Each month we send members tips and insights on how to manage stress, become more mindful and maintain a better work/life balance. Check here to find our more recent articles and resources.
Thanks to all who submitted entries to our first Winter of Gratitude Art Challenge. We had many wonderful pieces of art, it was very difficult to select winners in our three categories: Best Indoor Winter Scene (Melissa Guimaraes, Peabody), Best Outdoor Winter Scene (Tia Costello, Amesbury) and Best Portrayal of Gratitude (Deborah Gray, Georgetown). View their beautiful work.
Feeling Anxious? You are not alone? We’ve all experienced stress and worry. But if it’s starting to feel like too much, we’ve got tools to help you understand what you are going through. Explore our free, confidential, online programs. Taking that first step is easier than you think
Thanks to all who submitted entries to our first Pumpkin Carving Contest. We had so many terrific pumpkins, it was very difficult to select winners in our three categories: Most Creative (Rowan Desautels, Dartmouth), Funniest (Alice Bellefontaine, Norwell) and Scariest (Vinny Ozella, Hopedale). Check out their amazing work.
When it comes to moving loved ones to a new home, it’s natural to experience anxiety and second-guessing. It shows you are trying your best to make a good decision. Read What Matters Most in Choosing an Assisted Living Arrangement to learn how to do your homework to narrow your choices based on key fundamentals, a deeper exploration of the facility people involved in overall management, day-to-day care and customer service so you make a choice comfortable for all.
Resilience is the ability to recover from stress and bounce back from adversity. We can develop and improve our resilience through effort and consistency. Boosting our resilience has never been more critical than it is now in the face of the COVID19 pandemic and political and racial unrest. Cultivating Resilience includes a mental health toolkit of resilience boosting techniques.
This pandemic puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on parents to cope with our own reactions to keep households running, and manage childcare while school is canceled. On top of that, many of us are worried about how the pandemic is affecting our kids’ behavioral health. Read Supporting Your Kids and Yourself During the COVID-19 Crisis for some helpful tips.
Did you know that some people experience Summertime Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)? Longer time spent in heat and humidity, disrupted sleep schedules, self-consciousness with body image, and late nights can bring on signs and symptoms of summertime SAD in about 10% of the population. Read Everyone Is Having Fun in the Sun Why Can’t I? to learn more about this disorder and how to get free counseling.
Our world is experiencing extremely trying times that have led to significant loss for many of us. Some of us may have lost our sense of security, our jobs, or even loved ones. Grief is the feeling that we experience in response to what we have lost. Grieving is very personal and looks different for each one of us. Coping with Loss explores four common tasks associated with managing our grief.
Many of us have older loved ones living away from us. They may live in their own home or apartment or in an assisted living or nursing home facility. Because of the pandemic, and the limitations on social distancing, many seniors are feeling lonely, claustrophobic and anxious. Read Supporting Your Loved Ones from the Outside for steps to take to keep our loved ones as comfortable and engaged with us as possible.
Remote Wellness Activities and Services has activities, resources and support services for you to access during this challenging time. These include short exercise videos, quick meditations, nutrition tips, telephonic coaching opportunities, guided live meditations, and more. Also, information and advice on COVID-19.
There is a (somewhat) secret source of mental and physical rejuvenation for you during this challenging time…And it’s something you most likely already have access to, nature. Read Nature Can Nurture Your Health and learn 4 ways nature improves our mental and/or physical health.
Colder temperatures, snow, loss of daylight, and more time spent inside can challenge our moods during the wintertime in New England. Feeling more tired or a bit down during the winter months is fairly common; it is known as the “winter blues”. Discover a few ways to manage the winter blues or SAD.
We are launching a new online winter workshop series, A Tase of Mindfulness, on mindfulness and how it can help us more effectively manage the “stuff” of our lives, including parenting, difficult emotions, chronic pain, caregiving and work. The workshop sessions will be broadcast live on six Mondays from 6:30pm – 7:30pm from the Mindfulness Center at Brown University School of Public Health. Learn more about the upcoming sessions.
Traditionally, images of war veterans come to mind for most people when they hear the term post-traumatic stress disorder. While war veterans are certainly among those who can live with PTSD, there many other persons who also live with this anxiety disorder. In the United States, 7 of 10 adults experience some sort of trauma in their lifetime; about 2 of those 7 persons will develop PTSD from the event(s). Read Stay on the Frontline of PTSD to learn more.
Gratitude is “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” When you choose to be grateful (and you can always choose) you become more able to bend and flow with life. Solutions are easier to find; connections are easier to be made and maintained. The Importance of Gratitude demonstrates how gratitude can make you feel better.
