We asked, you answered: Flourishing tips from the UCalgary community

As part of UFlourish, we asked students, faculty and staff to share their tips on how to flourish during the academic year, and they gave us some fantastic responses on our Instagram account. From self care to study tips, we found common threads to share for a thriving campus.

Tip #1: Make time for yourself

It’s easy to deprioritize yourself when school and work deadlines weigh heavily. That’s why it’s even more important to squeeze in moments to care for yourself. Self care can be different for everyone, from developing a nighttime routine that helps your sleep and organizes your morning, to carving out time for relaxation activities. Embrace the idea of taking time for your own health and find something that works for you.

Tip #2: Regulate your body

Eating, sleeping, and keeping active. It seems so easy, but maintaining regular eating, sleeping, and exercise can be difficult when we have so many competing priorities. Great tips that came up included:

• Find ways to stay active that bring you joy. That could be taking a walk outside or switching up how to sweat: Alternating a gym workout with swimming, a dance class, or a rock climbing session. 
• Enjoy good food. Sometimes that means healthy, balanced eating, sometimes that means rewarding yourself with something you enjoy eating, that nourishes you in other ways. 
• Help out your body’s internal clock and log off electronics well before bedtime. The kind of stimulus that comes from these devices can really impact the quality of one’s sleep.  

Tip #3: Stay connected

Connecting with self, family and friends were other great wellness tips we saw come in. From calling your family when you feel homesick, to scheduling a coffee to check in with a friend. Tipsters also advocated for checking in on yourself too. Taking that extra minute to identify emotions and thoughts sounds like a good step along the way to processing what life might be throwing at us.  

Tip #4: Study smart

Tips flooded in on how to manage time and study smarter. From finding the right study space for you, to making the most of the time you have, people shared a ton of great tidbits. Here are just a few:

• Spread out your work to stave off overwhelming feelings. Complete the tasks you can during slower times of the year, and break studying into manageable chunks with rewarding breaks.
• Make study spaces work for you. We loved seeing ideas like finding a favourite spot on campus, to organizing a good study zone in your home.
• Experiencing significant challenges in school? Visit Student Success Centre or Student Accessibility Services so they can work with you to address hurdles before they get too big.

Thanks to all who took the time to share your tips for wellness. We’re all in this together. If these were helpful but you’re looking for more, check out our peer support programs, offered through Student Wellness Services. For additional mental health resources, click here.

UFlourish is hosted by Student Wellness Services and Staff Wellness with the support of the Campus Mental Health Strategy. The University of Calgary’s Campus Mental Health Strategy is a bold commitment to the importance of mental health and well-being of our university family. Our vision is to be a community where we care for each other, learn and talk about mental health and well-being, receive support as needed, and individually and collectively realize our full potential. Find support and connect to the strategy.