Mental Health Awareness Month at Ardene

At Ardene, we recognize the fundamental need to take care of our mental health, and we believe that by acknowledging and discussing mental health issues, we help to remove the stigma surrounding them. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, and as an ongoing part of our mental health support, we're providing additional resources and activities throughout the month to help our team members connect with each other and take care of themselves. Through these initiatives, we're actively working to help foster a healthy workplace environment and create a culture where our mental health is always the first priority.

Weekly Activities and Resources

Although we offer mindfulness practices and mental health resources to our team members all year long, this month we've organized additional activities and tools that will help us enhance our wellbeing. From a mental health webinar with a psychologist from SEL 360 to a guided meditation in our garden, and even a social 'getting to know each other' activity, we're taking the opportunity to have some fun while also nurturing our wellbeing. We've even put together a Mental Health Toolkit for our team members containing foundational information, tips & tricks and valuable resources so that everyone has easy access to the support they need.

Practicing Gratitude

For the entire month, we're also focusing on the theme of 'Gratitude', since feeling grateful has been shown to improve sleep, mood and immunity. Like anything else, feeling gratitude is a practice, and if we incorporate it in our daily lives, it can be a powerful tool to help take care of our mental and physical health. With gratitude trees set up around the head office, our team members are encouraged to write a daily gratitude on a leaf and stick it to the tree, resulting in a month of reflection and appreciation for everything we have and love. A simple shift in perspective can alleviate the accumulation of stress and help us focus on what really matters.

Partnership with Jack.org

Aside from supporting the mental health of our team members, it's also very important to us to be able to make a difference in our community, so we are once again partnering with Jack.org this year. They are a Canadian organization with a mission to provide young people with the knowledge and resources they need to improve youth mental health. We care deeply about Jack.org's mission, so to help support their various programs, we're collecting donations in-store until May 21st. Our head office team members are also offered the chance to join the Jack Ride on May 27th; a chance to ride their bikes across the city to raise money for the cause. We're very proud of this partnership and to have the opportunity to give back to our community by supporting young people across Canada.

Connecting with our Social Community

Staying connected and engaging with each other are key ways to support our mental health, and there's no better place for us to connect with our community than through our social channels. Throughout the month, we'll be sharing mental health resources from Jack.org on Instagram, as well as having mental health discussions and promoting self-care. Being part of a community and sharing our experiences with one another is empowering, because we all need to nurture our mental wellbeing.

#ardenelove