57 Ways To improve Mental Wellness

Today AYO Politix hosted a mental wellness brain storm and discussed mental wellness supports, what works and what we need to create. Storycatchers from Saskatchewan helped AYO with this list of 57 Ways To improve Mental Wellness!

 

1. Rest
2. Reading
3. Have a bath
4. play/practice sports
5. hang out in inter-generational spaces
6. ceremony / connection to spirit
7. learn about your family’s history
8. go to a sweat lodge ceremony
9. attend / organize a sharing circle
10. Pray
11. Meditate
12. Journaling
13. sharing with a safe person
14. “stop thinking just think”
15. medicine wheel road map (see image)
16. be kind to yourself
17. ask for help
18. go to a safe environment
19. get fresh air
20. reduce your screen time
21. be honest with yourself
22. be willing to be vulnerable
23. Exercise
24. visit family or friends
25. “shake off those A.N.T.s” (Automatic Negative Thoughts)
26. Help someone / be useful
27. compliment someone
28. compliment yourself
29. identify the people you want in your life & keep your eyes open for them
30. write letters to yourself and your helpers
31. listen to music you love
32. Dance
33. Honour your story
34. write down kind things about people on paper and give it to them
35. tell someone you’re thinking of them
36. learn from/spend time with CHILDREN
37. tell children you love them
38. tell children why they motivate you to do good work or live a good life
39. pet therapy
40. go out to the bush
41. scream therapy (with proper supports)
42. go spend time with water
43. hold medicines (like sage, tobacco, grandfather rocks, etc)
44. Sing
45. Drum
46. “forest bathing” / hug a tree
47. spend time around a fire or a sacred fire
48. learn something
49. watch/google the videos for “rat park”
50. learn or research about a topic you’re interested in
51. go to your favourite restaurant
52. learn your language
53. have hot chocolate
54. get a massage
55. get a pedicure
56. get organized
57. laugh

 

Speed Rounds With MB Provincial Party Leaders

 

Over the last few weeks we have invited the parties of the 5 parties in Manitoba either in person at an AYO event, or via social media to engage with AYO Politix at our weekly Brain Storms with the intention of building political literacy. We would like to thank the Communist Party, the Liberal Party, the Green Party and the NDP leaders to be willing to sit and talk in a causal environment at Neechi Commons with urban indigenous youth. We would also like to thank Neechi Commons and all the community members who come out every Saturday at noon to support this work. Find below the speed rounds of 4 of 5 current Manitoba political party leaders in order of speed:

1. Greg Selinger – 3 :09
2. Rana Bokhari – 4:03
3. Darrell Rankin – 5:20
4. James Beddome – 5:35
5. Brian Pallister – No Response

As you can see, Greg Selinger came in first place with the speediest of speed rounds at 3:09 (it is worth noting in the recording, its’s 3:19 but the last 10 seconds is us trying to turn off the audio lol). Rana Bokhari of the Liberals was second with just over 4 minutes and in 3rd place was Darrell Rankin of the MB Communist Party. The least speedy of the responses was Green Party Leader James Beddome (who also went first in the Speed Round Cycle). The only Party Leader we didn’t connect with was Progressive Conservative Brian Pallister; the Manitoba Party doesn’t have a leader at this time. This was our first attempt at having speed rounds with political party leaders for a provincial election and the first time our group has sat with a sitting premier.

Greg Selinger – NDP [3:09]

Rana Bokhari – Liberal [4:03]

Darrell Rankin – Communist [5:20]

James Beddome – Green [5:35]

You can learn more about the AYO Politix initiative and upcoming initiatives on our Facebook page!

Politix Brain Storm with Mynarski Councillor Candidate Dave Capar

On Saturday August 23rd, Mynarski Councillor Candidate Dave Capar met with youth at our weekly Brain Storm at Neechi Commons.

Dave introduced himself by the name ‘Silver Wolf’ and said that was his spirit animal. The meaning behind his name is that he must walk a high plane, yet also walk among the people with no fear. He is a father & currently owns his own business and also works as a bouncer at a night club in the ward.

Role of City Councillor
The city councillor is the voice of the ward. They are the person at city hall who fights for the residents and people in the ward. They use their experiences to represent their constituents. DC is running because he was ‘tired of what was going on’ at city hall feels he can be the voice, the change and the councillor we need helping & serving people.  Dave’s responses to residents would be human, prompt, he would listen and negotiate.

Meal Share Program
What if there was a program mandated for excess food in city facilities and businesses that sent food to shelters or community centres in need? Dave, who is also an entrepreneur, said the idea would be hard to sell to businesses as there is no financial benefit for them. He acknowledged that there are many businesses or places that currently do this in an unofficial capacity currently.

Genuine Politicians
Dave said the best way for us to know if a politician is sincere/genuine is to simply spend time with them. Invite them to your events but also go to the politicians too.

