Sleep Well Challenge (2021)

30-day 'Sleep Well' Challenge April 15 - May 15

Do you find yourself saying, “I’m tired” and yet, not falling asleep well at night?  Is tossing and turning your biggest form of exercise?  You are not alone.  There are many reasons sleep can be disrupted. 

This 30 day Sleep Well challenge is to help change or support your healthy sleep habits and hopefully help get you, or keep you, on track so you wake up feeling ready for a new day. 

This challenge will run from April 15 and run through May 15th. Please sign up by April 9th so I can have your materials ready and get them to you for the start date.

All participants to sign up will receive a sleep tracker and motivational emails each week. The first 25 participants to sign up will also receive a Sleep Well Kit that includes a drawstring bag, one sleep journal, an eye mask & ear plugs, and a lavender lotion.

To earn your 10 PATHpoints you will need to complete a simple survey at the end of the 30 days.  

Please add your name and preferred email address to the list attached. 

You can still participate and earn the points even if you do not get a Sleep Well kit.

(Angela Moulton)

Walk/Run Challenge "30 miles, 30 days": April 23-May 23

30 Miles, 30 Days

Who's up for it? Everyone?! That's what I thought. We are the Winooski Walkers and we can do this! All the information you need is listed below and included in the attachment.

You will earn 10 PATH points towards the 200 points needed for a $100  L.L. Bean gift card. 

Here are the important details:

1. Walk, jog or run one mile a day, everyday for 30 days starting on April 23!

2. By completing this challenge, you earn 10 PATH points towards your gift card.

3. This program is being run by Come Alive Outside! And they will be giving out prizes to lucky participants.

What do you need to do:

• Register here (https://comealiveoutside.com/mile-a-day/) by Friday, March 26!!!! This Friday!!!!
• On the registration form, type Winooski School District for our school name and Winooski Walkers for our team name!
• Materials will be mailed to those who register.  When the challenge begins, you will walk each day and track your mileage in the log book provided. 
• Track your walking/running miles every day from April 23 to May 23.
• At the end of the 30 days, you will turn in your total miles walked to me (lgraves@wsdvt.org), your Team Leader. I will submit our school's total miles to Come Alive Outside program and hopefully we'll win some cool prizes in addition to earning PATH points!

Let me know if you want to join or if you have any questions about this challenge and/or earning more PATH points.

Laura Graves, Wellness Leader

Stay Hydrated Challenge: March 8-April 4

Stay Hydrated Challenge

Hey everyone! I need help. I have got to get myself to take the time to drink some water during the day. So, I’m going to run the Stay Hydrated Challenge to give myself the boost and incentive I need to drink my water. You are all welcome to join me and if you do, you will earn 10 PATHpoints towards the 200 needed for a $100  L.L. Bean gift card. 

I have found that I am drinking much less water this year. I used to drink 1-2 bottles of water a day while at school. Now I find I take 1 sip. Just one sip - all day! It’s crazy! Over the next 30 days I’m going to try to get back on track and take better care of myself by staying hydrated. 

Here is the skinny on the hydration challenge:

1. A 30 day challenge sponsored by your wellness team and ReArch (thanks for the water bottles!)

2. By completing this challenge you earn 10 PATH points towards your gift card

3. ReArch is providing water bottles for the first 30 people who sign up!

What do you need to do:

1. Let Nan (njohnson@wsdvt.org) know you want to join by Sunday, March 7

2. Set a personal goal to increase your water intake. 

3. Answer one quick survey at the end of 30 days to earn your points.

This Challenge runs from March 8 - April 4.

Let me know if you want to join or if you have any questions about this challenge and/or earning more PATH points.

Nan

Indoor Fitness Options

Here are some video collections for Indoor Fitness:

• UVM Med Center Community Fitness These workouts are great for beginners or those who need various adaptations.
  (On a personal note: the instructors are leaders for the Steps to Wellness program that I (jaycie) participated in for recovery after my breast cancer surgery. These exercises helped in my personal journey to strengthen and recover.)
  
  
• The Edge Sports & Fitness  Group fitness classes recorded (on Facebook)
  
  
• Pahla Bowers "Make peace with your post menopausal body"
  
  
• Orange Theory Fitness: Many resources, but scroll down to the at-home fitness section
  
  
• HASfit: Heart And Soul fitness, with over 1000 workouts tailored to many different levels.
  
  
• Kukuwa Fitness African dance fitness
  
  

Healthy Living Guide 2020-21

The 2020-21 Healthy Living Guide has been published by the Harvard School for Public Health.

In this issue

Nutrition and immunity:

• Understanding the body’s immune system

• Does an immune-boosting diet exist?

• The role of the microbiome

• A closer look at vitamin and herbal supplements

• 8 tips to support a healthy immune system

A blueprint for building healthy meals

Food feature: lentils 

Strategies for eating well on a budget

Practicing mindful eating

What is precision nutrition?

