Simplifying School

I think a topic we all should be thinking about is coping skills and coping mechanisms. This is important not only because one gets obvious good and bad coping mechanisms, but also because an initial good coping skill can turn into a bad coping mechanism if it becomes an addiction or interferes with one’s daily lives. Let’s look at generally accepted good coping skills: brainstorm solutions be positive be assertive breathe deep and slowly cry clean or organize your environment drawing dancing do physical exercises  eat healthy encourage others enjoy nature evaluate pros and cons of a situation get enough sleep go for a drive go on a vacation gardening keep inspirational quotes around you  laugh learn a new skill make a gratitude list or keep a gratitude journal painting photography playing a game playing an instrument reach out to people in need singing schedule time for yourself spend time on hobbies socialize writing reading reward yourself for successes taking a walk take c...

Managing our feelings well is a very important skill to have. Today we will investigate this skill and see how we can develop how we can manage our feelings well. Once again, like most of the topics we have looked at so far, self-reflection, and self-knowledge is rather important in managing out feelings. ● Look at how your emotions impact you and your daily life. ● Identify what you are feeling. ● Keep track of your moods and emotions by keeping a journal. ● When in a situation, do not react immediately. Pause.Take a deep breath, count backwards in 7’s from 100. (This could be any number and from any number, but it must be something that can actually needs you to focus on the counting in order to distract you from the intense emotional trigger in that moment, giving you time to reflect before reacting) ● Accept your emotions and acknowledge how you feel. ● Give yourself some space to think. Think about the trigger, your reaction and how you can regulate the emotional reaction. ● Know ...

Today we are looking at how we can improve our self-acceptance. There are once again many things we can do to help us accept ourselves more. ● Accept your imperfections. ● Accept that you have done what you could, to the best that you could have at the time. ● Acknowledge and celebrate your strengths ● Be kind to yourself ● Change unrealistic expectations of yourself ● Create a support system and surround yourself with loving people ● Daily affirmations of positive characteristics ● Don’t be over critical of yourself ● Don’t worry - worry never changes anything to a situation ● Don’t worry about what others think about what you choose ● Engage in positive self-talk ● Establish boundaries and be assertive ● Focus on your positive qualities ● Form positive thinking patterns consciously and consciously reject negative thinking patterns ● Grieve the loss of unrealized dreams ● Learn that you are worthy of being treated well and of compassion ● Make a list of your accomplishments ● Perform ...

In my previous blog I explained why emotional wellness is important for students. We also looked at the different aspects of emotional wellness. In this blog I will explain how one can improve one's self-awareness. Self-awareness means we are in-tune with our own feelings, strengths and weaknesses. We need this in order to manage our feelings so that they do not disrupt life or cause us to develop harmful coping mechanisms. To improve our self-awareness we can: ● Know our emotional triggers ● Keep an open mind ● Know our strengths and weaknesses ● Keep a journal ● Ask for feedback and listen to feedback ● Motivate ourselves ● Discover our physical limits ● Learn a new skill ● Clarify our values ● Practice mindfulness ● Do self-reflection daily ● Look at ourselves objectively ● Set boundaries ● Meditate on your mind ● Ask people close too you to describe you ● Take personality tests ● Take psychometric tests ● Identify what bothers you about other people ● Be self-disciplined ● Draw...

Today we are starting a new topic in our series on holistic wellness and how we can improve our holistic wellness even when we are still at school. For the next couple of blogs we will focus on emotional wellness. The emotional wellness topics we will cover are: ● Self awareness ● Accepting yourself ● Having a positive outlook ● Managing feelings well ● Having good coping skills Emotional wellness, or the lack thereof, is tied to disciplinary issues, development of skills, academic outcomes, inner strength, stress or stress reduction, self-care, better health, growth, decision making and more. Join me in my next couple of blogs to find out just how we can improve our emotional wellness to help us excel at school. Till next time, Stay safe