School of Graduate Studies

Wellness and life balance workshops


Health


Two of the most common barriers to healthy eating identified by students are lack of time and lack of money.

In this workshop, you will learn what a healthy diet looks like and discover strategies to eat healthfully when you have little time to prepare food or a limited budget for grocery shopping.
 
  • 20 February
  • 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
  • Online
In this workshop, the Health Services nurse and health promotion specialist will address common concerns many women have at some point in their life. They will share with you the latest recommendations on health topics such as breast health, keeping your private parts healthy, an overview of birth control methods, healthy relationships, and more. They will finish with suggestions on how you can stay healthy during grad school.
 
  • 30 January
  • 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Online

Sleep is essential for optimal health and academic performance, especially during finals! Benefits include better grades, better memory, and better problem-solving.

This workshop will help you make decisions to fix your sleep, and you will learn new sleep habits and ways of thinking about sleep that will help you perform well on your finals.

 

Sleep is the secret to your best finals yet!!

  • 27 March
  • 11:45 AM - 01:15 PM
  • Sir George Williams
In these uncertain times, we need to find ways to be able to remain resilient. In this workshop, we will look to Self-Care as a tool to thrive, as we adapt and navigate the hybrid learning environment.

In this interactive, informative, and practical workshop, participants will be introduced to a multidimensional model of self-care. We will highlight self-care practices to develop and maintain balance. Participants will walk away with ideas and resources for a personal self-care and wellness action plan to help them thrive.
 
  • 07 February
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Online
Do you set excessively high standards for yourself? Are you overly critical of your performance and abilities? Are you very afraid of failure or of making mistakes? Do you measure your self-worth in terms of your achievements?
 
The second part of this workshop will introduce you to the emotional regulation systems driving perfectionism and their interaction to external influences. You will learn how to identify and soothe the perfectionistic self-critic by engaging in an exercise on self-compassionate motivation and a few other practices. You will be invited to reflect and explore your core values and ways to live in alignment with them.
  • 26 October
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
Increased self-compassion has been associated with resilience and adaptive outcomes in academic settings. In this interactive two-part workshop, participants will explore self-compassion as an inner resource for navigating end of term stressors with kindness and fierceness by drawing from the ying and yang of self-compassion. In the first part of the workshop, we will practice tools to comfort and soothe ourselves when experiencing difficult emotions. In the second part of the workshop, we will apply strategies to facilitate self-motivation, self-protection, and providing ourselves with that we need.  
  • 06 December
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online

Have you ever found it hard to manage self-care when juggling classes, exams, family, friends, and work? Do you ever experience issues taking care of yourself because self-care was not promoted or discusses in your culture or community? Do you feel misunderstood or guilty when you attempt to set boundaries related to self-care? 

Whether you are a racialized or non-racialized person, this workshop will allow you to better understand how and why we coined the term self-care. You will also be able to consider different practices, tools, strategies, and even current acts you engage in, that promote self-care. This workshop is especially useful if you grew up in an environment in which pleasing others was valued over considering your own needs and preserving your energy (goal setting, setting realistic expectations for finals/stressful periods). 

  • 02 October
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
This workshop will cover what assertiveness is and why it matters. We will reflect on questioning, Am I assertive? The workshop will cover the spectrum of behavioural styles, the consequences of passive and aggressive behaviour, and strategies to help you set boundaries and act assertively.
  • 20 February
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
Have you ever caught yourself switching or changing your tone or how you speak depending on who you're surrounded by? Do you only feel comfortable using an African American vernacular with black folks in your community and attempt to use a more non-threatening tone with white folks? The act of codeswitching can feel exhausting for black folks and is often a conscious or unconscious act that Black people engage in as a means of being perceived positively with inner or outer groups. Because we all want to feel a sense of inclusion and belonging and avoid stereotypical labels that impact us, it can be difficult to grapple with constantly shifting your voice, tone and/or language to fit the context you're in.   
  • 06 October
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
Have you ever found it hard to manage self-care when juggling classes, exams, family, friends, and work? Do you ever experience issues taking care of yourself because self-care was not promoted or discusses in your culture or community? Do you feel misunderstood or guilty when you attempt to set boundaries related to self-care? Whether you are a racialized or non-racialized person, this workshop will allow you to better understand how and why we coined the term self-care. You will also be able to consider different practices, tools, strategies, and even current acts you engage in, that promote self-care. This workshop is especially useful if you grew up in an environment in which pleasing others was valued over considering your own needs and preserving your energy (goal setting, setting realistic expectations for finals/stressful periods).  
  • 24 October
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
This series consists of two workshops.
 