Diet reviews:

• Ketogenic diet

• Intermittent fasting

• Gluten-free

Staying Active:

• 10 tips to keep moving

• Exercise safety

• Spotlight on walking for exercise

Stress and health:

• How does chronic stress affect eating patterns?

• Ways to help control stress

Sleep:

• How much sleep do we need?

• Why do we dream?

• Sleep deficiency and health

• Tips for getting a good night’s rest

COVID Support Vermont (Resources)

If you, or someone you know, needs some support during the COVID pandemic, please take a look at the COVID support website here: /https://covidsupportvt.org/  On this Website, there are many resources and some groups and workshops available to take care of your well-being.

Also, Nurse Liz shared this flyer with staff: 

Pause – Reset – Nourish (PRN)* to Promote Wellbeing 
Description: All of us face a variety of stresses daily. Currently, you may be dealing with additional responsibilities at work and new challenges with parenting. Consider your level of distress before deciding what approach you’d like to take to address it. Gauging your level of distress is as important as practicing self-care strategies. The PRN framework is one such strategy and reminds us of the types of practices that help promote wellbeing and enhance resilience. Just like you would take a medication PRN, or as needed, to address unwanted symptoms, you can Pause-Reset- Nourish to help replenish yourself when needed. These practices can help to reset and rebalance your nervous systems, and can be done frequently throughout each day in just a few minutes.

Sleep Hygiene & PATH Updates

The Healthy Life Survey summary indicates that many of us are not getting good quality, or quantity of, sleep. This week, focus your attention on your bedtime routine, specifically on the activities that you do about 1-2 hours before bedtime. 

Use the tips below to help you reflect on what you can do to promote better sleep hygiene.

1. Have a daily exercise routine (but don’t exercise within 2-3 hours of bedtime). Aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity each week. 

2. Stay hydrated. The rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces daily. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink at least 75 ounces of water.
3. Reduce your use of caffeine, alcohol and nicotine.
4. Pick foods that promote sleep if you need a light bedtime snack.
5. Keep your bedroom dark and cool (55-65°F).  
6. Take a warm bath before bed and establish good bedtime routines/rituals. This can include relaxing scents, or calming activities, like reading before bed.
7. Meditate or listen to relaxing music right before sleep.*
8. Limit artificial (especially blue) light at night. 
9. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.

10. Stay in bed only if you’re sleepy. If you are having trouble falling asleep, or, if you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep, get out of bed. Go do a relaxing activity for no more than 30 minutes before trying to go back to sleep. Keep your bed for sleep.  

*If you have access to Calm.com, I recommend browsing its extensive and diverse Sleep Stories and sounds collection. This week, I was introduced to traditions of Diwali from the perspective of a young girl traveling to see family. Other stories range from tales from around the world and classic children's stories, to pop culture figures narrating the history of basketball (Scottie Pippen) or the first chapter of Wealth of Nations (Ben Stein, a.k.a. Ferris Bueller's economics teacher). If you do not have Calm.com, check out a few of their Sleep Stories on YouTube or choose one of these soothing nature sounds.  

Also...VEHI PATH Updates

• VEHI has added a SECOND course on Mindful Nonviolent Communication! If you completed the first course, you can earn another 50 pts by completing the second course! Meet the course instructors in this video in PATH Good News.
• PATH Adventure registration for Tidal Wave is still open until December 4th.
• Check out this flyer for other PATH  offerings. The one I want to point out is on page 2: Addressing Emotional Fatigue with Peer Coaching staff. They will discuss strategies in new ways, and send you on with a tool kit of options to try that can help make things better for yourself, even when you can’t change the world around you. The event is online on Wednesday, November 18th from 2:00-3:00pm. Registration link is on the PDF flyer or click here. 

NPR Life Kit Podcast: Feeling Anxious?

Back in February, before the pandemic and election stress, NPR's podcast Life Kit highlighted an author and mindfulness teacher, Tara Brach. Her new book, "Radical Compassion" is a practical guide to dealing with anxiety and chronic worry using mindfulness in a four-step acronym: R.A.I.N.

When you find yourself in a particular "stuck" moment, or caught in a loop of anxious thought, try the R.A.I.N. approach:

 1. Recognize: The first step is to become aware that you are stuck in your anxiety and name it for what it is. This can be the hardest step because it requires us to purposefully shift from reacting to responding. Once you realize that you are overwhelmed by a feeling, name the emotion that most stands out to you: "fear", "anger", "hurt", or maybe "confused."

 2. Allow: Next, give yourself power with a pause. Let the emotion be there; tell yourself it is OK to be like that for a few moments. The emotion is different now because you have now given it a name. Now, you can do something about it.

  3. Investigate: Ask yourself, "what really needs my attention right now?" Check in with your physical body, notice the places where you feel tension or discomfort and address your physiological needs first. Then attend to your emotional needs. Ask, "what am I believing right now?" and then, "what do I need to get through this?" 