Our modern lives offer up a huge challenge when it comes to having a balanced and healthy eye/brain system. Keeping Your Eyes Healthy at Work presents three simple yet powerfully effective exercises to assist your eyes in working fluidly as an easy team. Do these regularly, particularly if, like most of us, you work at a computer all day.
Read The Powerful Health Benefits of Arts and Crafts and learn how these activities can alleviate stress, enhance manual dexterity and improve hand-eye coordination. Perhaps most importantly, arts and crafts are relaxing and fun. They offer a great balance of skill and challenge, where the sense of personal reward is quick to arrive and deeply satisfying when it comes.
Hopefully this summer, you will be taking some time off. Be assured that the more deeply and joyfully you take time to rest, the better and more balanced you will feel in all aspects of your work and home life. Learn tips on how to make this happen by reading How Not to Worry (or Think) About Work on Your Next Vacation. And have a great time!
It's probably no surprise to anyone when science shows us that having friends increases wellness and quality of life. However, in an increasingly complex and busy life, it can be hard to make meaningful connections and lasting friendships. Learn more by reading Connect with Yourself in Order to Connect with Others.
When we are depressed, we often feel that our sadness, hopelessness and anxiety will never end. Which can often lead to unhealthy eating and being sedentary. Read Depression, Diet and Exercise and learn how some foods and combinations of foods, along with exercise, can be as effective or even more effective than anti-depressant medications.
With so much “stuff” in our lives already, what can we give each other than doesn't come from a store? The list is limitless and begins with ideas of sharing love, time, energy and creativity. New Kind of Giving offers a few ideas to spur a different way of thinking about holiday gifts.
Wish you had more energy? Check out Boosting Your Energy in the Workplace. Learn new strategies to find your energy and channel it by paying daily attention to creating new, healthier habits. Discover a few great ideas to boost your energy and recapture your sense of vitality from within.
Loneliness is increasing in mens' lives and has been linked to several serious health problems. While that's the bad news, the good news is that you can turn this around. Read Men and Loneliness.
Having problems getting to sleep? Read Sleep Well, Rest Well, Be Well.
Exercise your body and mind with Walking and Creativity. Researchers from Stanford University have discovered that walking outdoors or indoors helps your creative thinking flow. It is the act of walking itself that gets creativity going, rather than the location. And it has been proven that walking boosts creativity hugely over sitting.
Music affects us in many ways – it can inspire, galvanize and soothe us. Trigger creativity and improve our sleep. The release of endorphins when we listen to music strengthens learning, improves memory and can even raise our IQ and promote brain health. Learn more about Music and Well Being.
The holiday season is upon us along with an avalanche of tastebuds temptations. Learn how to keep your fitness and weight loss goals without missing any of the fun by reading 6 Weight Maintenance and Healthy Holiday Tips.
Is there too much technology in your life? Read Get Unplugged to reset your energies and realign your habits to improve your wellbeing.
This can be a challenging time as days grow shorter and the weather cools. We have some steps you can take to maintain your wellbeing and health in Staying Well in the Changing Seasons.
Taking a vacation is supposed to be fun but can often be a hugely stressful event. And given that the whole point of a vacation is to de-stress your life, take a few minutes to read Simple Tips for De-Fusing Travel Stress before your next trip.
Hear what Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan of the Harvard Business Review say about "resilience." This article is thought provoking and will give you a new perspective on how to stay energized and productive. Learn more in: "Resilience is about how you recharge, not how you endure."
Find out why laughter really can be the best medicine. The a few minutes to review Does Laughter Matter? YES!
Taking a nap sharpens alertness, prevents burn out, heightens sensory perception and increases productivity. It also helps the brain retain information. Learn more by reading The Benefits of Napping.
Do you doodle? Doodling is an effective means of remembering information, stirring up new ideas and focusing a frazzled mind. Discover more benefits and how some famous people use doodling in their lives.
Learn how Journaling for Health, Creativity, and Joy helps to stay in touch with oneself and offers a variety of benefits: from stress relief, to boosting creativity, from supporting self esteem to helping with weight loss and more.
Bringing more balance to your life can help you experience more joy, fulfillment and contentment. Yet working toward balance can be daunting. Path to Work Life Balance may help you in your journey.
Winter's colder and shorter days can make it tough to get energized. Here are some Reenergizing Resolutions to bring up energy levels.
Add More Joy and Less Stress to the holidays by reading this stress relieving article.
The Thanksgiving season inspires us to express gratitude. Studies show that gratitude can even improve your blood pressure and your immune function. Take a few minutes to read Thanksgiving and Gratitude and learn more about the value of expressing gratitude daily.
Here are 3 Pratical Ways to Rejuvenate Through Mindfulness that you can do almost anywhere, anyplace to quiet your mind and relax.
See how others have overcome significant life changes and the lessons we can use to help improve our less than perfect life in Life Isn't Always Perfect.