Composting
When asked about adding an additional box to garbage/recycling collection for composting he said the program currently exists. If you call in to the city, 311 you can register for composting already Dave said, there is info available on the city’s website for individual households to opt in. We also asked if this includes waste management,  grass cutting & large furniture pick up – answer unknown.

311
Capar believes there is a better way. A case file system for all people who call in should be available to all staff on a computer with details of your open files and your call history. When pressed about improving 311 & the city’s website Dave said our current systems work well. The processes are common sense and in the example of yard waste pick up, there is a system in place that currently has pick up bi weekly. He also had a great idea about adding a youth employment and training pr

“LIFE IS NOT EASY”
Dave said if you want info?  Re: compositing, you have to go out and get it. Many of the city’s initiatives have adequate processes in place citizens can access and Dave recommends ‘when in doubt ask!’. So we asked, if youth need help , what would he recommend?

Dave’s 5 Ideas to Help
1.) Call people you trust/know can help
2.) Meet with them face to face
3.) Discuss the issue
4.) Tweak, improve and combine your idea with those on your team
5.) share

Bikes
Dave doesn’t believe bikes should be driving on he street with cars. He believes that bikes should be driven on the sidewalk with pedestrians as cyclists/pedestrians have a more respectful relationship than cyclists/car.

SPEED ROUND (5:59)
Dave answers the AYO Politix Speed Round questions! http://soundcloud.com/politixbs/speed-round-with-dave-capar

Some think it’s wierd you work as a bouncer in a bar
No, it’s not weird because DC is keeping people safe. He is modelling respect. He is demonstrating appropriate ways to respond in moments of challenge. He said in his job he demonstrates that his example is key.

How do we engage youth in politics?
‘Youth are impatient’ and so they should be cautious and pay attention when learning about politics. In jobs people have a 3 month probation period,  perhaps that could be adopted by youth, politicians or political groups when working with young people. He recommended youth base their opinions on the performance of the candidates and also emphasizes food brings the entire communty together.

Contact Dave!
@DaveCapar (on twitter)
Roadhouse195@Hotmail.com (e-mail)
(204) 771-7210

Ross Eadie Brain Storm Notes – August 9, 2014

 

On Saturday August 9, 2014 our Politix crew sat down with Mynarski Incumbent City Councillor Ross Eadie to kick off our MYNARSKI BRAIN STORM sessions. Ross and his constituency assistant AJ chatted with us and shared some campaign promises as well as some proud moments from the past 4 years as City Councillor.

Our conversations began casually and revolved around some of the current issues, namely transparency, community safety and political literacy. We were also excited to meet with Ross again – as in 2010 we met with Ross as our Politix initiative was just beginning.

Campaign Song: Vote for Mr Rhythm by Ella Fitzgerald

Politix Role Model: Judy Wasylycia-Leis

Do you believe Council should begin with a clean slate after the election?

No. Ross believes that new leadership is needed, but not a totally clean slate. There have been many examples of current councillors who have done great work in the last four years. He pointed to the many collaborations he has had with residents in the ward. Ross was fundamental in moving the Selkirk Avenue Banners Project in 2011/2012 to become a reality utilizing dollars from his Councillor Representation Allowance to make that project a success. Leadership means leading by example, and Ross believes he has set a good example the last 4 years on council.

Labour Council Endorsement

MC has had an ongoing concern about Labour Council endorsement and asked Ross to elaborate. Essentially, it was explained that the labour council is made up of membership from unions. Ultimately it is the members of those unions who undertake a process (within their union) to determine and select candidates that reflect their values. Participation in that process is determined by your membership in one of those unions, if you aren’t a member, you likely won’t be priivy to that info/process. He also emphasized that candidates who want WLC endorsement must reach out to that organization as well. Ross did agree though, that since the WLC makes its decisions public, it could be a good thing to make the process equally as public too.

Safety

Ross has an acronym called the 3 Ps that he uses to explain his position on keeping our community safe

• Prevention – means we must address root causes like addictions, also means we support community centres to get youth involved in proacitve and positive activities
• Policing – Winnipeg Police Board is going to be involved in changing WPS for the better, more police on foot can build face to face relationships with residents
• Punishment –  restorative justice when possible works best, must collaborate with different levels of courts

DID YOU KNOW? 56% of the City’s Annual Budget is dedicated to Emergency Medical Services (Police, Paramedic, FIre)

How will you engage youth in your campaign?

He will continue to meet with youth as they ask (as he was doing when answering this question lol). He also mentioned that he is taking time on the campaign to attend resident associations and other community meetings to engage with residents.

Participatory Budgeting – Do you support it?

