Wellness tips

Mental Health Awareness Month was created to raise awareness about mental health, fight stigma, and provide support and education.

It’s important for everyone to feel supported in their mental health, and there are many factors that can impact this. Take this opportunity to check in with yourself and consider how your mental and emotional health are doing.

Here are some questions to think about, from Chester County Hospital's Health e-Living Blog:

1. How am I feeling today?
2. What's been worrying me lately?
3. What am I doing that is bringing me joy?
4. Who do I have in my corner?
5. Am I providing my body with what it needs? (i.e. food, water, sleep)

988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be:

• thoughts of suicide,
• mental health or substance use crisis, or
• any other kind of emotional distress

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at  988lifeline.org/chat

And on-campus or virtually, our counseling services at Edmonds College are also available for you.

Healthy eyes can make life and studying easier, but too often, studying and screen use makes eye health more difficult.

It’s all too easy to experience eye strain in college. Here are some tips to help reduce this issue.

• Increase text size on devices - it should be comfortable to view from a distance of at least your elbow to your hand (not too close to your face)
• Adjust the screen brightness and room lighting - the brightness of your screen and the overall light level in the room should match to prevent eye strain
• Filter blue light, which can cause eye strain - use a special blue light filter glasses, an add-on screen filter, or change settings on your device to reduce the blue light that comes from your screens
• Remind yourself to blink and consider eye drops if needed - this keeps the eye from drying out
• Take regular breaks from the screen - this gives your eyes the chance to adjust to looking at different things. You can try the 20-20-20 pattern: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away, for at least 20 seconds
• Try a screen-free hobby - this reduces total screen time and gives your eyes a break while you’re having fun

Sometimes, “positive thinking” can sound like “magical thinking,” where we’re expected to think only positive thoughts at all times in hopes of happy outcomes. However, this is not the case.

Positive thinking is a skill anyone can learn. It can be done even in difficult or uncomfortable situations, without denying them. Benefits include less stress, longer life, better wellbeing, and better resistance to getting sick.

It usually starts with changing your self-talk (your thoughts that you may or may not say aloud). Here are some examples from the Mayo Clinic:

• Instead of: “I'm too lazy to get this done,” try something like: “I couldn't fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities.”
• Instead of: “It's too complicated,” experiment with: “I'll tackle it from a different angle.”
• Instead of: “I'm not going to get any better at this,” consider something like: “I'll give it another try.”

Check out the article by the Mayo Clinic for more examples, to see whether your self-talk is positive or negative, and to get tips on thinking and acting in a more positive and optimistic way.

You can also make a free appointment with the Counseling team to learn more about how to apply this information in your particular situation.

Did you know that doing something nice for someone else makes you healthier, happier, and less stressed?

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation (RAK) is a nonprofit that encourages kindness. They report scientific research about kindness, including:

• increased positive feelings (like strength, energy, calmness, self-esteem, happiness, and optimism)
• longer life with less aches and pains, reduced blood pressure, and better heart health
• decreased stress and less social anxiety

If you want to try a random act of kindness, here are ten ideas from the RAK:

• thank a teacher
• read with a child
• share a snack
• open doors for others
• put away your phone and listen with your heart
• donate blood
• adopt a grandparent: go to a nearby nursing home and find out who does not get visitors or gifts
• write a positive comment online
• say something positive about yourself
• write positive messages on sticky notes and leave for others to find

Want to do something simple to motivate you toward your goals, with less stress? Try self-compassion!

Self-compassion, according to the researcher Dr. Neff, has three parts:

• Being kind to ourselves like we would to another person
• Knowing that we’re part of the shared human experience
• Being mindfully aware of our emotions and experiences

One way to practice self-compassion is to ask yourself this question: “How would I talk with my best friend if they were in the same situation?” Then, use that same compassion and kindness to talk to yourself.

To test your level of self-compassion, you can get a free self-compassion assessment.

For personal help with self-compassion in your life, check out the Counseling Resource Center.

Nothing replaces sleep, but resting when you're awake is important too. Rest helps us decrease stress and increase health, happiness, and productivity.

Rest doesn’t have to be big. We can all add moments of rest into our daily lives. The important thing is to focus on what feels restful for you.

Here are some ideas you can try for more rest in your life:

• Deep breathing - take a deep breath that feels like it fills your whole body. As you let that breath out, relax all the muscles in your body. Do this three times, or until you feel relaxed
• Sensory break - take a break from screens, loud music or noise, bright or flashing lights, strong scents, etc
• Do something fun
• Take a mental break
• Spend time by yourself
• Be with friends who you can be yourself around
• Think about things that inspire you and give you hope - quotes, ideas, prayers, etc
• Look at your schedule to make sure you’re leaving free time to rest

November is National Career Development Month! 

• Trying to figure out what career path is best for you?
• Unsure about how much certain jobs in the area pay?
• Wondering how many jobs are actually out there in the career of your choice?

Career and professional well-being is about using your skills, talents, and gifts to increase purpose and enjoyment in your professional life. It’s a part of a whole-person life that’s satisfying and rewarding.

Career Coach is the perfect tool to explore your ideal career and the education and training necessary to help you reach your goals. Additionally, it’s tailored to our region and provides employment trends, job opportunities, earnings potential, and the education available in our area.

The Career Action Center and the Wellness Center work collaboratively to help you find your most enjoyable career.

October is Emotional Wellness Month. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), “Emotional wellness is the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times.”

The NIH lists six main areas to focus on so you can grow your emotional wellness:

• Build resilience
• Reduce stress
• Get quality sleep
• Strengthen social connections
• Cope with loss
• Be mindful

For many ideas to level up in each of these areas, look at the Emotional Wellness Checklist and the interactive Emotional Wellness Toolkit.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. It’s a chance to raise awareness, decrease the stigma of asking for help, and share resources to support you and those who care for you if you are struggling.

If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis or emergency, you can call 988 or text "NAMI" to 741741 to connect with a trained counselor at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Our counseling services at Edmonds College are also available for you.

If you are in crisis or have an urgent need to speak with someone please use the following:

Medical Emergencies: 911
24/7 Mental Health Crisis / Resources: 988
Care Crisis Line: 
Text: 741 741 
Call: 425.258.4357 or 1.800.584.3578 for support 24 hours per day, 365 days per year (interpreter services available).
Campus security: 425.754.0154