by Mario De Negri, Fitness Coordinator For Rebel Athletics and Recreation Services

I came across this blog when I was feeling a fair bit of turbulence in my life. I personally was doing great. Everything was in line, I was working at my best, and being my best self which warrants recognition as that’s something I have failed to do in my past, and can image others feeling something similar in their lives. This was affecting my life from the outside and I had the choice to sit there and take it or stand up and step to the side. I had made some tough decisions to try to keep myself on a healthy path but I couldn’t help shake the pain in my heart. Sometimes clarity of the mind doesn’t mean you’ll find peace in the heart right away. Sometimes the aches in the heart are real but just growing pains we must endure for our own personal growth as a person. Every time I look back at times this has been true I can feel peace in my heart now, but wasn’t so in the moment at that time. This blog brings to lights some of those tough self-questions we need to be asking ourselves to see if we are on our true path. So many of the points highlight quite directly some of the fears about myself I had to face and to accept if I was to move forward on my path. Hopefully they can bring some insight onto you as they have re-affirmed in mine.

Check out the blog here;

http://www.lifebuzz.com/just-stop/

College Days are upon us once again, and the Wellness Committee is hosting a series of events to eat, meet and greet, and move your feet.

Come out for a free Wellness Breakfast

On the morning of May 29^th staff are invited for a free Wellness Breakfast at the Roblin Centre and the Notre Dame Campus (Voyageur Cafeteria) beginning at 7:30 am and going till 9:30.  The buffet breakfast will offer a range of healthy (and tasty!) selections. Wellness Committee members and other helpers will be on hand to say hello, gather pledges for the Walk-a-thon, and answer any questions you may have.

Walkathon – EDC and NDC

After you’ve had time to digest your breakfast, come on out to the Wellness Walk-a-thon at noon on May 29^th.

Exchange District Campus:

The Walkathon starts after a brief warm up  at the Roblin Centre Atrium  (aka right by the Tim Hortons) and then we’ll walk to the Forks Market and back (three routes to choose from!)

Pledges $5 or over get entered to win prizes!

Check out the Wellness displays in the Atrium!

Notre Dame Campus:

The 2.5 km route will take you outside of the Notre Dame Campus grounds with a chance to enjoy some great scenery. Come with friends and colleagues to the North Gym area at noon after a brief warm up, or you can get a map and take the run or walk at your own pace. In order to limber up the limbs, drop by around 11:45 for a guided warm-up.

Pledges over $10 get entered to win prizes!

Register now at https://hub.rrc.ca/EmployeeDevelopment/

Get your pledge forms here.

Help support staff dependents to study at RRC

Aside from the benefits that come from walking, monies raised go toward the Bursary for Dependents of RRC Employees. The bursary was started back in 2009 from an endowment fund which the Walkathon has helped grow to nearly $25K. To date, the award has provided a total of $3,700 to nine recipients. For more information about this award and/or to get an application form, head to the RRC website and look under General Awards.

Do you have your tickets?

Despite rumours to the contrary, Rob Ford will not attend our first Rebel Riders’ event of the year on June 6th.

But, though his attending the much anticipated June 6th Bud, Spud, and Steak fundraiser for MS is now clearly unlikely, will Rob Ford ride with our Rebel Riders for the September MS Riding Mountain challenge?
Read More →

We never hesitate to spend on vehicle maintenance, from new brakes to oil changes to tunes ups we invest money in our cars every day, month and year.  Yet when we talk about investing in the most important vehicle we own, our body, we hesitate.  Gym memberships are a luxury, and forget about personal training sessions.  Our bodies carry us through life all day – every day.  How we go through life in our body vehicle depends on how well we maintain it. Don’t hesitate – invest in your body.

Bring your body in for a spring tune up and get in top running condition in time for summer. Recreation Services here on campus offers a number of different options from personal training to lifestyle assessments. Sign up as an individual or with a partner and let us help you get on track to a healthier active lifestyle.

No matter what your age or fitness level, everyone can benefit from a personal trainer at one time or another. Working with a personal trainer, you can achieve your fitness goals – goals as modest as touching your toes again or as ambitious as preparing for a marathon. Each of us is unique; we all have different goals, ambitions and desires. A personal trainer can help you attain your aspirations – how?  Your personal trainer will:

-Assess your current level of fitness

-Listen to you and your goals and then;

-Devise a personal training program to achieve these goals in a safe environment,

-Educate you about the fundamentals as well as the proper and safe use of all the equipment.

