Spiritual and Creative Well-Being

Spiritual Well-Being: A sense of inner peace, contentment, purpose, and connection with something greater than oneself. It may encompass a sense of meaning, forgiveness and acceptance, self-exploration, values, ethics, practices, and beliefs that can support resilience and provide a profound sense of fulfillment and harmony in life. It often involves practices like mindfulness, meditation, journalling, or prayer. Some people find it through traditional faiths or organized religion, while others may be secular or follow alternative spiritual paths. 

Creative Well-Being: Characterized by the ability to express ourselves creatively, tap into our imagination, find inspiration, find joy in creative endeavors, and balance creative pursuits with other aspects of life. It encompasses the satisfaction and fulfillment derived from creative expression and problem-solving.

Delve into this dimension to embark on a journey of self-awareness and ignite your creative potential. It's a space where you can embrace authenticity and find inspiration, enhancing your overall well-being through spirituality and/or creative pursuits.

Creativity Resources

“Creativity of all kinds focuses your mind, engages your imagination, and feeds your soul.”  Sue Patton Thoele

• How to build a creative practice: How to make creativity part of your daily routine. 
• This mindful art making tutorial can help you find inner peace through art:  Neurographic Art Tutorial: Mindfulness in Art [8-minute video]
• Since 2013, the Art Assignment has been gathering assignments from a wide range of artists, each commissioned to create a prompt based on their own way of working. You don’t need to have special skills or training to do them, and the only materials you’ll need are ones you probably already have or can source for free:
• Easy Dot Painting for Beginners: The Complete How-To Guide 

Grateful Living

Grateful Living brings deeper peace, greater well-being, and an enhanced capacity for joy to people all around the globe. As a moment-to-moment practice, it wakes us up to the opportunities always available to us, even in the most uncertain and challenging times. Explore trustworthy pathways and practices that will help you approach, frame, and learn from everything that unfolds in your life. Visit Grateful Living to bring the gifts of gratitude to life, and in so doing become a force for healing in your life and in the world. Learn more about the benefits of Grateful Living.

Spiritual Perspectives on Mindfulness-in-Action: Webinar Recording

Mindfulness is used in both secular and spiritual practices to develop our innate human ability to be and stay present in the moment. In this webinar, leaders in Jewish, Christian, Buddhist and Muslim communities come together to discuss how mindfulness is a connective tissue between many world wisdom traditions, the unique ways in which finding presence is approached in each community, and new outlooks and strategies to find stillness and well-being for all: view the Spiritual Perspectives on Mindfulness-in-Action webinar highlights.

Mindfullness Resources for Well-Being

MindWell U: Now a full suite of evidence-based mindfulness resources for VIU employees. Check out Studio Be live webinars and drop-in guided mindfulness sessions. Explore The Well, a library of 200+ on-demand resources. Try the 30-day MindWell Challenge or the 5-day Mini MindWell Challenge, on your own or with a buddy. Experience the many lasting benefits of being Mindful-in-Action. Learn more with this short video about the many lasting benefits of being Mindful-in-Action.

Spirituality and Your Health

Spiritual well-being is about connecting with something greater than yourself, something that is meaningful to you. It involves having sense of purpose and meaning to life, based on a set of values, principles, and beliefs which guide your thoughts and actions. Spiritual well-being may come from religious and non-religious experiences and can provide comfort and strength as we face the challenges of life. See HealthLinkBC’s Spirituality and Your Health for more information on this important dimension of well-being.

VIU Gardens: Gardens can be restorative places of peace and beauty, of nature and poetry. VIU has many gardens in a variety of locations, gifted and/or cared for through the work of VIU horticulture students.

Spiritual Resources: This is a student resource page offering a small sampling of spiritual resources available to everyone in the Nanaimo and Cowichan area. Please refer to your area phonebook for a complete listing.

Meditation and Prayer Rooms (Building 200, Room 107a and 107b): VIU’s Nanaimo campus has Meditation and Prayer Rooms. They can be accessed by contacting VIU Security at 250.740.6512. Employees must have ID to be let in the building.

Roots to Thrive: Roots to Thrive is a living curriculum, led by Dr. Shannon Dames and it is designed to re-connect us to our true nature and to community. From this secure and embodied place, we remember the abundance of resources around us and our innate capacity for healing.