each of our 12 members to maintain an average 5800 steps per day for the month, has turned into us now witnessing daily postings of 10 000 to 20 000. Oh, we are a competitive bunch!

The first week was quite exciting and we had a few laughs with all the “trash talk” and even the thought of competing against each other. In the end, we decided that next year we will expand our group idea and maybe try to compete against other offices, or even if each member entered a small donation to start and the combined winner at the end of the month would have the total donated to a charity of their choice. So many ideas for next year…but all I know now is that I watch our team mate’s eyes when they first arrive in the morning scanning the board, and excitedly write in their numbers before even removing their jackets. It’s fun, it’s exciting and it has definitely brought our team closer together.

BRAVO to C517, not all our numbers are in for the first 11 days, and we are well on our way to meeting our goal!

We may have to raise that bar another 2 000 000….

The Wellness Committee is hosting its first ever “Get Movin’ Challenge”. For the entire month of February, challenge yourself, your co-workers and fellow students to stop sitting and start moving.

Dates:
Participation- February 1-29
Prize Day- Thursday March 3

Signing Up!
Sign-up by email at wellness@rrc.ca

Counting Your Steps!
It’s easy! Use your smartphone, fitness band or a pedometer

Smart phone Apps Examples:
IPhone- Steps, Pacer, Pedometer
Android- S Health, Google Fit, Pedometer
BlackBerry- Casca/Sports Run Tracker Pro, Sports Tracker, Endomondo

Step Conversion Chart

Some activities do not allow for a pedometer to be used, or perhaps you would rather count your steps/exercise/activity without one. No problem. You can use the following Step Conversion Charts to mark your progress! Below are to separate but similar conversion charts, use whichever one that works best for you and get active!

Purdue University Activity Converter

Step Conversion Chart

Incentives/Prize Structure: Participants will gain entry into each prize category if they complete a specific minimum number of days in which they achieve 7,000 steps per day. There will be 3 prize levels:

Bronze Level-10 days completed: Prizes included- Gatorade bottles, Gatorade towels, Gatorade powder tins, yoga mats, Rebels swag, Ladderball Set, Gym Bag

Silver Level– 15 days completed: Prizes included- Manitoba Moose tickets, Free Rec Services Fitness Class, Free RRC Gym Membership, Free Massage session with Jason Mtthes @ AAA Mobile Massage Therapy, Free Athletic Therapy Session with Andrea Wazney @ Rebels Athletics, Free Athletic Therapy Session with Stephanie Smith @ Rebels Athletics

Gold Level– 20 days competed: $250 Gift Certificate from Sport Chek, Thermea Spa Package, (2) Fitbit Wristbands

Example: If Jill reaches 7,000 steps per day for 21 of the days, she is entered once in each level draw. If Joe reaches 7,000 steps per day for 17 of the days, he is entered once into the Bronze and Silver levels.

All participants will be self-reporting.

Get Movin Challenge Booklet

Get Movin Challenge-PDF Tracker

Prize Day

Will occur Thursday March 3rd 12:00-12:45pm, at the Cave on NDC. Participants will hand in their log books to the committee, which are then entered into the various prize categories. Persons who cannot attend in person can submit results beforehand by email to wellness@rrc.ca. 

The cutoff to enter results in person is 12:30pm, Thursday March 3rd. 

Cutoff to enter results via email is 3:00pm, Wednesday March 2nd. 

The draw will commence at 12:30pm, Thursday March 3rd with the winners announced.

Ways to Get Movin’!

The more days you achieve your goal, the better the prizes. Use a wide array of physical activities to reach your goal, walking, running, biking, dancing, swimming, etc. It’s all about being active! Try using the stairs instead of an elevator, have a walking meeting rather than sitting, park a little farther from grocery store. It all adds up!

Upcoming Submission Deadline!

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you to submit your 2015 claims to your Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) by March 31, 2016.

2015 claims must be received by Great-West Life prior to March 31^st, 2016 to be claimed against your 2015 HCSA dollars. Any unused 2015 benefit dollars remaining after this period will be forfeited.

The HCSA can be used to cover a range of benefits not normally covered under other types of group benefits plans or by provincial medical plans.

What are covered expenses?

You are covered for 100% of eligible expenses that you incur while you and your dependents are covered, up to the total amount of dollars in your HCSA.

The Income Tax Act governs the types of expenses that can be reimbursed under the HCSA. This includes medical or dental services provided by a:

• Licensed medical practitioner;
• Dentist; or
• Public or licensed private hospital.

Please visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca and search on medical expenses for a complete list.

When does my HCSA refresh?

On January 1^st, 2016 your HCSA refreshed based on the Flex Option you have chosen and part-time/full-time status where applicable. Please visit www.greatwestlife.com to review your claims history and obtain your HCSA statement including balance.

