Come join us for an interactive music workshop with Cynthia Friesen! In this season of hope, come play with melodic, rhythmic joy! We will come together in breath, movement and vocal sounds, preparing our voices to rise up and awaken memories as we sing some treasured festive songs.

Across the globe, individuals are living longer, but not necessarily healthier. Top identified burdens of disease and early mortality include a wide variety of health conditions, with mental health disorders ranking near the top of the list. While genetics and biological factors no doubt impact mental health, so do stressful life experiences and health behaviours.

In this session, we will share our lab’s research on the role of psychological factors and health behaviours in cognitive health. We use naturalistic methods in our work – including wearable health monitors, saliva sampling, and mobile surveys — to track health, well-being, and experiences as they unfold in real-time. Our research has revealed reciprocal relationships between sleep and stress in daily life, in addition to links between stressors and fluctuations in everyday cognitive functioning.

Join us on November 16 for a FREE screening of the award-winning documentary “Capturing Grace,” which follows individuals with Parkinson’s as they prepare to stage a first-ever dance performance. Through determination, adversity, and contending with doubt, the film highlights the transformative power of art and the strength of the human spirit.

Come join us for an art session that will let you use colour, shape and imagery to express what is meaningful to you. Discover how the creative process can foster healing and mental well-being. No artskills required. 

Seats are limited! We encourage you to bring their own supplies, but we will have some supplies available for people to borrow. If you intend to borrow, you will need to fill out the supply borrow form on the website. Light snacks will be provided at the end.

Join the BC Brain Wellness Program and our community partner, Music on Main, at this in-person workshop. This participatory intergenerational event draws upon our collective voices coming together in a single space. Through breath and song, we will playfully explore a variety of vocal expressions. When we create vocal music together, we learn to listen and express our voices with care for ourselves and one another.

We are thrilled to invite you to celebrate the BC Brain Wellness Program’s 5th year anniversary -”Impact and Inspiration”! Join us for a day of reflection, celebration, and inspiration as we honour the past and embrace new possibilities to make even bigger impacts here at BC Brain Wellness.  

In a collaboration with Music on Main, join us for an enlightening event where we understand how music and neuroscience intersect to explore the profound impact of music on our well-being and social connections.

The American Psychological Association found that 86 percent of Americans say they constantly or often check their emails, texts and social media accounts. The average smartphone user checks for updates 85 times a day. In a 16-hour waking day, that is every 11.2 minutes.

In this in-person workshop, come and learn how mindfulness can help YOU take control!

You’re invited to join our participatory workshop to experience gentle healing movements and breaths from Tai Chi & Qi Gong Principles to locate and move stuck energy and gain tools from these practices that help you feel the difference. Experience a transformative journey towards better health and joy!

The Brain Wellness Program welcomes you to an in-person yoga class with Vanessa Barron. The class will start with a short meditation and centering and move through a variety of poses from lying to sitting and standing. Please bring your yoga mat with you. This will be a prop-light class; however, feel free to bring your blocks or a folded towel/blanket if you use them regularly in your practice and know that you would like to modify some poses.

The BC Brain Wellness Program invites you to join our annual celebration of World Brain Day! The World Federation of Neurology has selected the theme "Brain Health and Prevention” for this year, which aligns with our vision and mission at the Brain Wellness Program. Join Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell, Cynthia Friesen, and Tara Gaertner as they share about various topics surrounding brain health, lifestyle, music, research, and more, as we explore the ways in which we can protect our future.

This event will feature two presentations, investigating the basics of neuropsychology and cognitive health screening, as well as introducing the BWP’s nutrition programs. We will explore what neuropsychology is and its role in brain health, delving into cognitive screening. Following this, we will discuss the BWP’s upcoming nutrition programs as well as share nutrition research findings.

In this Research Seminar Series event, Dr. Hayden will discuss neuropsychological profiles of cognition in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) versus neurological decline.  A review of the impact of mental health factors on cognition and neurological diagnostic considerations will be provided.  Prevention and cognitive compensatory strategies will also be discussed.  

Calling all artists, closet artists and future artists!

Join members of the BC Brain Wellness Creative Collective for a hybrid event with an opportunity to connect with one another, share creative experiences and participate in a creative demo with our own Artful Living instructor, Jean Ward.

Mental health is a concept much like “physical health” as it refers to a state individual of well-being. Mental health includes our emotions, thoughts and feelings, being able to manage life’s highs and lows, and feelings of connectedness. In this seminar you will learn about the many mental (and physical) health benefits of exercise. As well, you will leave equipped with some strategies to implement into your everyday lives to improve your mental and physical well being.

This event will explore two fundamental modes of understanding the world, art and science, and the powerful and surprising ways they connect. The presentation will address exhibitions, research, programs and pedagogies at the Belkin focused on the intertwined practices of art and science.

Join us on World Parkinson’s Day for a hybrid event including resource booths and a bake sale, educational webinars, and onsite music and salsa workshops!

Join us for Wellness Wednesday where you will learn how to get the essential nutrients you need by planning and making balanced meals and snacks with registered dietitians.

In this presentation, we will discuss new evidence supporting emotion-balance interactions and the implications for the assessment, prevention and treatment of balance deficits and falls.

Join us for a Virtual Art Exhibition as we celebrate a year since the launch of our Creative Collective! Hosted by the Creative Collective planning team, we will share information about the Creative Collective, showcase the art of those who participated in the project and meet some of the artists, hearing their stories of how art impacts wellbeing.

Join us with Dr. Lara Boyd as she will provide an overview of the impact of music on the brain! She will then summarize recent research assessing the impact of Opera on brain function and cognition.

Join us this month with Dr. Mark Williams, who will host a special two hour, hybrid Wellness Wednesday on Mindfulness.

There are moments in life that decide your fate. What if you could recognise these moments before they seized control of your life? What if you could use them to set sail for a better future? What if all moments, big and small, could be harnessed this way?

Come join us for the Women’s Health Awareness Feature for the Research Seminar Series. Dr. Maya Libben will discuss research from the psychopathology lifespan and neuropsychology lab and share clinical expertise on cognitive assessment in psychopathology.

Do you want to take a part in more programs in our community? Join us on September 6th at noon to learn more about various community programs that are available in BC!

On Wednesday, July 19th, Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell and the BC Brain Wellness Program invite you to join our annual celebration of World Brain Day! The World Federation of Neurology has selected the theme "Brain Health and Disability: Leave No One Behind”, which aligns with our vision and mission at the Brain Wellness Program.

What is pain? What affects our perception of pain? Join us on June 7th with our speakers Dr. Kenneth Craig, the Director of the BC Pain Research Network and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at UBC, and Nicole Bailey, a graduate research assistant at the Kramer lab at ICORD. In this session, we will explore the psychological, social, and biological dimensions of pain, as well as current research studying the interactions of stress and pain.

The upcoming Wellness Wednesday will highlight sex-differences on age-related functions. The session will cover both brain and motor functions by two speakers - Dr. Jennifer Jakobi will cover topics on muscle system and Dr. Natasha Rajah-Moir will present on memory-related brain functions.

Join us at our Research Seminar Series on April 5th to learn more about your brain, specifically how new cells are produced in your brain and how this might affect memory and mood. Neurogenesis, defined as the formation of new neurons in the brain, is a complex process of which our speaker, Dr. Jason Snyder, is an expert in. In this session, Jason will walk us through the basics of neurogenesis, how his lab investigates the role of neurogenesis in behaviours such as learning and decision-making, and how functions of neurogenesis in animals might translate to humans.