By Sima Chowdhury
We're starting the mental health conversation on the blog a bit earlier this year as HSCA wants to encourage people to start thinking about the importance of mental fitness before Mental Health week in May.
Programs at Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association speak to healthy living through their myriad of programs. Fresh Routes offers lower cost produce, and Community Walkabouts encourage people to go outside to explore their neighborhoods. Beyond eating well and exercising, exploring creativity and social wellbeing are also components of good health. Make Mindfully is a project I started with my friend Abir as we both had similar experiences using artistic pursuits to promote mental health. Since 2019, we have offered programs at HSCA as part of Neighbour Night, even online. Usually, after a healthy dinner, we would do an activity and a mindfulness piece around self-acceptance and gratitude for being able to come together as a group. During the pandemic, when we couldn't meet in person, I would screen various films and have a short discussion about them if people wanted to chat.
A Naloxone kit. Visit the AHS website for more details on how to find Naloxone kits.
For Mental Health week in May this year, we have a special presentation. As a provisional social worker, I wanted to highlight some of the concerns people in the neighborhood have expressed. Before we do our usual craft activity, I'll demonstrate how to use a Naxolone kit to reverse an opioid overdose. Because my practicum is in the Beltline area, I always have a kit in my backpack just in case something happens on my walk to work. The kits are available for free from local pharmacies. The pharmacist will teach you how to use it, and inside the kit, there is a website where you can refresh your memory with a video. The ones available at the pharmacy are injectable, but I will show the nasal ones as well. The demonstration doesn't take long, and it's great to learn together because then we can discuss questions or comments people may have.
In my first practicum, I learned about Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) using a combination of lectures and hands-on crafts. DBT is a mental health intervention based on mindfulness and cognitive behaviour therapy to help people emotionally regulate. One part is to accept who we are and the other part is to make small changes with the intention to cope with difficult emotions better. We are the product of both our environment and our genes, which we will explore through our May activity.
If you can't wait to see us, come to our April 6th HSCA event, we'll be making deodorant. Hope to see you there.
Neighbour Night runs every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. Check out our calendar for all HSCA programs, recreation, and events.
About Sima: Sima is HSCA’s Community Connector Volunteer and Makemindfully co-creator. Sima is also the author of ‘Mindful Meditation’ available on Amazon. You can check out her author profile here. Check out Make Mindfully’s Instagram and Facebook page to follow along. You can also check out Sima’s ‘Spotlight’ on our blog from 2022.