R Daniel introduced Paige Fernandes:
Paige is an advocate for mental health and wellness and has led a very active lifestyle for over 10 years. This passion led her to pursue her NASM Personal Training certification in 2020. She looks for opportunities to expand and share her knowledge of wellness and personal training with others. She has co-developed and implemented a successful wellness program for the staff at the long-term care and retirement home she worked at in response to stress from the COVID-19 pandemic which was presented to associations such as AdvantAge Ontario, the Ministry of Health Community of Practice, American College of Lifestyle Medicine Conference 2021 and at networking events.
Paige's presentation today is focused on Spirituality / Gratitude. She is doing a monthly on line session for the District and the next one accessible via the District web site is April 12th.
She follows a whole health model. She explained that we are the centre with 8 dimensions of wellness around us.
Spirituality - provides meaning to our lives, not necessarily religious. But something bigger than ourselves. She encouraged us to look outside ourselves. A higher power, nature. She encouraged reflective thought such as prayer / meditation. She said religion and spirituality not the same but related. It is how we create meaning.
Gratitude is how we connect. The word is derived from latin for Grace. It is a reflection of kindness. Generous gifts. Recognize positive sources.
She explained the advantages to our health including peace of mind, positive emotions, better health and relationships.
She encouraged us to daily create a gratitude list. It helps us develop thankfulness. Write it down, think about it. Can be done at the start of end of each day. List as many things as you like. She then gave us a couple minutes to do this.
Then she had us stand and showed us 5 stretches that are good for us.