Using deep breathing is a great way to relieve anxiety and stress. Deep breathing helps us to relax by making us focus on our breath and thus shifting our attention away from what it is that is worrying us. When we practice deep breathing regularly, it becomes a valuable tool we can use to give us immediate and long-term relief from stress, worry and anxiety. The resource includes how deep breathing works and instructions to do it.

Depression is considered to be a disorder of mood. Individuals who are depressed, describe low mood that has persisted for longer than two weeks. In mild forms of depression, individuals may not feel bad all day but still describe a dismal outlook and a sense of gloom. Their mood may lift with a positive experience, but fall again with even a minor disappointment. In severe depression, a low mood will persist throughout the day, failing to lift even when pleasant things occur. The low mood may fluctuate during the day such that it may be worse in the morning and relatively better in the afternoon. This is called ‘diurnal variation,’ which often accompanies a more severe type of depression.

Also included:
-Information sheets on depression
-Worksheets on depression

What is depression? What is bipolar disorder? What can I do to help?

A study from the University of Guelph in 2016 found farmers are among the most vulnerable groups when it comes to mental health, reporting higher levels of stress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and burnout than the general population. The same study found that 40 percent of agricultural producers would feel uneasy getting professional help due to the stigma that exists around the issue.

Help students reflect on how their digital lives impact their social and emotional well-being in three simple steps.

1. Engage students in daily activities
2. Build your digital citizenship roadmap
3. Promote digital citizenship in your community

This video is a short overview of The Do More Ag Foundation. The Do More Ag Foundation focuses on mental health in agriculture across Canada. They recognize the intense pressures that those in the agriculture industry face. They are committed to providing help and resources wherever possible.
https://www.domore.ag/

The Do More Ag Foundation focuses on mental health in agriculture across Canada. They are committed to providing help and resources for those in the agriculture sector. This website is a good resource when discussing mental health support in agriculture.

A program designed to help teens "understand how substance use can get in the way of having the life they want".
This site includes resources for teachers, treatment centres, videos and much more.

A way to help yourself feel more positive and connected.
A way to reach out and support someone you’re worried about.

Safety Planning
Practicing Gratitude
Suicide Prevention Information
Conversation Starters on Suicide
Resources

*available in Google Play & Apple Store

This is an excellent program for teaching young kids emotion identification, regulation, and social relationships.

"Emotional ABCs Classroom is a research-based Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum providing teachers (K–3) with 20 sequential Workshops and extensive classroom support materials for Teacher-led, in-class instruction."

This program teaches:
Self-Awareness
Social Awareness
Self-Management
Responsible Decision-Making
Relationship Skills

"Emotional ABCs Workshops are designed for teacher-led classroom instruction. Your free single user account gives you access to all resources needed to present the Workshops.

All Workshops include a Warm-Up, Mini-Lesson, Activity, Share-Out, and a Self-Reflection, and each can be taught as a 'stand-alone' lesson to target specific skills.

Instructors can teach directly from online Workshops or printable PDFs.

Emotional ABCs Classroom uses a common emotional language throughout the curriculum which can be readily adopted school-wide with minimal teacher training."

Having a family member with a substance use problem can be very stressful and overwhelming. You play a key role in supporting your relative and in promoting their wellness and recovery. Performing this role may take a toll and have a significant impact on you as well. This self-directed online program is designed to empower you as you support your loved one.

This course will help you to recognize the stress and range of emotions you may be experiencing, and to understand the importance of addressing your own needs. The course will also explore strategies you can use to cope with the challenges of dealing with a relative with substance use problems, strategies for self-care and ways to empower yourself.

The course includes 6 modules:
1. Understanding Substance Use Problems and Addiction
2. Impact of Substance Use Problems on Families
3. Supporting Your Family Member's Recovery
4. Communicating Effectively with Your Relative and Setting Limits
5. Staying Safe and Managing Crises
6. Empowering Yourself Through Support and Self-Care

Do you have students who struggle to prepare for exams? suffer from test anxiety? need some new tips?
This resource has everything you need to run an exam preparation and study skill "crash course". Included in this resource are a teacher powerpoint, student study guide booklet (that pairs with the powerpoint), a parent newsletter (supporting your child during exam time), and additional information on overcoming test anxiety.

