Due to the recent campus closure, UNI’s Student Wellness Services (SWS) has gone digital with their resources. This spring, students have two different options to explore strengthening their well-being through diet, with intuitive eating workshops and 1:1 Zoom meetings offered by the SWS office.

“Intuitive eating is an approach to eating rooted in 10 basic principles that invite you to a world of pleasurable yet healthy eating and a sense of freedom that can be exhilarating,” Jenna Petersen, UNI’s Health Promotion Coordinator, said. 

SWS is offering two, four-week intuitive eating workshops this April, the registration for which has already closed. Students are invited to sign up for the next group workshops during the Fall 2020 semester, which occur during October and November. “During the workshop, students can learn more about intuitive eating by exploring their relationship with food among a group of peers also looking to grow,” Petersen said.

Those who missed this spring’s workshop sign-up but are still looking to gain the health benefits of intuitive eating can receive mentorship and coaching from the SWS office by scheduling a 1:1 Zoom session. “Scheduling an Intuitive Eating 1:1 Zoom session is easy. You can find a time in your Google Calendar and mine by visiting studentwellness.uni.edu/intuitive-eating and following the instructions to sign up. We’ll get to know each other over Zoom and together we will find what works to help you take the next step in changing that relationship,” Petersen said.

In addition to 1:1 intuitive eating sessions, SWS is also offering 1:1 Wellness Coaching Zoom sessions this semester, “in which students can learn how to find a new rhythm for their lives during COVID-19 and beyond,” Petersen said. The sign-up process for wellness coaching sessions is similar to that for intuitive eating. The calendar for 1:1 wellness coaching sessions is available at studentwellness.uni.edu/wellness-coaching.

For those interested in the 1:1 Intuitive Eating Zoom sessions, Petersen said, “If you are even 1% inclined to learn more, think about if you are ready to commit to changing your relationship with food. If you are, I want you to sign up for a session. I say this because it’s definitely a challenging process to reject the myths of diet culture, start listening to your body’s hunger-fullness cues, eat for satisfaction, discover why you are eating emotionally, accept your body as it is, and be gentle with how you move your body.”