VISION, MISSION & VALUES

 Since the beginning of the Alberta Mindfulness Association (AMA) establishment, the company as a whole has striven to make contributions to the community in an effort to socialize and facilitate the importance of mindfulness for daily life. In recent times, especially with the rampant uncertainty and confusion surrounding the future of COVID-19, AMA has broadened its range to provide support for families and individuals in the Alberta area. Most notable in our efforts have been two projects that were quickly organized and executed to provide immediate relief:
AMA’s first project commenced on March when the pandemic first hit the Alberta region. Government intervention had not yet occurred and there was a shortage of medical masks and supplies throughout the Calgary and Edmonton area. AMA quickly arranged to provide around 7,500 medical masks to give to families, visible minorities, organizations and the impoverished. Our team delivered medical supplies personally door to door to communities that were the hardest hit from the first wave of the pandemic scare through networking and word of mouth. We continued to allocate medical supplies and masks to those in need all through April and May until government provided masks were supplied through other major organizations and establishments. We later mainly focused our efforts to provide educative information and less immediate supplies (such as mental health support, monetary relief, toiletries and secondary necessities) to more vulnerable populations such as children, seniors and minority populations.
The second project was our online education programs that primarily focused on COVID-19 prevention, but especially on the mental health aspect of what COVID-19 could possibly entail. Since the pandemic seemingly came out of nowhere, the idea that it would spread globally was originally dismissed. When it had spread to the point it where was difficult to control, the public’s emotions spiraled as well. Fear, doubt, disorientation and other negative emotions are common emotional occurrences due to unfamiliar situations, and many were not aware of the methods of coping. Our company, which advocates for holistic health believes that mindfulness is a very meaningful method to help combat these emotions. This project was split into two programs that happened in April and May, and then in June and July. The first was an online program that was held on Zoom over a period of 28 days. Each session is an hour or hour and a half long, that allowed anyone to join virtually. In this program, topics consisted of soothing the mind and body through the methods of patience and practicing, that could relieve stress. We used scientific methods of psychological training, mental ability practices, and accommodation of unpleasantness skills to assist our participants in their training process. The second program was targeted toward seniors, with online sessions of 2-3 times a week over a course of one month. Topics were essentially the same, but more concise to help facilitate better understanding in our older participants. Training sessions were longer for seniors who needed clarification or additional help. Over our two programs, over 300 people have participated. We expect to continue these education programs to help people understand a new normal during these times.
AMA hopes that by introducing mindfulness techniques to the public, they will be more informed on the ways of proper mental health strategies and coping methods. We will continue to ensure quality and purposefulness in our mission to help the Canadian population during these difficult times.