Wellness and well-being at the center of Faculty Day
The physical and emotional well-being and wellness of each university member was the main point of discussion at Loyola Schools’ Faculty Day held August 17, 2018.
“In practice, in the olden days [wellness] meant simply having a clinic on campus, or having a Guidance Office, or ensuring that our campus has landscaping and safe walkways. In these far more complex times, though, we’ve discovered that wellness is not just about having these present, but a way of understanding wellness holistically- accepting that many things make up wellness, from the very way our campus is designed to the food that we eat, to addressing gender and equality,” said University President Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, SJ.
Wellness initiatives, he added, should be done on a university-level.
“At some point, we realized that, if our students are having ‘issues,’ it isn’t really wrong to presume that administrators, professionals, staff and faculty might also be having ‘issues.’ This required us to really begin the serious conversation regarding wellness.”
Villarin cited university initiatives on promoting health and wellness among its community members. These include an enhanced health insurance coverage and programs on financial wellness and holistic wellness. He also shared how he deals with his personal struggles: “Faith and spirituality, especially Ignatian spirituality, have been my lifesavers.”
There are different ways one can use to heal oneself like music and arts, he said. Listening to music is “like being transported to somewhere you’ve never travelled to.” He also shared a music video of British singer Rumer’s rendition of the Burt Bacharach classic ‘What the World Needs Now is Love.’
He ended his address with a line from the song: “Take care. The Ateneo de Manila cares for you. Let us take care of one another and yes, let us learn to give each other what the world needs now- love, sweet love.”
The program also showed a video presentation of Dr. Vince Winklerprins, Assistant Vice President of Student Health at Georgetown University. Winklerprins enumerated the initiatives of the university to address health and wellness challenges in Georgetown. These included safety net training, case management and placing psychologists in student spaces.
In the afternoon, faculty members participated in various workshops that focused on relaxing, re-energizing, focus and achieving balance.
