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Thrive

Thrive is a weeklong series of free events to build positive mental health on campus!

The Student Wellness Centre works with partners across the university to bring students a week of workshops, social events, giveaways and more, all dedicated to supporting your mental health! Thrive runs every October and March on both the Waterloo and Brantford campuses. Laurier Human Resources also coordinates Thrive activities for faculty and staff. 

The goals of Thrive are to:

  • Improve mental health literacy: the understanding of how to obtain and maintain positive mental health with healthy habits and self-care skills.
  • Foster a caring, supportive community.
  • Promote the resources to help you Thrive as student.
  • Encourage a proactive, preventative approach to your wellness.

Why Participate in Thrive?

Your mental health matters! Mental health IS health. You cannot excel if you are not well. No matter where you are in your journey, whether you are thriving or surviving, we are here to support you and your wellness. We want to help you explore your path to mental wellbeing, so you can Thrive at Laurier!

Winter Thrive Events

Thrive Week will return March 4 - 8, 2024! Stay tuned for our calendar of events to be announced early February!

Check out our events in Waterloo, Brantford and online.

Waterloo Campus

Brantford Campus 

Online

The Six Pillars of Mental Health

Our wellness is impacted by many different factors, and is personal to ourselves; everyone has different ways of boosting their mental health. Wellness and mental health are also holistic, which means that many different parts of who we are and the different dimensions of wellness impact our wellbeing. We encourage taking a proactive and holistic approach to promote and protect your mental health. There are multiple approaches you can use to build and sustain good mental health, and we recommend exploring them all!

We have organized our Thrive events into six pillars. Each pillar contributes to our mental health in different ways. You can participate in Thrive events that touch on all six pillars of mental health.

Learn: We can learn new skills, habits, and strategies to impact our mental health - from academic success to information about mental health.

Connect: Social connections encourage us to be part of a caring, supportive community.

Relax: Sleep, rest and relaxation are crucial for reducing stress and functioning at our best.

Nourish: Nutrition fuels our mind as well as our bodies.

Create: Being playful and creative can increase positive emotions and confidence, while reducing our stress.

Move: Movement has proven benefits for our mental health, from reducing feelings of anxiety to increasing resilience.

Instagram Contest

Be sure to follow us @LaurierWellness on Instagram and watch for our contest posted March 4th! You could win a $150 gift card to well.ca! Check out our Instagram page for the details.

Step to the Top Challenge – Prizes to be won!

Creating healthy wellness habits can help you improve and sustain good mental health!
Laurier's
 Sun Life Centre for Healthy Communities is hosting an exciting challenge, to help you set, and stick to, a healthy physical fitness challenge tailored just for you! We will be using an app called MoveSpring, connected to your wearable device or smartphone, to track your activity. Sign up any time during Thrive Week, participate for as many days as you can between March 4th and 31st, and you’ll be entered to win some awesome prizes!

How to participate:

  1. Download the MoveSpring app
  2. Sign up for Step Contest using Organization Code SunLifeCHC2024 (or use this join link) between March 4th and 8th. The Challenge will run until March 31, 2024.
  3. In the app, click “confirm” that your organization is Sun Life Centre for Healthy Centres, and set up your profile.
  4. Click "Set challenge goal" and enter the number of steps you are challenging yourself to take each day (between 5,000 and 15,000 steps). 
  5. Get your friends together and compete for the top spot. Click "Join or create a team" and join an existing team (maximum 15 members) or create your own team and invite your friends to join that team name. 
  6. Record your progress each day in the MoveSpring app to be credited in the challenge. We’ll be sharing tips on how to keep up with your throughout the four weeks. Plus, try to maintain a daily Streak during the challenge to stay consistent. 
  7. Burn it to earn it! There will be weekly prizes awarded to users who are meeting their step goals, top steppers, teams with the highest daily average, and users who are the most engaged in the chat. These users will be entered in a draw for a chance to win a $25-50 gift card.

FAQ’s: 

  1. Who can participate?  The challenge is open to all Laurier students, faculty, staff, and members of the public. We understand sometimes it can be difficult to be motivated to increase your physical activity levels during the winter months, so the goal for the challenge is to help our community to get active together and have lots of fun while doing it!
  2. What devices can I use to participate? MoveSpring connects to a variety of fitness tracking devices including Fitbit, Garmin, Withings, and Apple Watch. To view a full list of connectable devices click hereDon’t have a smartphone or wearable device such as a Fitbit, Apple Watch or Garmin? No problem. There’s an option to record your daily activity manually when you sign-up. 
  3. How will prize winners be notified? You will be notified on the MoveSpring app as well as be contacted by email from the Sun Life Centre for Healthy Communities team.
  4. What do I do if I have issues on the app? Check out the MoveSpring Help Centerhow-to videos, or contact their support team. To contact MoveSpring Support in the mobile app, tap the menu bars at the top left corner of the dashboard and then tap the green Message support button at the bottom of the utility panel. On web, click the blue chat icon at the bottom right of the screen. You can also reach the MoveSpring Support team at: help@movespring.com. MoveSpring Support is online Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm Central US time. If reaching out outside those hours, support will respond during the next business day.
  5. Have more questions about the Step To The Top Challenge? Please reach out to SunLifeCHC@wlu.ca.

Feedback

Share your feedback about Thrive:

Once you've attended a Thrive event, use our Thrive Feedback Form  - with prizes to be won for sharing your thoughts! We appreciate your feedback so we can continue to improve Thrive!

Winners can select their prize from the following:

  • an airfryer
  • an AeroGarden
You can submit a form for every Thrive event you attend; every submission is an entry to win a prize!

Share your feedback about Mental Health at Laurier:

Have feedback regarding other mental health programming throughout the year? Whether it is a new event or workshop you would like to see, or certain topics you would like to be covered, please let us know. Submit your ideas using our mental health suggestion box.

The History of Thrive

Thrive began at the University of British Columbia in 2009. Laurier adopted the program in 2017 and now runs Thrive every Fall and Winter term. Thrive is overseen by Laurier's Mental Health Advisory Committee, and incorporates student input and feedback when planning the week.

Thrive Partners

Thrive events are brought to you by the following partners:

  • Student Wellness Centre
  • Athletics and Recreation
  • Student Success
  • Writing Services
  • The Sustainability Office
  • Residence
  • Career Development Centre
  • LSPIRG
  • Centre for Student Equity Diversity and Inclusion
  • Laurier Centre for Women in Science (WinS)
  • Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management
  • Your Students' Union
  • Accessible Learning Centre
  • The Dean of Students Office
  • Martin Luther University College
  • Mindful Campuses
  • Sun Life Centre for Healthy Communities
  • Money Management

If you are a campus partner interested in collaborating with Thrive Week, contact Sarina Wheeler on the Waterloo campus, and contact Claire Howarth on the Brantford campus.

Follow Us

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, for mental health and wellness information, prizes, trivia and more!

Contact Us

For questions about Thrive, please reach out to the Wellness Education team at wellnessed@wlu.ca.