 |
Wellness Tips/Articles
Holiday and Winter Wellness
Just in time for the holiday season, we have assembled some links below that speak to various aspects of wellness – physical safety, financial wellness, home safety, and relationship wellness. May this year’s holidays be fun, festive, and healthy for all of us!
Community Safety Series Module on Holiday Crime Prevention - ways to keep you and your family safe whether shopping, at home, or driving during the holidays.
Real Simple’s Money Saving Holiday Survival Guide - Use the holiday shopping guide and gift budget worksheet to keep your holiday spending in check.
Winterizing Your Home - Learn how to get your home ready for the cold winter months.
WebMD’s Home for the Holidays: Tips for Overcoming Holiday Anxiety and Stress - Become aware of the causes of holiday stress, how to control it, and ways to overcome it.
Quick Tips to Help Protect Your Relationship During the Holidays - Find ways to keep your relationship healthy during the holidays.
Ways to Keep Your Immune System Strong
Research has validated the link between moderate, regular exercise, healthy eating and a strong immune system. Throughout the winter season, taking care of ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally can help ensure a healthy immune system – one that’s capable of withstanding the winter onslaught of upper respiratory infections. See below for a PDF document and links to external websites with immunity-boosting resources.
Winter Time Health - Read about the health benefits of medicinal food and herbs in soups.
Taming the Wintertime Blues - link to article by Dr. Tom Brian, director of University of Tulsa’s Counseling and Psychological Services Department. - Understand how interactions between the mind, body, and environment contribute to depression during the wintertime.
CNN Article: “Follow this eat-right plan to fortify your immune system”
Harvard Health Publications Article: “How to boost your immune system”
Boost Your Immune System WebMD Video
The University of Minnesota 'Taking Charge of Your Health' website has a wealth of resources to create a healthy lifestyle, navigate the health care system, and explore healing practices.
National Stalking Month and Relationship Violence Resources (submitted by Jess Myers)
National stalking month and relationship violence resources
January is National Stalking Awareness Month and a time to focus on a crime that affects 3.4 million victims a year. This scary crime impacts victims' wellness in multiple ways to include as increase of anxiety, social dysfunction, severe depression.
This year’s theme—“Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.”—challenges the nation to fight this dangerous crime by learning more about it. For the Wellness Initiative and the UMBC campus, creating awareness and addressing stalking is another way to contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our community. We encourage you to learn the facts and the resources and we have included some links on the topic and this special awareness month.
The National Center for Victims of Crime – Stalking Resource Center
Information on promoting Stalking Awareness Month from The National Center for Victims of Crime
UMBC’s Relationship Violence Awareness and Prevention Website
If you or someone you know in our community is being impacted by stalking and you would like support from on-campus resources, please visit www.umbc.edu/vav and/or www.umbc.edu/rvap for more information. In the case of imminent danger, call 911.
Meditation
Meditation is a simple, fast and free way to reduce stress and bring inner peace. With the holidays approaching and the anxiety that comes along with it, various types of meditation can be practiced at any time to wipe away the day’s stress. It’s never too late to start and there are many resources to help you stick to your practice.
University Counseling Services Meditation Resources
Other college counseling center website meditation resources - check out Hobart Smith & Williams 8minute progressive muscle relaxation and the sound meditations on the Wisconsin-Madison website.
Famous Meditation Teachers Discuss Mindfulness Meditation:
Jon Kabat-Zinn leads a session on Mindfulness at Google
Thich Nhat Hanh What is Mindfulness
‘WebMD: “Meditation Balances the Body’s Systems” - This article discusses how meditation can improve the mind, body and heart if done on a regular basis.
iNeedMovitvation: “100 Benefits of Meditation"
MITnew: The Benefits of Meditation - This article takes the findings of MIT and Harvard neuroscientists and explains how meditation tunes out distractions and relieves pain.
Spritual Now: The Different Types of Meditation - This article briefly discusses some aspects of meditation types that are prevalent today.
New Year's resolutions
Many of us struggle to decide what our New Year’s Resolution will be only to forget about it weeks later. Sticking to it is very important because there is no achievement without goals. You can even fill out a New Year’s Resolution Contract to remind yourself of what you want to achieve in the upcoming year.
New Year’s Resolution Contract
Live Strong Article: “Importance of Setting Goals ”
A wonderful New Year’s practice is to reflect back on the past year.... and then look forward to the year ahead. ‘Effective Questions’ can generate powerful energy to create what we want in our lives.
Here are some of my favorite Effective Questions for transitioning from one year to the next. I encourage you to keep them handy, and answer them frequently - all year long!
Please share these questions with whomever you like.
Enjoy !!
< Terri Werner
Director, Training and Organization Development
Tips on Starting a Department Wellness Activity
Oftentimes a great way to combat individual stress is to initiate a new wellness regimen. The same holds true for departmental stress. Working together as a team to meet a shared wellness goal has many benefits that include increasing well-being and collaboration, and fostering a sense of individual and collective accomplishment. We’ve included several tip sheets and templates below that departments can use to implement a wellness activity and will add new content to this section on an ongoing basis. Please use these documents to your advantage and consider submitting a departmental ‘Success Story’ (under ‘About UMBC-WIn’ tab) at the end of a group session to share your success and inspire others on campus.
Tips on Walking for Fitness at UMBC – tips on creating a departmental walking group
Biggest Loser Program Tips and Reproducible Templates
How to Create a Workplace Biggest Loser Program
Total Program Winner Certificate
Immunity Boosting Tips:
- Don’t smoke.
- Eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and low in saturated fat.
- Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight.
- Control your blood pressure.
- Find ways to laugh every day.
- Hold a hopeful perspective.
- If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation.
- Get adequate sleep.
- Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly.
- Get regular medical screening tests for people in your age group and risk category.