Category Archives: Altru’s Pursuit of Wellness
UND students that have opted into playing for Altru’s ULTIMATE Pursuit of Wellness will share their stories on experiences they have had while playing the game – finding a holistic approach to wellness and discovering activities in all the seven dimensions of wellness.
Active vs. Passive Reading
Dimension: Intellectual
Activity: Reading for academic success at the Student Success Center
Date: 2/25 9-3
Before attending this event I was a little apprehensive because I had no idea what this event would be about. I had thought maybe we had to read something, but I was curious if we had to read to someone or what we had to do. When I arrived the lady gave me a small paragraph to read.
It was about a procedure where you arrange items into different groups. Then, it when on to explain about facilities needed and that it is important to not overdo things. It said that at first the whole procedure will seem complicated, but soon after it will become just another facet of life. After the procedure is completed you arrange the items into groups again and eventually you will have to complete the whole cycle one again.
After I finished reading the lady asked me what the paragraph was about and I honestly couldn’t tell her. The paragraph didn’t give any evidence to what these items were, or at least I didn’t think it did. I tried to guess but I was completely wrong and then she told me it was about laundry. After she told me that it all made sense then. She explained to me that I was reading as a passive reader. Passive readers are not in control of their reading. A common passive reading experience is to “wake up” in the middle of a paragraph, wondering what you just read.
Active readers on the other hand, control the process of reading. After she informed me of this I realized that this situation has happened to me quite a bit. If I am not interested while reading I often finish and wonder what the heck I just read. The lady introduced me into the P2R Reading System that tells you to Preview, Read Actively, and Review. These are steps that can help you actively read. They are definitely something I am going to put to use.
Seven Dimensions of Wellness: Physical: Blood Pressure
This dimension of wellness involved getting your blood pressure read at the H&W Hub in the Union. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to keep up with their health and be able to see how their blood pressure varies throughout the day. I didn’t even know this was an option until going into the Health and Wellness Hub. I really enjoyed finding out my blood pressure because I have wanted to check it for a while and since I took physiology I learned about blood pressure being systolic over diastolic.
Once the blood pressure was taken, I found out it was bout 125 over 75, which is pretty good. It was nice being able to stay on campus and have my blood pressure taken. This is a good indicator at where I am with stress too. I will go in there more often to see where I am at and I am very happy to know there are resources like that on campus for everyone to use.
The Labyrinth
Dimension: Occupational
Activity: Wellness Expo (Labyrinth in the Group Exercise Room)
Date: 2/27 12-5pm
This event was one of the last events that we could attend and therefore it was a free event where we could pick any wristband we wanted. I chose occupational because I could not attend any of the occupational events available. I was a little disappointed to see that there were not more options for the occupational wristband. I would have really liked to see some events with career services, such as their resume and cover letter writing presentations.
When I saw that this event was a labyrinth I had no idea what to expect. I knew what a labyrinth was, but I didn’t know if we would be doing one on paper or if they would have an obstacle course set up for one. When we got there I was very intrigued. The labyrinth was a large mat where you just followed the lines. The lady explained that the labyrinth is an ancient symbol of spiritual journey. I had no idea that they had a spiritual purpose, that was a complete shock to me. She said that the walking the labyrinth could help to focus our minds on God or prayers. It can be as simple as to just help untangle a problem that may seem difficult by making it more clear as you walk. She said others find new insights during the walk. When I walked I just cleared my mind and tried to relax and shed all the stress from school. I do have to say that it was very relaxing and I definitely want to check out the small labyrinth in the quiet space at the Wellness Center.
Interfaith Week at the University of North Dakota
Wednesday, February 27th:
Soup & Share: 12:00 pm (Noon) – Christus Rex
Can we really love God without loving others?
Join us for soup and conversation.
Interfaith Fair at the Wellness Expo: 12:00 pm (Noon) – 5:00 pm – Wellness Center
An exciting expo open to all UND students. This is an opportunity to learn first-hand the correlation between wellness and academic success. Students will experience the 7 dimensions of wellness by visiting the exhibitors, participating in activities promoting wellness, and learning how wellness can have a positive influence on their lives.
Join us in the Spiritual Wellness section!!
Prayers in the Desert: 6:00 pm – Christus Rex
A thirty minute service of meditation and prayer.
Christian Rap and Rock Infinite Faith Music Challenge 7:30 pm – Memorial Union Loading Dock
A unique concert and singing competition. In honor of Interfaith Week and Black History Month.
Featured Performers: Carlos Williams of Sonrize – a Christian rapper, One Ten Ride – Christian Rock, and Josh Tuinder – Indie Christian Rock as seen at the Ember. Also featuring YOU as a singing competitor!
Call Multicultural Student Services (MSS) at 701-777-4259 to register.
Recycle!
Dimension: Environmental
Activity: Recycle
Sunday, February 17th
For this activity the we had to keep track of bottle tops from plastic bottle tops we had used and recycled, to seehow many bottles were being saved from the land fill. This event was kindof difficult for me because I just use a Camelbak water bottle all the time and I don’t drink pop or much of anything but water. However, it worked out that my boyfriend was visiting me the weekend of this event and he is a big gatorade drinker, so I made sure he recycled his bottles and I stole his tops. I am really happy that they had this as an event because I am a strong believer in recycling. It irritates me everytime when I see people throwing a large stack of paper away when the recycling can is right next to the garbage can. It also irritates me when people don’t use both sides of a paper, for example when people print. I wish people would realize that they could save so many pieces of paper if they printed on both sides. When I tell people they should I always get the same excuse that they don’t know how. I think that something our University could do to change this matter is by placing by each computer in the library and the Union an instruction sheet of how to print on both sides. I come from a very small town and we don’t even have recycling, but I still make family recycle. For us to do this we have to drive it about an hour away to a city where they have a recycling plant. As far as plastic goes, it scares me that throughout the world we approximately throw away 1500 bottles every second. These plastic bottles take 700 years just to start decomposing and up to 1000 years to fully decompose. At what point are we not going to have any room for all of our waste? I am happy that the University has a pretty strong recycling program, so I hope that students take advantage of that.
recycling bottle tops!