-Organize your training sessions according to your schedule

-Continue to encourage and motivate you through creative and fun exercise programming

Life just seems much easier when you are active – and it’s not just the body that benefits from exercise. Exercise triggers chemical changes in the brain that can have a powerful and positive effect on mental health. The ability to deal with the daily demands of hard work and play more effectively is one of the most underestimated side effects of fitness – and one of the best!

Reducing VOCs in Your House

This third in our series on Volatile organic compounds  (VOCs)  and their effects on our health, provides tips for reducing VOC exposures at home.  This post will list two principles, a few resources and provide examples to help readers achieve healthier homes.

Principles in Healthy Homes Minnesota¹  ‘s  fact sheet are:

1. Control the source.  For example,  remove the product, buy (substitute) products that emit low levels of VOCs or as a last resort; seal the surface emitting the VOCs.

2. Ventilate.  Open windows,  use fans and keep temperatures and humidity as low as is comfortable.

This post emphasizes avoiding the unhealthy product or material in the first place. New VOC emitters/ off gassers might be a new sofa, paint job or cupboards. If we decide we need such a product or material though; it is useful to know some of the healthier choices  available.

One option is to purchase floor model items that have already emitted most of their VOCs. Another is to use regulations, labeling and Groups like The Canada Green Building Council  (CaGBC)  to inform us.

The CaGBC promotes  LEED.   Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. One of the seven categories of measurement in LEED systems is Indoor Environmental Quality (which considers VOCs). So if for example, you are considering new kitchen cupboards; perhaps consult the CaGBC or a LEED certified consultant. They may suggest using solid wood instead of plywood or particle board for your cupboard construction. Or, you could consult Manitoba’s new Green Building Directories – An excellent new find!

Canada currently lags behind other countries² who have stronger VOC regulations; but where Canadian regulations and certifications / labels do exist, they can help us make healthier choices. Paint and carpet are examples.

Paint  Broad claims  about environmental impact (e.g. “Green” or “Environmentally Friendly”) might mislead.   VOCs may or may not have been considered in the claim.

Manufactures now sell paints promising low VOC emissions such as Benjamin Moore’s Natura “green promise” paint³ or Home Depot’s “Zero VOCs” paints. These claims reflect mandatory VOC concentration limits that are currently phasing in. For more on that; check Environment Canada’s recently published regulatory information about architectural coatings and look for the information sheet on VOC concentration limits for paints (on that same page).

Carpet  In Canada, the Canadian Carpet Institute uses an American  program and suggests, “…specify low-emitting products, including CCI Green Label approved carpet, when selecting household products and furnishings.”  … and:

Ventilation for 48 to 72 hours after carpet installation “adds to good air quality” even if the carpet is LEED recognized. ⁵

General

Eco Labels: For a reference on meanings of labels and claims; The Queen of Green gives us the Eco Label Guide!    Highly relevant!

Disposing of old paint and solvent. The City of Winnipeg   says I can take it to: Miller Environmental Corporation;  1803 Hekla Avenue; Phone: 204-925-9600.

More examples of how to reduce VOC levels in your home, can be found by revisiting  the Minnesota Department of Health article used in our first post of this series.

Summary  

This third post in our series about VOCs in our homes, demonstrated ways to reduce VOCs at home. Many countries have implemented regulatory controls and we in Canada are seeing them phasing in now. While this post looked at VOC source reduction in bigger home maintenance projects; our next and final post will suggest easy, healthier substitutions for everyday home cleaning and personal care products.

References

1. Healthy Homes Minnesota
2. Conference Board of Canada
3. Benjamin Moore
4. Home Depot
5. Canadian Carpet Institute & Canadian Carpet Institute
6. Earlier posts in this series on VOCs: Do I Have VOCs in my Home? & Indoor Air, VOCs and our Health.

Try not.
Do or do not. There is no try.

Yes, it’s an awful pun, but this day marks my first Wellness post in a year. May 4th also happens to be my daughter’s one-year wedding anniversary, a bitter one because her marriage has since dissolved. To make things worse, the day begins with a call from the Grace hospital. Longtime cycling buddy, Wayne Ferguson, has just fallen on the hip that he had replaced last week. For some reason it reminds me of Gurdeesh Ghuman, another Rebel Rider, who had his dreams of a 2013 MS ride dashed by a heart attack . As if the day is not off to a gloomy enough start,Terry MacLeod shares on the Weekend Morning Show that he had to abandon a movie last night because an able-bodied couple occupying the only handicap seating in the theatre had refused to move. Jerks everywhere. Income taxes due tomorrow. Mine not done. And it’s still not above freezing!