Week 1: Time Realism
 
Do you ever feel like there are not enough hours in the day? Do you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list? In this session, we'll explore how to be more realistic about time and identify strategies to make the most of our time. You'll learn about the latest research in linguistics and cognitive science and what it can tell us about how we manage time in an easier, more intuitive, and ultimately more realistic way. The key to effective time management is thinking about your time more realistically.
 
Many time management books and articles make sensational claims, such as "get 10x more done in the next week with this one simple change!" This is not only unrealistic, but it can also be discouraging when we don't see results that match the hype. So if you're ready to learn how to manage your time more effectively, sign up for this workshop today!
 
Week 2: The Science of Prioritizing
 
Social media, emails, work, school, family, friends… it's easy to feel pulled in a million different directions. In this session, we'll explore how to better manage our time and attention in the face of constant demands. You'll learn about the most powerful and effective time management strategy, one that is backed by close to 60 years of scientific research.  This strategy is so effective that it has been adopted by some of the most successful people in the world, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Elon Musk. You'll also learn about simple tools that will help you implement this strategy in your own life. We'll also cover the science of prioritizing. So, if you're ready to learn about the latest research on time management and attention, as well as some simple, yet powerful tools to help you take control of your time, then sign up for this workshop today!

 
  • 12 February - 19 February
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online

Do you procrastinate? Do you delay important tasks that need to get done? Procrastination involves a voluntary delay of an intended action, even though it may lead to negative consequences. Although academic procrastination hinders academic achievement and mental well-being, it is quite common in university students.


In this two-part workshop, you will learn about the nature and types of procrastination and the connection between procrastination and difficulty in emotional regulation. You will also learn some evidence-based strategies to overcome procrastination, including self-regulation and emotion regulation techniques.

 

Part 1: October 03, 2023 (12-1:30 PM)

Part 2: October 25, 2023 (12-1:30 PM)
 

  • 25 October
  • 12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
  • Online
Do you set excessively high standards for yourself? Are you overly critical of your performance and abilities? Are you very afraid of failure or of making mistakes? Do you measure your self-worth in terms of your achievements?

This workshop will help you recognize when perfectionism is taking over and gain strategies to reduce perfectionistic thinking and behaviours. You will learn how to strive in a way that fosters a more balanced and flexible relationship with yourself to help boost your well-being, engagement, and sense of competence.     
  • 19 February
  • 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
  • Online

Personal finances


Instead of chasing after higher returns and incurring more risk, it can make more sense to become familiar with how different investments get taxed, and how to legally minimize or eleiminate taxes due by strategically using different types of registered accounts available to you. For instance, do you know under what circumstances does an RRSP or a TFSA contribution make more sense? What are some of the most tax-efficient investments available? This webinar briefly reviews Canadian income tax basics while highlighting how the different tax brackets impact various investments and sources of income. We will also review different investment vehicles in greater detail, how they get taxed, and the most tax-efficient way to distribute various investments in different types of accounts. Lastly, we will go over how to properly track and report dividend distributions from a margin account for tax purposes.
 
  • 22 February
  • 09:00 AM - 11:00 AM
  • Online
Would you like to better understand tax slips and learn how to file your income taxes? Then this workshop is for you. We will first start with a brief overview of the Canadian tax system covering topics such as: Different types of taxes, tax brackets, and how different income gets taxed. We will review key tax slips (see list below) and show you how to make sense of them through live examples. Finally, we will review various tax credits and deductions available to you as well as show you a demo of how to use free software to file your income tax return.
 
  • 26 March
  • 03:00 PM - 05:00 PM
  • Online