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2 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016
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PROFILE GILLIAN MANDICH
Volume 110, Issue 04 WWW.WESTERNGAZETTE.CA University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial 519.661.3580 Advertising 519.661.3579
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COURTESY OF GILLIAN MANDICH
NEWS SABRINA FRACASSI DRISHTI KATARIA MOSES MONTERROZA RITA RAHMATI CULTURE SAMAH ALI ELLIS KOIFMAN AMY SKODAK ANNIE RUETER
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Gillian Mandich has one toe in everything.
happiness to increase happiness in their life,” `Gillian says. “Everyday is a new opportunity to choose.”
At Western, she’s a Health and Rehabilitation PhD candidate and a lecturer. Beyond the academy, the teaching continues: Gillian instructs yoga, hosts a cooking show and was recently named one of London’s Top 20 Under 40 by Business London Magazine.
So how does someone become happier? Gillian says it’s all about learning concrete skills that increase positivity over time, particularly skills like gratitude and mindfulness.
“I really see the world as my classroom, and I have so many different classrooms to teach in,” Gillian says, wearing neon-coloured workout gear during our interview.
“Even in midterms, when you’re are freaking out you can switch it and think, ‘what am I grateful in this moment?’ “ Gillian says. “It completely changes your lense and can have a very profound effect, but it’s so simple.”
“Whether I’m at Western or on my radio show at CHRW, in a magazine, on TV or in a podcast, through all of those things I’m teaching what I’m learning about health.”
It’s part of the reason Gillian developed a love for yoga. She reluctantly started going to a class during the fourth year of her undergrad at Western. When she noticed she began to feel less stressed and anxious, she took a yoga teacher-training course just out of interest and her dedication bloomed from there.
Gillian’s love for health research and teaching took root early on. Both of her parents went to Western, and as the eldest of seven siblings, she was the trail-blazer. Growing up, she watched her mom, Angie Mandich, go back to Western to complete a PhD and later become a professor in its school of occupational therapy. “I was on campus all the time with my mom,” she says. “So my whole life I’ve been around research. I think we added it up one time, and my family has a crazy amount of degrees, like 15 degrees, from Western,” Gillian says, laughing.
Another benefit of yoga? “I really love yoga because I travel a lot, and if you go into a yoga studio where you don’t know anybody, there’s always nice people there,” she says. “It’s a great way to meet people!” Mandich plans to wrap up her PhD by the end of the year with a specialization in health promotion. University or not, something tells me she won’t stop learning or sharing.
Now wrapping up her own doctorate, balancing such a jam-packed schedule can be tough. Fortunately Gillian’s dissertation focuses on the links between happiness and health — she’s got an edge. The real trick about happiness, Gillian says, is that it’s actually a skill and a habit, kind of like remembering to brush your teeth or filling out an agenda everyday.
“A lot of people think happiness is a destination you arrive at, when really we can create that right now,” Gillian says. “it’s always an evolution just like fitness. You don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m totally fit, and I’m good for the rest of my life. Everyday it’s a practice, and everyday is different.”
“No matter what you were born with, and no matter where you live, any person can learn the skill of
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