Despite having “Wellness Advocate” in my LinkedIn bio, I have a complicated relationship with wellness and wellness culture. Like me, you might silently envy your friends who go to hot yoga every week, have a fabulous meal prep routine, or go backpacking in Squamish every chance they get. But me? Well, I don’t really have “a routine”, even after spending the past 10 years trying to find one.
So, if you’re looking for a blueprint to help you achieve wellness, I’m sorry that this blog post is not where you’ll find it! But I will be sharing my personal learnings and tips for student wellness that will help you survive (and thrive) during grad school.
What Is Wellness?
First thing’s first: what is wellness? There isn’t one singular definition. Depending on who you ask, there are anywhere from four to nine dimensions of wellness. But don’t get intimidated! Just to give you a taste, here are some broad categories to get you thinking:
- Physical Wellness
- Mental Wellness
- Emotional Wellness
- Social Wellness
I am a big believer that you, and only YOU, can define what wellness means to you. For some, it could be achieving concrete goals such as running a 10k. For others, it could be a subtle feeling of gratitude, acceptance, or happiness. Before you read any further, in the next 30 seconds, I encourage you to reflect on your own personal definition of wellness.
- What resonates with you?
- What do you personally strive to find more of in your life?
Tip 1: Find the Right Activity for You
Pop quiz: What’s the #1 best wellness activity out there? The one that you do consistently. You might have heard of the phrase, “consistency is key”. In my opinion, consistency boils down into two parts:
- Enjoyment
- Convenience
Enjoyment is a no-brainer, but convenience also helps to make the activity doable when your battery is drained or if you are in a time of crisis. It’s easiest to cultivate healthy habits when you’re feeling your best, but in my experience, it makes a much bigger impact on your overall wellbeing to keep it up during periods of stress (hello, exams!).
You can do small things to make an activity more convenient or accessible, such as pre-packing your gym bag and designating a spot for it near the door, or downloading a meditation app (I like InsightTimer!) to use while on transit.
Note: There’s no expectation to immediately find the perfect activity and stick to it, no matter what. As changes occur in your life and within yourself, it’s completely natural for your “go-to” activity to change. (Because, really, who cares if you used to do yoga and now you love pottery?)
Tip 2: Meet Yourself Where You Are
Despite what the health and wellness industry would like you to think, there are no pre-requisites for a happier you. You don’t need to buy the latest gadgets or apps, and you certainly don’t need to be an expert to reap the benefits of your wellness practice! I invite you to let go of your expectations and practice embracing beginner’s mindset.
Tip 3: Take “One Tiny Step”
It sounds cliché but it’s totally true. I admit, I used to fantasize about completely reinventing myself to someone who had the “perfect routine”. I ended up feeling paralyzed and didn’t want to start in fear of disappointing myself by not doing everything exactly as I envisioned.
Instead, set yourself up for success (whatever that looks like for you!) by doing one tiny step that gets you moving in that direction. Let’s say you want to go on a walk, but you feel intimidated. What’s the tiniest step you can think of? Get dressed. Then walk over to your door. Then put your shoes on… So on and so forth. Don’t overthink it, and just keep going and build your momentum one tiny step at a time.
Tip 4: Help Others Help You
Along your wellness journey, learn to advocate for yourself and help others help you. It might sound scary, but a little goes a long way when you start a conversation with loved ones or trusted friends. Invite them to share their suggestions or help you stay accountable to your personal goals. If needed, it’s always a good idea to clearly communicate your intentions and adjust expectations or boundaries to support your needs.
Tip 5: Be Kind to Yourself
Change is hard! You might have heard the saying that “change is not a linear process”. I would take it a step further and say: it’s not linear, it’s cyclical. What do I mean? Habits stick, including ones you’re hoping to change. Without getting too wordy, the “Transtheoretical Model”, also known as the “Stages of Change”, describes this perfectly.
You’ll notice that there’s a stage of “Relapse”. This is normal and absolutely part of the process. Relapse actually shows that you’re making significant changes that are fundamentally changing your life!
In my experience, the wellness journey is not so much about what you do, but how you do it. This includes how you move through tough times and come out on the other side. During these times, I invite you to offer yourself some reassurance – it’s not the end of the world, and you’re just doing your best, and your best is enough. And if you don’t believe me, ask your favourite person and they’ll say the same thing.
Bonus Tip: Release Tension in Your Back & Shoulders
And now for something completely different! I absolutely had to share these two “hacks” since they are essential for students, or really anyone, who spends a lot of time sitting at their desk. The best part is all you need is a tennis ball.
Soothe Back Aches
- Stand next to a wall, place the ball between you and the wall, and roll away any knots. Try it for your lower, mid, and upper back.
- Hot tip: if you find the tennis ball to be too soft, a lacrosse ball is awesome and costs $5-10 at a sports store.
Release Stiff Shoulders
- Lay flat on the ground and place the tennis ball in the crevice between your spine and shoulder blade. While keeping your arm straight, very gently move your arm up and around, tracing large circles with your fingertips.
And that’s all, folks! I hope these tips for student wellness were helpful and that you feel excited to start, or continue, your own wellness journey.
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About the Author
Juliet Feng, a Chinese-Canadian from Vancouver, is currently pursuing her MBA at the Beedie School of Business. After earning her Bachelor’s in Music Performance at McGill University, her creative focus shifted to digital media. For three years, she served as the Social Media Manager for Jan & Jul, her family’s mid-size ethical children’s outdoor clothing brand. In this role, she led marketing strategy, created content on various platforms, managed copywriting for digital and print media, and represented the company on live broadcasts.
At Beedie, Juliet founded the Student Wellness Club, hosting weekly student-led meditations and speaker events to enhance wellbeing within the Beedie community. Additionally, she takes pride in serving as the videographer for this year’s BC MBA Games.
For meditation sessions and speaker events held at Segal Graduate School, connect with Juliet on LinkedIn to get involved in the Beedie Wellness Club (running until August 2024).