Health and Wellness Services is sponsoring a new co-curricular experience called “Got Health and Happiness”. This program is a 4-week journey to embracing your wellness. It’s a self-guided program designed to help enhance your overall health!
Who doesn’t love improving their lives to promote their health and well-being for free!?
Photo by Seth Thompson ’21
Here are my highlights from the final week!
1. Watch your mental diet
Did you know that limiting your use of social media can reduce depression, anxiety and improve your sleep? In this activity, I took a day to be mindful about my media intake and how it made me feel. After completing this activity, I realized that an app like Snapchat makes me feel more negative because of FOMO (fear of missing out). In contrast, I feel better about my intellectual health if I read articles on different news platforms. It was a great way to evaluate my social media intake, without doing a full-on cleanse.
2. Express gratitude
I was sick this past week, and I was overall feeling really crummy. I felt disconnected from a lot of my friends, so I decided to try this out! Strong, healthy relationships rely on a ration of at least 5 positive interactions/communications to every negative one. I tried different ways of expressing appreciation, such as giving compliments or thanking people for their contributions. It was a mood booster, and I overall felt like a better person. I even found myself genuinely telling strangers that they were doing a great job at work. I really felt better after those interactions!
3. Create an effective affirmation
Have you heard of a mantra? Well, I made my own to help remind myself to keep going after I have been pretty self-critical. Mine is “You are stronger than you think you are, keep moving”. It has to be a compassionate or encouraging perspective, because it will help you be positive. You can also adapt the affirmation, so it doesn’t always have to be the same thing. But that was my basis and it motivates me to persist through challenges.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I achieved my three mini goals from the beginning. I know I wanted to change my overall mood, so I am glad I did that! All of my exercises helped contribute to my mindfulness, my mood and just overall sense of well-being. As life is always a rollercoaster of fluctuation, and these are just more tools I can revisit and use whenever I need it.
Just a reminder, you do get credit for this! For more information follow us on Facebook and sign up today!