Dimension: Environmental
Activity: Save plastic bottle tops to keep track of how many bottles are saved from the landfill.
Activity Calendar Date: February 17
I collected plastic bottle tops for a couple of weeks to complete this wellness dimension. I do not drink much pop, and I rarely have bottled pop. Also, I take advantage of the filtered water fountains around campus to keep my water bottle full. Therefore, my bottle tops came mainly from my empty milk jugs and bottle caps that I removed from plastic bottles in recycle containers on campus. I brought in a couple dozen caps to the Wellness Hub.
Completing the environmental dimension completed my Pursuit of Wellness Challenge. Completing each activity and reflecting on each activity in this blog have helped me to think more critically about each area of wellness as it applies to my life and to the community around me.
Workout
Dimension: Physical
Activity: Workout
Monday, February 18th
This activity was normally supposed to be completed on President’s Day, the day there was no class, but even if we would have had class it would have been cancelled. This was the day of one of the huge storms we have had in ND, but that wasn’t about to stop me from working out; however, the Wellness Center had to close. Since the Wellness Center was closed, I was able to complete this challenge the next day. I normally lift weights with a friend every morning at about 6:45am, but that day I told her that we were going to use the new Circuit Deck instead. Neither of us had used the Circuit Deck yet so we were really curious about it. Early in the morning is a great time to work out, I recommend it because no one is there. My friend and I had the Circuit deck completely to ourselves, so that was really nice. I have only done an ab circuit once before when I worked out with a friend at Planet Fitness, but I have never done a full body circuit like this one. I definitely liked it alot because it kept you moving. One of my biggest problems is that I take too long of a time resting between different exercises and then I end up spending too long of a time at the gym. Sometimes I have to skip some of the exercises I want to do just because I don’t have enough time. The new Circuit Deck gets rid of the problem with the timer it has. I also like this new Circuit Deck because it gives people a different place to do weights, but in a more secluded area.
Recycling at UND
Activity: Recycle Today! Keep track of the plastic bottle tops to see how many bottles were saved from the land fill! (Bring Bottle tops into HUB)
Sunday, February 17th
Even though this event was on Sunday, the Health & Wellness HUB in the union is only open weekdays 8am-4:30pm at Memorial Union. To receive the WOW you had to bring in bottle tops of bottles you recycled. Since I use a water bottle I brought in bottle tops that weren’t as healthy as I would like (coca cola) that I have from time to time especially during busy exam weeks. I really do enjoy how much the university has recycling containers, especially the big one they have outside of my apartment. This really encourages me to recycle as it’s so much easier than how it was in Wyoming by having to separate everything out and break everything down. It was also pretty cool to check out the H&W HUB as I am a physical therapy student and it’s nice to know there are additional health related resources.
DONE WITH 7 EVENTS! I definitely want to check out meditation next week as I’m sure I’ll need a chance to clear my mind since I have quite a few exams.
Taking a break in the Zen Den
Activity: Take a break in the Zen Den, Wellness Center
Friday, February 15th at 12:00pm
I decided to check out the Zen Den for the spiritual dimension, but I am not sure how spiritual I felt about it. I feel the room really lacked instructions and had too much clutter to feel peaceful. There were a ton of stress pamphlets and a TV/computer in there but I was unsure of what exactly you were supposed to do in the room. There was a massage chair in there that felt fantastic however. It was nice to get a decent back massage after a hard week of exams but I’m not sure how “spiritual” I felt about it. I think having soft continuous tracks playing and maybe adjusting the lighting some more would feel more peaceful. Doing away with all the clutter on the stand such as the technology and papers everywhere would be nice as I want to feel at peace and not be in front of any screens. I did like the little zen garden set but there were some odd things in the cabinets and they were mostly empty. If you’re looking for a great free massage and some pamphlets on how to manage stress the zen den is a great place for that. I think I’ll have to give that meditation event a try for another spiritual event so I can speculate more about my role in this world.
I’ll also have to check out the quiet lounge down the hall next time I’m there for some peaceful thinking.
Attend a worship service – Spiritual
Spiritual
Attended church at Whittenberg Lutheran Chapel
Sunday February 3 at 10:30 am
I have attended Whittenberg Lutheran Church since the beginning of the year. I have made some really nice friends at church and I have gotten to know Pastor B. as well. I never know what Pastor B. is going to preach on until I get there, but his sermons are usually very interesting.This week he preached on the authority of the Word and the role it plays in our lives. I also attended bible study after the service where we were served homemade lasagna and salad. The bible study was very interesting, we discussed marriage and a engaged couple were having a fun time making fun of one another. I really like going to Whittenberg, not only because I get hear more about the my faith but I get to connect to fellow Christians. I think by regularly connecting with other Christians and to my faith I will have the the support and comfort to get me through a tough week of classes.
