Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 120 Date: May 14, 2024

Participants: John Webster, Elise Seifert, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster Guest: Rachel Runge

Start Times and Segments:

[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: The Canadian Mental Health Association gave a great tip – share a compliment. It’s free to give someone an authentic compliment and it brings joy. Give it a try.

[0:10:38] Expanding Minds Interview: [Physical and General Wellness] We interview Rachel Runge, who tended to compare herself to others. It’s not surprising after she pursued a career as a lawyer. It’s competitive, staring with the competitive process to get into law school. Throughout law school, we’re reminded that it’s going to be difficult to find articling positions. Once we begin as a lawyer, we’re measured heavily on metrics. Rachel got advice to stop comparing herself to others and make small improvements in herself week over week and year over year. She thought, “That sounds nice, but how do you do it?” Meanwhile, she started taking group fitness classes at Orangetheory, which includes benchmark tests, such as a 1-mile run or 2,000 metre row. She saw her performance improve over time. In the middle of a run, the mentor’s advice hit her like a ton of bricks – to make small improvements in herself over time, and not to compare herself to others. She was running beside a friend who was trying to hit a faster time target. Rachel realized, “This is what it is”. She was just as excited for myself to hit her own target as she was for her friend to hit the faster target. That’s what Rachel’s mentor meant when she said stop comparing yourself to others. Check-in and see whether you’re doing better than you were last time. Then it resonated.

[0:26:57] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Starving Artist – a ringing phone woke Cameron up to great news from a student. She had a breakthrough with her voice training and wanted to share. It gave Cameron a lift.

[0:30:21] Move That Body: Move that Body – We’re often stuck at home. We found an article with suggestions about how to move while at home.

[0:36:29] Running Popup: We’re seeing in our podcast conversations and interviews that becoming well is work, but it’s not a mystery. Perusing our website’s archives page shows lots of examples.

[0:38:21] Flipside of the Coin: Partners in a relationship have different interests. It helps us to give space and time to our partner, so they can enjoy things you may not enjoy.

Guest Information: Rachel Runge is a self-described newfound fitness enthusiast.  Her interest in fitness began in October 2022 when a mentor and friend suggested she give group fitness a chance at Orangetheory Fitness. In addition to the physical benefits of regular physical activity, she identified new ways of managing a demanding profession as she sets goals to push her fitness to new levels. Rachel is a lawyer who started her career in 2012. Since 2019 she’s been a lawyer at Gowling WLG, now with a focus on the regulation of insurance in Canada.  She’s on the Board of Directors for the Hamilton Lawyers Club and for Wilfrid Laurier Alumni Association.  Mentorship has been an important to Rachel in finding personal satisfaction in her career. Rachel has been a formal mentor to articling students and informal mentor to law students and junior lawyers.  Outside the office, she volunteers her time with local high school students and law students in the Laurier/Sussex joint degree program.

Rachel’s Gowling WLG bio page: Rachel Runge

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Thanks for joining us, (-(-_(-_-)_-)-)   Your wellness check-in team John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie