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The last year has been a challenge for many people. Isolation, loss and stress have created an experience that has been difficult for many to handle. Even those who don’t typically acknowledge high levels of stress in their lives have noted the last 18 months have been different.
The experience of stress is universal — it is part of being alive. Therefore, developing a healthy response to stress is a skill that will serve you well throughout your life. Some stressors are within your realm of control and can be prevented.
For example, you can choose whether you want the additional stress of a fifth class, on top of your job, sports team, long-distance relationship, and so on. Other stressors are unavoidable, but you can alleviate the impact by practicing some wellness strategies.
A group of Kettering staff came together to consider ways they might help each of us learn some new ways to take care of ourselves. That was the genesis Wellness Wednesdays, a weekly guide to self-care.
The goal is to offer ways to promote positive and healthy self-care and a way to reduce stress in your life. Each week, an overview of the week’s activities will be provided here.
Please join all of us in supporting our Kettering values by caring for ourselves and those around us and take some time to try one or more of the options presented. If you would like to provide feedback on Wellness Wednesdays and its activities or contribute an idea, email kuonline@kettering.edu.
Actions:
- Breathe: Begin each day with a simple breathing exercise. This is the Rule of Seven. Breathe in through your nose for seven seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and then exhale through your mouth for seven seconds. Repeat seven times. This can help calm you down and immediately bring a sense of peace.
- Walk: Go for a short 10-minute walk by yourself, just around the block, your house or your office. Breathe deeply, pay attention to the things that surround you. Do you feel the wind, hear the birds or crickets, see green grass or flowers? Take it all in during that 10-minute walk.
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Other Considerations:
- Evaluate your stress levels each day to determine if what you are doing to relieve stress is working. Use a 1-10 scoring with 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest.
- Consider saying, “No,” to one thing this week to give yourself some extra.
