Welcome to GROWVEMBER!
Aligned with the Grow Your Own Way community inspired vision, GROWVEMBER takes a cue from the enthusiasm around November men's health awareness campaigns and guidance from individual communities to identify currently unmet needs in those communities as they pertain to men's health and male cancers.
What did we learn from Grow Your Own Way: Cuts & Conversations 2024? Lots of people are feeling pretty lonely and disconnected - even people that are around other people all the time. In fact, entire communities are left with a sense of disheartened abandonment. This sounds awful doesn't it? This year, and for the foreseeable future, GROWVEMBER will hone in on efforts to rebuild connections with and within communities.
GROWVEMBER 2024 - identified needs...
What is unique about this approach is all participants, both individually and organizationally, can tangibly witness and/or experience the benefit of their efforts first hand. That, in and of itself, has very obvious benefits to mental health and well-being alongside the program's overall health benefits.
What did we learn from Grow Your Own Way: Cuts & Conversations 2024? Lots of people are feeling pretty lonely and disconnected - even people that are around other people all the time. In fact, entire communities are left with a sense of disheartened abandonment. This sounds awful doesn't it? This year, and for the foreseeable future, GROWVEMBER will hone in on efforts to rebuild connections with and within communities.
GROWVEMBER 2024 - identified needs...
- Mental Health First Aid training scholarships for NC barbers.
- Northeastern NC Prostate Cancer Awareness Revival.
"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?" - Luke 15:4
What is unique about this approach is all participants, both individually and organizationally, can tangibly witness and/or experience the benefit of their efforts first hand. That, in and of itself, has very obvious benefits to mental health and well-being alongside the program's overall health benefits.
Ready to Grow?
Secrets to Growing Some Stuff on Your Face That Might Make You the Envy of All
A Healthy Beard (or stache) and a Healthy You Go Hand and Hand (this is your competitive edge).
- Muscle elevates testosterone, which can boost beard growth and improve other indicators of a man's overall health.
- Try some activities that keep stress at bay; cortisol (the stress hormone) can hamper the growth of a healthy looking beard.
- Fuel your beard growth well for a healthier look.
- In short - Exercise, make healthier food choices, reduce stress, and get regular sleep.
- Maintenance tips and tricks.
Need help deciding what to grow?
There are lots of fun simulator apps where you can upload images to test drive your new look before diving in. Keep in mind, a good barber can help with achieving the look you're after. In visiting the barber shop and sharing information about the need you are working to address, you will leave not only looking better, but most assuredly feeling better.
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Wellness apps can also be helpful in working toward your GROWVEMBER wellness goals.
Just search your favorite app store to find a few that might work for you!
Group/Team Building Activities
While apps can be fun, so can group activities. Consider reaching out to local resources for things like onsite morning Tai Chi practice, healthy cooking workshops, training for group competitions and activities, or hosting online, in-person, or hybrid health education session(s) for your crew.
The Grow and Know Challenge
Brush up on your skills when it comes to talking to your biologically male friends and co-workers about male cancers. Learn how to comfortably talk about knowing your numbers, the digital rectal exam (DRE), and spicing up your chat with a little humor.
Props to Other Noble and Noteworthy November Activities Supporting Cancer Causes and Men's Health and Wellness
No-Shave November
When you encounter a friend, family member or co-worker looking quite disheveled and unkempt, you might naturally feel a sense of concern. During the month of November, this is allowed with the simple statement "I'm doing No Shave November." Wondering if that is just a convenient excuse to neglect personal appearance and hygiene, your inquisitive glance might be met with something generic about men's health. No-Shave November is actually a fundraising organization focused on cancer awareness by "embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free." After administrative overhead, money raised is allocated by the No-Shave November Foundation to benefit national non-profits that vary from year to year.
Movember
Here's to the guys who started it all - those crazy Aussies... Mo, short for moustache (in "the states" we call it a mustache ),+November=Movember began in 1999, formalized in 2003, and since that time has funded research projects looking at prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's mental health globally and raised funds to the tune of close to a billion dollars! Movember has some rules. You have to start clean shaven and you have to grow a mo - which can be fun and creative.