Ross does support PB in principle, but wonders HOW we can make it work. For true engagement, Ross’ office would need more dollars and more assurance from residents that they would attend and bring forward their concerns around budget issues when they are or are not addressed. Perhaps what we need is a series of community meetings that educate the public about budgets and the budget process so we can look at this more in the future.

ROSS SPEED ROUND:

Check out the Ross Eadie Speed Round (part 1) below [Click here for Part 2]

Final thoughts

Ross is looking forward to working with a council that leads by example. He supported recent increases to office allowances in the wards because can use it at his discretion (ie. for community grant programs like the Selkirk Banners, or Bus tickets for North Point Douglas Womens Centre, etc). Ross wants the people of Winnipeg to know he loves his job and wants to be your councillor for the next four years!

Robert Falcon-Oulette Politix Brain Storm Notes – July 26th 2014

This Saturday July 26, 2014 AYO Politix had a Brain Storm with Mayoral Candidate Robert Falcon-Oulette at Neechi Commons. It was by far our largest crowd, with close to 50 individuals coming to listen. He opened with a prayer and included stories in most of his responses. He also took the ‘unusual’ step of inviting many of his facebook friends to the event we created on our facebook page. I say unusual, only because it didn’t seem as if the other candidates went to those lengths, or at least were not successful, in engaging people outside of our AYO group. We also attracted a local videographer Paul Graham who has put together some cool video of the event, and it was also interesting because there were not many youth there – mostly adults and seniors.

Campaign Song: coming soon

Favourite Mayor: coming soon

Campaign Colour: Purple – because of the grandmother teachings

What is your vision for change? Robert has been studying the city for 5 years, and truly believes that we need long term city planning based on facts and science is the way to go. Robert’s vision is not hierarchical and believes ideas should be coming from the bottom

Executive Policy Committee: Rob says ‘it depends’ on EPC – if the council that comes in in October is cooperative with Robert’s vision he won’t need an EPC. But if the climate is divided, then EPC may be necessary to move some policies forward.

Golf Courses: We currently have 18 City owned Golf Courses and Robert says he is “in favour of green space”. In terms of accessibility, Robert thinks that we should always look at our city through “the lens of a child” since they are 20% of our City’s population.

Kapyong Barracks: This is an opportunity to create brand new neighbourhoods. We have to overcome racism and perceptions that people have of one another. It is an opportunity for housing, development, tourism and economic development for Winnipeg and First Nations.

Overcoming Racism: Our biggest mission has to be to overcome the PERCEPTIONS and it is the role of government to provide TOOLS for people to learn. As mayor he would champion the following initiatives (with an obvious youth focus):

• More youth engaged in Council and Committees
• Mayor’s Youth Council
• Including children as young as  8 years old
• LOWERING THE VOTING AGE!

Green roofs/roof-top gardens: Create an incentive tax for businesses to convert their roofs into gardens and food. We could also reuse the CO2 that is generated from these gardens and green roofs. It also helps with coolness in the summer and heating/insulation in the winter. We also discussed possibilities of using hydroponics or other non-soil methods of growing food as well.

+++WATER – SEPERATE POST COMING SOON+++

Stoney Mountain & Child Family Services: While both of these are federal and provincial in jurisdiction, the mayor must build political literacy in citizens so they understand those things and help apply pressure. As mayor he would advocate for increased communication among levels of government to address systemic problems like indigenous people in jail, the influx of kids in the child welfare system and the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. Because Robert is not politically affiliated he would be able to talk across all parties. professional development of the Winnipeg Police Service to change the culture in the police force.

Housing for Students and Seniors? If we increase taxes for parking lots, as some cities have, we can discourage individuals from holding on to property in downtown or needy areas by charging them the same tax as they would for a 4 story building. We would need to work with the province and federal government because as the city we do not have the resources to address the housing and homelessness issue alone.

Will you develop a City Wide Energy Plan? He would like to look to other cities and hear from citizens like us on what they would recommend. The process would be citizens create a proposal, the city does a consultation and then council will vote on it.

AYO POLITIX SPEED ROUND: We asked Robert the same series of Qs we have asked every candidate so far. He has clocked in with the longest time, over 8 minutes. Listen to all the candidates and let us know what you think!

– Now on VIDEO! (thanks to Paul Graham for coming out!!) –

Brian Bowman Politix Brain Storm Notes July 5th 2014

On Saturday July 5th 2014, the AYO Politix group held a BRAIN STORM with mayoral candidate Brian Bowman at the Come N’ Eat Restaraunt on the second floor of Neechi Commons.  We were met there initially by 2 kookums and Joelle, the person on Brian’s campaign in charge of youth engagement. We began introducing each other, Brian going last, discussing living in Winnipeg his whole life, mostly Charleswood and has been disappointed in the tone/output of city hall is why he is running. Wants to focus his campaign on engagement. We were also happy to have Mynarski City Council candidate Greg Littlejohn also attended.