Let’s get out of here before one of those things kills Guy. – Gwen DeMarco, Galaxy Quest

But you know, it is so easy to let life’s clouds obscure the sunlight beyond. I realized as I drove up Portage Avenue to drop my wife off at work that today was the Winnipeg Police Half Marathon (10th Annual to boot!). On the way back home I stopped to check it out. It was truly inspiring. Oh sure, there were hundreds (yes hundreds!) of runners zipping by, some not quite so zippy. But the people lining the curb are the ones who really gave me hope. Having parked our cars (and troubles?) on Portage Avenue, we were all clapping and cheering on total strangers as they ran past, a serendipitous breeze of shared enthusiasm that quickly sapped the chill out of the morning air. Read More →

Health Services is happy to say we have added a great newsletter to our website that includes health and safety for work, home and school. It is called the ComfortZone. It can be downloaded and has the latest Canadian information for health, safety and wellness.

This month has an interesting article on using liquid nitrogen since it has become so popular in the cooking field when before it was only used in labs. Yes I watch food network and see the icecream made with it and that fog looks so neat-but there are safety factors to consider when using this chemical.

If you are on a wellness or health and safety committee it has current safe work information as well.

Visit our site and check it out. A new one will be added each month.

This is an incredible little video by Dylan Winter, a cinematographer from the UK. It is a stunning example of the mysterious power of nature, as you see a group of European starlings fly through the air in massive numbers en route to their roosting site.

As a regular gravel-road bird watcher, I’d highly recommend finding a stretch of gravel road to head down, and see if you don’t catch site of a red-tailed hawk, a sand hill crane, or even the odd duck (or two) that are currently soaring over fields this time of year.  Bird watching is good medicine this time of year (or any time of year, for that matter).

Ever wonder where you can find information related to how you can participate in improving workplace approaches to wellness? Mental health is one aspect of workplace wellness and employers, employees and student bodies are gathering information on how to keep healthy. Our work and study affect our health and we want to be as best prepared for challenges as we can.

Take the plunge!

Safe Manitoba has  excellent recently posted information that includes ideas for employees and employers on how to make workplaces better from a psychological perspective. It is called the mental health toolkit.

Feeling safe, well and appreciated whether staff or student is important for today but good habits also impact our future health. Challenge yourself, co-workers and fellow students to change one habit for the better.

Be involved on a safety committee, staff or student wellness committee and help make your work/educational organization a better place. Be involved! It’s good for your health!

from Health Services

by Cole Skinner, Athletics and Recreation Cooridantor

With exams currently taking place, and the rush to get summer jobs, this is often a busy and stressful time for Red River College Students. Rebels Athletics and Recreation Services has a great way to relieve stress, get fit for summer, and be at your best for exams and job interviews! RRC Athletics and Recreation Services offers Group Fitness Programs suited to all interests and fitness levels. Our highly trained and enthusiastic instructors will lead you through a fun and challenging workout suited to you. Use these classes to get a leg up on your personal fitness goals, with summer right around the corner, why not get active and have fun in the process. We offer a wide variety of classes that can help relieve stress, and improve your personal wellness.

Registered Programs For 2014 Spring Term

Yoga with Amanda on Mondays from 4:15 to 5:15.

Rapid Revolution Spin with Lesley on Tuesdays from 11:05 to 11:50 and Thursdays from 11:05 to 11:50.

Dynamic Core with Leslie on Tuesdays from 12:05 to 12:50 and Thursdays from 12:05 to 12:50.

Cardio Complete with Ming on Tuesdays from 4:00 to 4:45

Boot Camps with Karly on Fridays from 11:05 to 11:50

Stott Pilates with Karly on Fridays from 12:05 to 12:50

Regular classes will start April 28th and run until June 27th.

Drop in cards for 4 or 8 classes per term can also be purchased. An unlimited Full Fitness Pass can also be purchased, allowing to attend as many classes as you want.

Register

To register for a class download the attached form, fill it out and take it to the Student Service Centre to make a payment. 2014 Spring Fitness Classes Registration Form