 4. Nurture: And finally, no matter what you're feeling, be kind to yourself. Emotions are a large part of being a human, so give them space to happen and be mindful about how you respond. 

After you have gone through these steps, notice the difference in your body and mind, and in your quality of being present, from where you started.

Many of you do this with your students everyday. So I invite you to try this approach on yourself. 

Winooski educator testimonial about Lucy's Yoga online!

If you’ve ever thought about trying yoga - this is the time! Here’s what Catherine Lavigne, Nancy Devost, Kari Bolen, Lisa Goodrich & Sally Bissonette (several regular WSD attendees) say:

• Lucy D’Aponte is a physical therapist, parent of a WSD 6th grader, and an excellent yoga teacher!

• Zoom format allows you to try a class in the privacy and comfort of your own space!

• Keep your microphone muted and your room lighting low - no worrying about what you look/sound like!

• No worries about bumping into other people!

• Play your own music!

• Pets are welcome!

• Take the edge off your stress!

We recommend that you try:

• Wednesday: FLOW Yoga @ 4:15-5:15pm

• Flow:  a strong playful, guided all-levels class

• Stretch and take the edge off your stress!

• Friday: RESTORE Yoga @ 4:15-5:15pm 

• Restore: a restful meditative class that guides you into supported yoga postures that restore your energy and regulate your nervous system.

• Permission to rest and relax!

Message from Lucy D’Aponte (lucydaponte.com)

Hi friends,
Please join me in practicing yoga together online.
November is "bring a friend" for free month!*
 ​***Also, please suggest a time that supports your work/life schedule in this time of pandemic to attend an online yoga class.  I would like to offer one more class during the week beginning in December and your input is appreciated. Thank you!
Yoga schedule continues through Wednesday November 25th. (No class on Friday November 27).
Wednesdays

GENTLE @ 9-10am

FLOW @ 4:15-5:15pm

Fridays

RESTORE @ 4:15-5:15pm

Class Descriptions
Flow:  a strong playful, guided all-levels class.
Gentle: an ease-full guided class.
Restore: a restful meditative class that guides you into supported yoga postures that restore your energy and regulate your nervous system.

To attend classes, please email Lucy if you plan to join with a friend this month.  Pre-registration is appreciated but not necessary. 

$15+ per class or PAY WHAT YOU CAN:  
via VENMO @Lucy-DAponte 
PAYPAL: Lbdaponte@gmail.com
CHECK: 96 W Spring St, Winooski, VT 05404

Zoom link for all classes:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81844518271?pwd=ZjRZNEwzcG9PaUJ1UVlTLzB3clNCUT09
Meeting ID: 818 4451 8271
Passcode: Fallyoga
 
Helpful hints for online classes: Please make sure you have downloaded Zoom to your computer.  I will open the zoom meeting about 10 minutes before class starts to troubleshoot any electronic assistance needed.  Your computer will be muted upon entering the meeting, so un-mute it if you have any questions.  Feel free to use your own music during classes once class begins.

Set up your yoga space before the meeting.  Be sure you have your mat or blanket space set, clear your area to allow for reaching arms up and around you, bring any props you like to use.  For restorative class: be creative - blankets, pillows, yoga strap (scarf/belt/dog leash), and couch cushions can be helpful but not necessary.
 
In light,
Lucy

Lucy D'Aponte, MS PT, CYT
​Third Eye Therapies LLC
Winooski VT 04505
802 498 5959
www.lucydaponte.com

Register for the 2021 PATH Adventure

The TIDAL WAVE is here!

Registration for the 2021 PATH Adventure is live from now until December 4^th, and it's FREE!

When you register, you'll select a FREE GIFT! Choose from: fleece beanie, athletic socks, or unisex short sleeve t-shirt.

AND...

THOSE WHO COMPLETE THE TIDAL WAVE ADVENTURE WILL QUALIFY FOR THESE GREAT PRIZE DRAWINGS:

• Grand Prize -- One winner receives $2500!! 
• Second Place Prize -- Three winners receive a YETI Hopper Backpack Cooler!
• Third Place Prize -- Three winners receive a KitchenAid Stand Mixer!

HOW TO REGISTER:

1. Go to www.tomypath.com. Log in with your Username and Password.  Can't remember your username and/or password?  Contact PATH for help using the "contact support" button on the Login box or use the "Forgot Your Username" or "Forgot Your Password" options in the Login box.
2. Click on the Tidal Wave option from your dashboard. Follow the onscreen instructions, selecting your registration gift and submitting your order.  You will receive a registration confirmation email.  Review it to make sure that your registration information is accurate.

What is a PATH Adventure? Click here for a copy of the TIDAL WAVE Adventure registration form if you’d like to see it before logging in.

The 10-week Adventure begins on Monday, January 25th.