Every one of use gets anxious or worried at some times in our life. This is normal. We are supposed to get worried, because worrying keeps us safe and out of danger. If we were never afraid of falling, we might walk along rooftops. Which would be very dangerous and really bad for our health and safety! We may worry about being in a car accident. So because of this we wear a seat belt to minimize our chances of getting hurt. We still take the risk of being in a car, but we minimize the chances of getting hurt by wearing our seatbelt.
Throughout our day we encounter varying degrees of worry or anxiety. Some of these are understandable and sometimes our worries seem to be unreasonable. Describe specific situations that make you anxious and the level of discomfort it gives you. On a scale of 0 to 10 ( 0 being not at all anxious, and 10 being extremely anxious) rate how much each situation affects you.
After ranking the situations that make you anxious, think about things that you could do to change the ranking to a lower level. Write that down on a separate piece of paper and then DO IT, don’t avoid it.
For Example: If I am feeling overwhelmed by an assignment, I could break the assignment down into smaller sections and then tackle each section one day at a time. This would lower my anxiety level (on the scale) about getting the assignment done. BUT, I would also get the assignment done and not AVOID doing it because it makes me anxious.
It is important to identify the things that make us anxious, but it is even more important to figure out a way that we can reduce our anxiety about something, and then ACTUALLY work on reducing the anxiety.
Attachment includes chart for this.

The Saskatchewan Prevention Institute has a DVD lending library. Titles include: Alcohol and the Brain (15 min); This is Your Brain on Alcohol (17 min); Everything you Need to Know about Alcohol in 22 Minutes (22 min); in the Greenhouse (31 min).

The Fight or Flight Response is an automatic brain response your body has to a perceived dangerous situation. The Fight or Flight Response’s purpose is to protect you from potential danger. The problem, is that it is a primitive response and often the world we live in now does not have the same dangerous situations as when this response first developed in our brains. We no longer have the threat of wild animals, however, the threat of writing a test or exam, or handing in an assignment, or speaking in front of a group of people still continues to illicit the same physical reaction in our brain for some people. When a person feels threatened, the fight-or-flight response is automatically triggered, and the body changes that occur still prepares us to either ‘fight’ the threat, or ‘flee’ the threat (even though it is impractical to ‘flee’ from an assignment) the brain response is the same as if it was a wild animal. The resource includes what it is and how to manage it.

The following is a collection of Happiness Webinars given during school closures on how we can find happiness in these crazy times!

"Chelsea grew up on a mixed grain and dairy farm west of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her dad and uncle manage the farm, and all the kids help out where they can. The busy family is all too familiar with the stress and anxiety that is created when you work where you live and there is a never-ending list of jobs to be done. At the age of 46 Chelsea's dad, Rob, suffered a heart attack brought on by the stresses of farming, and it took that life-threatening event for the family to realize something had to change.

According to research conducted by the University of Guelph 45% of Canadian farmers are classified as living under high-stress conditions and 58% met the criteria for anxiety classification. Thankfully organizations like the Do More Agriculture Foundation are bringing awareness to the fact that farmers, like all Canadians, need to be empowered and supported to take care of their mental wellness."

Helping children learn to be smart about feelings can help alleviate their emotional stress, improve concentration, boost their immune system, and enhance brain development. This First Aid for Feelings workbook for children was designed to help do that. By using the simple coping strategies found in this workbook, you can encourage children to express thoughts, questions, and feelings. These life skills may help reduce and manage children’s stress or anxiety, and provide some sense of control within their changing lives.

"The First Sixteen is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's new podcast series that explores the freshest ideas in agriculture and food. Each episode explores a single topic in depth—digging deep into new practices, innovative ideas, and their impacts on the industry. Learn about Canada's agricultural sector from the people making the breakthroughs and knocking down the barriers! Farmers and foodies, scientists and leaders, and anyone with an eye on the future of the sector—this podcast is for you! A new episode is published each month." Agri-Food Canada
This link goes specifically to Episode 013- Mental Health: From the Farmer's Perspective

This resource contains two documents from the SK Ministry of Education: Priority Action Plan - contains crucial (foundational) outcomes for literacy and numeracy for Grades 1-9.   Reconnect - provides suggestions and other considerations for reconnecting during the pandemic and disrupted learning.