Human Connection & Health - A Workshop
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This week, I had the pleasure of facilitating a workshop on the topic of “Human Connection and Health” as part of the University of Ottawa’s annual Wellness Week. The workshop was designed for participants to develop a better understanding how health and physical activity can be integrated with their goals, relationships and overall mindset by focusing on three pillars of human connection - physical activity (connecting with our bodies), social connection (connecting with others), and self-care (connecting with yourself). This is important because research has shown that these three pillars of human connection keep us happy, healthy and thriving.
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We started by looking at how physical activity, social connection and self-care were connected to the three pillars of human connection.
To do this, participants were asked to work in groups using coloured post-its to write down a definition of each concept and to provide examples of them. They were encouraged to use as many post-its as needed and then stick them on the wall under a sign for each - blue was assigned to physical activity, orange was assigned to social connection, and pink to self-care.
Next, each group was assigned a colour of post-it and asked to move those post-its to their corresponding pillar. If one of the post-its fits into multiple pillars, they were to copy it onto another same coloured post-it and place it under both!
Physical activity was defined as any form of bodily movement, including - but not limited to - running, walking, yoga, cycling, “gymming”, swimming and gardening.
Social connection was understood as networks, relationships and feelings of belonging to a group as well as a closeness towards other people or beings (including animals!). Examples of social connections included joining clubs, hanging out, going to the movies, and group dinners.
Finally, self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Examples included setting personal goals, reading, yoga, and taking a bath.
What became evident through this activity was that the three pillars of human connection were not mutually exclusive and many examples of human connection could fit under several pillars.
After developing a shared understanding of each pillar, participants were asked to assess and evaluate their current levels of human connection.
This activity involved two parts:
On the left side of the worksheet, participants were asked to think about what kinds of activities they were currently doing to connect with their body, with others, and with themselves as well as how often they did them.
On the right side of the sheet, they were asked to reflect upon their goals and write down what they would like to keep the same and what they would like to change or improve upon.
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After we set our goals, we discussed some of the obstacles that people encounter (generally) when it comes to goal setting, such as:
Having lofty, unrealistic goals
Emphasizing quantity over quality
Time! We’re too busy!
Lack of motivation and accountability
Financial and other resources
Not having a plan…
And that’s what the remainder of the workshop addressed - developing a plan and taking concrete steps so that we could achieve our human connection goals and, ultimately, integrate connection more fully into our lives.
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Activity 3 asked participants to break each of their human connection goals up into SMART goals - that is, goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Specific goals are clear and usually answer the five “W” questions:
What do I want to accomplish?
Why is the goal important?
Who is involved?
Where is it located?
Which resources are involved?
Measurable goals help us track our progress and identify when a goal is complete. They answer the questions:
How much?
How many?
Achievable goals stretch our limits and push us outside our comfort zone but still remain possible. They usually answer the questions:
How can I accomplish this goal?
How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints?
Realistic goals can be achieved with the given available resources (including time) and are accompanied by a belief that they can be accomplished. Think about:
Is the goal realistic and within reach?
Is the goal reachable given the time and resources at my disposal?
Am I willing and able to commit to the goal?
Timely goals have an end date or a deadline to focus on and work towards. Timely - or time-bound - goals usually address the “When” or “By when” type of questions.
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One of the things that we hear most often is how busy we are. Many of us have work, school, extra-curricular activities, hobbies, appointments, and other obligations that are pulling us in all kinds of different directions, often simultaneously. With all of these competing activities and commitments, it can be hard to prioritize.
Calendar template from www.blankcalendarpages.com
Under the premise that we have more time than we think we do, the next activity that participants did was to map out their weekly schedule.
Participants were encouraged to start with things that have to be in the same place every week - and to put these in pen! Then, they were to colour code, to be flexible (use pencil!) and to leave space for the unpredictable and the unknown.
Once everything is mapped out, participants were asked to take a look at their schedule and reflect on the following questions:
What time do you actually have?
Is everything in your schedule essential?
What day(s) or time(s) do you want to keep just for you?
Where can your goals start to fit in?
Sample weekly schedule
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While time is one of our biggest constraints and obstacles, there are other reasons why we don’t achieve our goals. The final activity of the workshop asked participants to work together in small groups to discuss and develop at least one strategy that could be used to overcome obstacles in each of these categories:
Accountability
Motivation + setbacks
Cost
Ultimately, this workshop sought to help participants not only develop a better understanding of how human connection - in all its forms - is important to our health and wellness, but also how to incorporate more of it into their lives! To do so, we worked on prioritizing human connection by setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them, which includes creating strategies and tools to overcome obstacles.
One of the best ways to do this is to focus on the process and our progress - not just the results.