Ways to Flourish

We are back with Part 2 of our Consent & Boundaries series Hannah and Katie.  Today they dive in to helping you determine your boundaries, and what you like and dislike during sexual intimacy it can be helpful to spend some time alone exploring.

Resources mentioned:  Betty Dodson’s Book, Sex for One

For more on the W&M Office of Health Promotion, check out wm.edu/ohp.

We are excited to bring you this 2-part series with Assistant Director in the Office of Health Promotion Hannah Artile-Stravers and W&M Junior Katie Grotewiel.  In part 1, she will discuss sexuality as a part of who we are and answer the questions:  What is consent?  Why is it important?  How do we know if our partner expresses consent? 

For more on the W&M Office of Health Promotion, check out wm.edu/ohp.

Have you ever wondered what exactly Reiki is?  Adjunct Lecturer of Mindfulness Meditation & Wellness Professional Martha Rouleau helps answer this question for us and provides us some ways we can incorporate presence in to our self-care routines.

On today's episode, we sit down with Wellness Professional, Massage Practitioner and Alum Grace Anderson on the power of touch.  During this time of COVID, this lack of touch is impacting our overall health.  She shares with us that our bodies are missing that exchange of core energy from one person to another and provides us with a few tools to help facilitate the mind-body healing during this time.

We sit down with Art Therapist Sarah Balascio and Freshman Raven Pierce as they introduce us to Art Therapy.  Sarah shares what a typical Creative Arts class may consist of while Raven shares her experience as a freshman on campus during a pandemic and what drew her to joining the Virtual Creative Arts class.  To find offerings of either Virtual or In-Person Creative Arts classes, check out wellness.wm.edu today.

We are excited to be back for the second season of the Ways to Flourish podcast! We are kicking off Season 2 with a series of self-care episodes.  Joining us will be our Art Therapist Sarah Balascio, wellness professionals Martha Rouleau & Grace Anderson, Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist Hannah Artiles-Stravers, Yoga Therapists Patti DeBlass & Cindy Crace, and W&M alum Kelly Gorman.  This is just a little glimpse of what we have in store this season so make sure to check out our new episodes every Tuesday & Thursday!  And for more in formation in regards to the W&M Health & Wellness Center, check out www.wm.edu/wellness.

As we have all faced many challenges during this shortened semester, we would like to thank so many people for helping us get the Ways to Flourish podcast up and running.  We also want to thank you, the listener, for tuning in to our episodes each week!  It has been so much fun to sit down and talk with so many individuals in our community on ways we can continue grow our knowledge in the health and wellness world.  If there are any topics you would like to hear next semester, please feel free to email us at [email protected].  While we take this "planned pause" we invite you to take a look at all the resources on the W&M Virtual Health & Wellness page.  We hope everyone continues to stay safe and we will see you back here next semester!

As the holiday season approaches, giving gratitude can be received in many ways. While showing appreciation may be viewed mostly in a positive light, there is also some form of discomfort that also may occur.  Dr. Kelly Crace and Wellness Ambassador Sam Litt talk to us about some of those comforts and share with us different ways we can rethink gratitude. 

We talk again with Dr. Carina Sudarsky-Gleiser about how isolation and self-criticism can have an impact on your mental health and provides some ways to help "silence the dinosaur" with your self-care routine. Check out the Counseling Center on the W&M Wellness App. 

Sophomore Ian DeHaven chats about caring for himself, honesty and the real work done at the Wellness Center.