What happens if I have excess claims from 2015?

Under the HCSA, you can carry forward claims up to 12 months from the date of service. This means if you had more 2015 expenses than you had 2015 HCSA dollars, you can carry forward those claims for reimbursement against your 2016 HCSA balance.

Great-West Life online!

GroupNet

GroupNet for Plan Members gives you access to a world of secure, user-friendly services:

• Submit many of your claims online
• Sign up for Direct Deposit – claims paid directly into your bank account
• View your claim status and Explanation of Benefits for the past 24 months
• Access our Health & Wellness site for topics that are important to you

Visit www.greatwestlife.com to register and login for the first time if you have not already done so.

GroupNet Mobile app

GroupNet for Plan Members is now available through the free GroupNet Mobile app available for Android™, Blackberry® or iPhone.

• Submit claims online
• Access information about your benefits, coverage balances, claims and more
• View card information
• Locate the nearest provider for Provider eClaims, through built-in GPS mapping tool
• Search for medications by drug name or Drug Identification Number (DIN)
• See if a drug is covered and what percentage
• Access a library of drug information

eClaims

Great-West Life’s Provider eClaims offers on-the-spot claims submission at approved providers, including chiropractors, physiotherapists and acupuncturists.

Your provider will need to know your group benefits policy/plan number and your member ID number to submit claims using Provider eClaims.

GroupNet Text

Get instant access to your benefit details with GroupNet Text! Sign up on GroupNet for Plan Members under the Your Profile tab.

To utilize this feature, you text a keyword to 204-289-1667 and you’ll receive information on your benefit coverage inquiry. For a complete list of key words, text Help. For a description of the type of information a key word provides, text Help and the keyword.

DrugHub

DrugHub lets you use your iPhone to:

• Search thousands of medications – ingredients, interactions and side effects
• Set reminders for you and your family to take medications on schedule
• Know when you’re running low, when to order refills and more!

Supporting Your Wellness

The LifeWorks website contains useful tools and articles to help you achieve your goals. Check out the new podcast Achieving Your Goals and other resources and seminars at www.lifeworks.com.

Remember your EFAP User ID and Password:

User ID: rrcefap                                Password: efap

Thank you to all RRC students and employees who dropped by and participated at our ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ Wellness Event last week at NDC and EDC!

The ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ theme was evident by the interaction and participation at our various stations. Over 50 people relaxed at the Adult Colouring station and many took a coloring sheet back with them to finish their artwork! We received rave reviews over the tasty cookies and hot chocolate – what a nice treat on a cold winter day!

Our guest Marc Forrester, from Winnipeg Insight Meditation Group, enjoyed sharing his knowledge! 64 students and employees indicated an interest in finding out more about meditation.

The Therapy Dogs and owners were a special treat. The smiles on everyones faces during their interactions speaks volumes as to the benefits we gain from being around these lovely animals.

There was a renewed interest in what Lifeworks – the RRC employees Employee and Family Assistance Program – has to offer. We navigated the pages within the Lifeworks.com website to find interesting articles, information and tips on a diverse number of topics including quitting smoking, child care information, Will kits, finance sections, where to call to speak with a consultant or counsellor. Click here to access the LifeWorks website.

Look for the LifeWorks posters over the campuses too!

The Wellness Committee will donate 3 books to the Library – The Path of the Yoga Sutras; The Relaxed Mind and The Kundalini Yoga Experience.

Stay tuned for more Wellness Events including the ‘Get Movin’ Challenge’ for the month of February.

Finally, Congratulations to the prize draw winners!

‘How to Meditate’ books – Paul Brady (NDC) & Judyta Szacilowski (Roblin Centre)
Adult Coloring Books – Gurpreet Kaur (NDC) & Virginia Wark (Roblin Centre)

Thanks for your participation! The Wellness Committee

Calm mind brings inner strength & self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health – Dalai Lama

 Join the Wellness Committee on January 21 at NDC and January 22 at Robin Centre where you can de-stress and rejuvenate for 2016. 

Meet us in the hallway for hot chocolate and cookies, and while taking a break from the computer screen, you can unwind and clear your thoughts with a favorite pastime, colouring…

Yes! Research has shown that colouring for adults is a great way to reduce stress and clear your thoughts.   

After colouring, wander over to meet our meditation expert who will share with you the proven scientific benefits of meditation: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Next, visit Lifeworks.com, the RRC Employee and Family Assistance Program website to navigate and find resources to help in managing stressors in your work and personal life.

 End your break by visiting our therapy dogs who will brighten your day and lift your spirits!

 Staff and students – please drop by!

 January 20, 2016 – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – NDC Library Hallway

January 21, 2016 – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Roblin Centre Atrium

For more information, contact wellness@rrc.ca.