April Employee Well-being: Nature and Well-being
Nature and Well-being
Spending time outdoors can boost physical and mental health in many ways. Even without any greenery around, spending time in sunlight and fresh air may help you feel better in mind and body. Some benefits include:
Better breathing: Spending more time in natural green spaces could help lower your risk of respiratory concerns.
Improved sleep: Exposing yourself to sunlight can improve your sleep by:
- helping you feel more tired at night
- shortening the time it takes to fall asleep
- improving the quality of your rest
Reduced depression symptoms: Exposure to wooded environments can decrease anxiety, depression, anger, confusion and fatigue, with greater effects in people with higher initial stress levels.
Motivation to exercise: Working out in green spaces could help boost your motivation to exercise in the future, in part because outdoor exercise can:
- offer a nice change of pace from gyms and make physical activity more interesting and enjoyable
- make it easier to socialize
- feel easier and less strenuous
Mental restoration: The modern world contains plenty of stimuli — from flashing screens, vibrating phones, to rumbling roadways — that compete for our limited attention. This ongoing overstimulation may raise your stress levels. The natural world, on the other hand, can offer an opportunity to unwind and recharge. In nature, soothing attractions for your senses, can hold your attention without draining your mental energy.
Improved emotional well-being: Outdoor time can do more than help relieve emotions like fear, worry, and sadness. It may also help promote emotions you want to feel more of, like happiness, peace, and optimism.
To learn more about Nature and Well-being, please visit our Employee Well-being webpage for more information.
Source: Healthline, McMaster Optimal Aging Portal
Earth Day is April 22nd, 2023.
Earth Day is April 22nd, 2023. There are a variety of ways you can get involved both at home and in the community. Below are some resources for how to get involved!
Nature at McMaster
Trees for Hamilton
We will also be offering a Tree Planting Day in Collaboration with our local partners. See our events listings below, or our Employee Well-being webpage for more information.
The Working Mind Mental Health Training
Human Resource Services, in collaboration with McMaster’s Okanagan Committee, is pleased to be launching The Working Mind mental health training for faculty, staff and leaders. This training directly supports our shared purpose of promoting and contributing to a healthy and safe community at McMaster University.
The Working Mind is an evidence-based training program designed to promote mental health and reduce stigma around mental illness in the workplace by initiating a shift in the way you think, act, and feel about mental health. The training offers practical knowledge and skills to address mental health and mental illness in the workplace. Three core modules offer the same foundational content to both employee and people leader participants and an additional module focuses on helping leaders support their teams’ mental health.
Currently, sessions are being offered for people leaders and additional sessions will be added for employees in the coming months. To learn more about the program and register for an upcoming course, please visit https://hr.mcmaster.ca/twm.
New Provider for McMaster’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) Effective April 1st, 2023.
McMaster University has selected Telus Health (formerly known as Lifeworks) as the new provider of its Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) starting on April 1, 2023.
The Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is a free program available to employees and their dependents and can be used to access confidential counselling as well as resources to support mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing on a 24/7/365 basis.
Additional communication on the new program, including an exciting new EFAP online platform, updated resources / materials and details on the transition from Homewood Health to Telus Health will be shared shortly.
More information on McMaster’s EFAP can be found here.
Upcoming Events
Earth Day Tree Planting
April 22nd at 11 a.m.
The McMaster Centre for Climate Change in collaboration with Nature at McMaster, the Academic Sustainability Programs Office, and Trees for Hamilton, have worked together to create a Carbon Sink Forest. This forest sequesters carbon through planting trees which helps to mitigate climate change. The goal of this event is to plant 300 trees! Bring your colleagues, friends, and family members and help preserve biodiversity, sustainability, conservation, and improve the air quality and human health this Earth Day!
Mac Mindfulness for Staff
Mondays – April 24, May 1, May 8 & May 15 from 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
In collaboration with the Office of the Provost & Human Resources, Mac Mindfulness invites you to participate in an introductory 4-week mindfulness program that will teach you the skill of mindfulness and help you develop a more grounded perspective on your work and personal life experiences. These sessions are guided by Koru Basic*, an evidence-based mindfulness curriculum designed originally for university-aged adults that is now being widely used across campuses and in communities.
Professor Hippo on Campus Faculty Workshop
May 1, 2023 from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Faculty and instructors (educators) and those who interact with, support and supervise McMaster students in many other ways (navigators) on campus are integral to building mental health support for students. While you are not be expected to be mental health experts or counselors, faculty and staff are often ideally situated to recognize and respond to stressed and distressed students, to start important conversations, and to limit unnecessary stress and distress. To do this you must feel prepared and comfortable to address student mental health needs in ways that are consistent with and appropriate to your roles and training. The Professor Hippo-on-Campus program has been designed and tested at McMaster to help accomplish these goals in an accessible, engaging and efficient format.
The Working Mind Mental Health Training for People Leaders
May 3 & 4, 2023 from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
The Working Mind (TMW) is an evidence-based training, developed to initiate a shift in the way you think, act, and feel about mental health. It was designed to provide practical knowledge and skills to address mental health and mental illness in the workplace. It is intended for people leaders who manage and support teams.
Employee Well-being, Employee Well-being Newsletter