Campaign/Favourite Song: “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” Judas Priest

Meeting with Youth: BB has been meeting with youth the entire campaign – in colleges, backyards and kitchen tables. He also plans to draw on his experiences with the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s High School BOLD initiative where high school students shared their ideas for the city in business and non-profit.

How can our next mayor address geographically specific issues without alienating other areas of the City? “Winnipeggers are looking for political principle” if we are open and honest with Winnipeggers they will understand we want all citizens in our city to be happy and healthy. Issues such as race, poverty and environment are not talked about enough.

Do you believe in the Housing First model? He championed the concept as chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and believes the city must endorse the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council’s Plan to End Homelessness by 2024.

“Long Term Vision”, what does that mean? That means he will lead his days in office with the Office of Public Engagement, including the development of a youth strategy. Brian believes our city can be a “modern, inclusive, growing” city.

How will you improve Education: That is a provincial jurisdiction, but he can still show leadership and advocate for the education of citizens. Brian will visit every school if elected mayor to introduce the concept of service in higher office to students.

What is your desired relationship between Mayor/Council/School Trustees if elected? the mayor is a member of council, they should all be working collaboritaviely ith one another to further Winnipeggers. He wants to improve the relationship between school divisions and city council.

Winnipeg is a Winter City: The city’s primary winter focus is snow clearing. He believes we can plan around winter coming every year. Cpprdoinate tourism initatives and deliver improved services in parks and recreation. A good example of innovation is the RAW ALMOND restaraunt on the river – he would ease red tape for businesses like that that improve tourism He also mentioned homelessness needed to be addressed especially in winter times. 

Community Centres and the GCWCC: The GCWCC is lacking accountability. Each neighbourhoood must be healthy especially in provision of recreational opportunities. There will be an upcoming announcement related to improving community centres.

Bylaws against the homeless – there are some bylaws that fine and criminalize people for being homeless: He has experience with organizations like Kani Kanichihk and the CEO Sleepout and will repeal those bylaws. Brian wants to humanize homeless Winnipeggers and believes efforsts should be coordinated so individuals do not fall through the cracks. There is currently no mechanism that makes any one in theses systems accountable to that homeless individual. Brian WILL:

• support the WPRC’s new report on homelessness for the City
• Commit to helping end homelessness by 2024

Ending homelessness by 2024? He believes our city can end homelessness by 2024 and has been a participant along with MC for the last few years as part of the CEO Sleepout 

Transit – what is up? He wants a comprehensive transit plan (inclusive of Bikes, cars,busses) to determine the most logical next steps. He is a supporter of rapid transit. We asked if he was open to the idea of FREE FARE for all transit users and he said it ‘would be nice’ but we must look closer at what the would mean for the city.

Bicycled Police – will you implement more of them to improve safety? He would love to see more Police on Bicycles, he cycles regularly himself. He also believes that there may be situations where the use of the helicopter justify our use of it as a city.

Should Winnipeg become a “City of Reconciliation”? He s interested in the concept but needs to learn more.

SPEED ROUND: We shared with Brian 18 topics and asked him to respond honestly as a mayor. It took him 6:20 seconds, which is the shortest one so far (by 10 seconds).

Final 3 Qs from Markus

1. Will you revamp the winnipeg.ca website, its hard to navigate?
   Brian: YES!
2. Will you enhance city services by developing shared/measurable outcomes across departments?
   Brian: Yes, that’s why he led the campaign with a campaign promise related to public engagement.
3. What are your thoughts on OPEN CONTRACTING considering the challenges with transparency we are currently seeing? 
   Brian: He wants to examine and open up the process we are currently using for contracting in the city now. He also believes the procurement and request for proposals processesmust be redone – there is a campaign announcement lurking around the corner he will be releasing soon.

BRAIN STORM [Winnipeg Municipal Election 2014]

Join us as we discuss our strategy for youth engagement in the upcoming Municipal elections

1.) BRAIN STORM template (for other groups to use)
2.) GET REAL Youth Forums Schedules and Presentation Details
3.) BLOG Strategy
4.) OTHER

We will meet for casual discussion and intros from 2-2:30pm

2:30pm to 3:30pm we will go through our objectives

<<<<<CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE>>>>>

TODAY: Brain Storm Cafe (at 4pm)

YOU ARE INVITED!

To join young people as POLITIX convenes discuss the future of politics in Winnipeg in a casual environment at Neechi Commons at 865 Main Street. Check out the Facebook event below and share the below graphic with your friends!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1441621276070467/?ref=22

Also check out the GET REAL information on the Aboriginal Youth Opportunities Website: http://www.ayomovement.com/politix.html

What do you think of current political events?

What do you think of the current political landscape? Is it going to be a summer of crazy politics, or will things sort themselves out?

PolitiX Brain Storm – COMING JUNE 2013