I've gotta snake in my boot!

I cannot explain nor count how many times I wish I was back in middle school or even elementary school, where everything seemed so much simpler and overall much more relaxing. My greatest worry used to be if I would have enough time to play kickball with my friends and watch my favorite t.v. show on cartoon network. Now days, stress comes in the ugly form of assignment due dates, nightly commitments to one organization or another, social scenarios involving friends and cohorts, and whatever else the stress monster can throw at you in college.
For The Belmont Presidents emotional wellness task day, we wanted to release our inner-child for an hour of simple, childish fun. As I was watching Toy Story with my classmates, I realized that life is way too full of intense scenarios and serious situations. The students and individuals praised are those that take everything seriously and never take a break from the assignments and work given to them. We are a world revolving around one’s ability to work and properly function in a social setting, instead of worrying about personal happiness and overall wellness. While I think working hard is very important to a healthy life and society, we must never forgot about the importance of taking a break and remembering what it was like to be a kid.

Movie Day!

Watching "Toy Story" last week brought back so many memories for me. I remembered be a little kid and the simplicity of laugh. Being able to kick back with everyone and laugh was a therapeutic experience. I tend to get caught up in assignments ad due dates. I often forget to take time everyday to relax! Just as with napping, it is important to take time out to be silly once in a while. The movie time came at a perfect time in the semester. Don't sweat the small stuff!

A Rebirth?

Life isn't as serious as i'm far too often prone to take it. It hasn't dawned on me in a long while, but this last week i was hit with the reality like a mac truck. The stakes in life just aren't anywhere as high as I try and make them. I'm not the only one walking around with insecurities, a past of some level of "failure," and my ducks far from being in a row. Better yet, it's all going to be okay! In the midst of soul searching, navigating a new level of responsibility, and the uncertainty of my future, I recently managed to entirely squeeze the enjoyment out of life.

I walked in to a family counseling session last week, listened as the counselor presented this liberating way of thought towards our present dilemma, and everything changed.  It began this mini renaissance for me that everything else, from bumper stickers to chats with my wife, seemingly wants to reinforce.




In pursuit of emotional liberation, our group popped in Toy Story this last week and spent an hour giving life to our childhood again. I'm not sure it substantially awakened my inner child, but did do a fantastic job at reinforcing my "not-taking-life-so-seriously" rebirth.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Who doesn't love Toy Story?!

It was really nice to sit back for an hour (not much longer because kids movies are pretty short) and watch a movie that reminds you of back in the day. Back when life was simple. We talked about some of our favorite movies from back when we were younger. It is nice to get in touch with our younger sides. To often we forget to do that.

I feel lucky to have a son who reminds me on a daily basis that its ok to just be a kid. We get to play with chalk, blow bubble, and sometimes just play in a mud puddle. The simple things like that really take you back and say "Man I miss being a kid" Because we feel that so often it is important to be a kid every so often....and its really easy to do....

1. Pick fav child video

2. Grab some goldfish (or other childhood snack)

3. Watch movie and laugh (even if you are laughing because the movie is so stupid)

So easy anyone can do it....so go be a kid again!!

You've Got A Friend In Me

For our emotional health we took a day to be more child-like and watch the movie Toy Story. It was really interesting to watch it now that I am older because I caught a lot of jokes that I missed as a child. It was nice to relax during this stressful time of year and just watch a movie. I think it is vital for our emotional health to sometimes just laugh and be a kid again. Life is much more simple as a child and I think we put too much pressure on ourselves as adults.

Take an emotional health day and just watch some of your favorite childhood movies next time you feel overwhelmed!

Radnor Walk

Our group went on a walk last week to see how it compared to a nap. I think that Becky said it best. I agree that both are rejuvenating in their own way. It was a beutiful day when we went on our walk. Some flowers were starting to bloom and we saw (and heard!) lots of wildlife. Even though we were getting exercise, I felt like it was relaxing as well. An afternoon nap can have the same affect. After all, it's better than coffee!

Nap VS. Walk... the winner is...BOTH!

What a great day for our walk!! It was so nice I think we all really enjoyed our walk but, the question is...what is the better way to "slow down"? A walk or a nap?

Answer Both!

The rest of my day after our walk I felt really good. I thought I would just be more tired but the fresh air, lovely weather and, slow pace that we took overall made a good change for my day.

I think I had just as much energy as I did when I got to take a 2o min nap. If the weather was not so nice and we were not in such a good environment i would have a different idea.

Both the nap and the slowed down walk made a difference in my day in a positive way...today looks like a crummy day SO nap it is....


Sidenote...Love the picture by Jessica thank you! AND Franklin should come to class all the time!

A lovely spring walk!

The walk around Radnor Lake was much needed after being cooped up inside for far too long. The weather was perfect and one of the first nice days of spring! While

everything looked dead still from winter, including an actual dead deer in the lake : ( so sad, it was still great to be outside without being bundled up.

For me, the walk was more rejuvenating than a nap. I think this was because it was a drastic change of scenery and being outside definitely gave me energy!

Dead deer, a live teddy bear, and 5 college students.

GOAL: to discover the effects that slowing down VS exercise has on one's body.



TACTIC: a walk around Radnor Lake with 5 college students, a breathing teddy bear, and plenty of time.




REFLECTIONS: The issue at hand, for me, is what is going to provide me with more energy. Though the exercise today wasn't intensive, my body feels the effects of a change in it's daily schedule. Taking a medium paced 2 mile stroll around a lake in the midday is not a normal accurance for the ole frame. And though the effects of exercise are obviously good ones in the long run, my life doesnt lend the time to give enough attention to working hard enough to experience those results. In the current season I'm in, napping has proved to be a more effecient way to increase my energy and provide a generally happier disposition.

BTW: this little guy accompanied us on our journey... 

The Art of Meditation

This week, we went to the basement of the Belmont Library stilled our minds and souls for a half hour. It was much harder than I thought! Meditation is like sleep for me though. I know that I should do it more because it is good for me. After about twenty minutes, I could feel my mind and body beginning to let go! At first I felt guilty and thought that this was a waste of time. My mind was racing with the tests I had to study for and the paper I still had to write. I realized though that taking a few minutes and getting back in touch with myself will help me do better on all of those things. OMMMMMM

The Pursuit of Calm.

A Half Hour full of no words...
The Belmont Library basement floor......
Lite and soothing music...
5 Health and Wellness students...
and a Pursuit of Calm. 

Though our backs weren't uncomfortably straight, nor our hands curled into just the right position to harness as much "chi" as possible, we took on the art of meditation this week.

All of us being raised and deeply ingrained with American ideology, it took a good 15-20 minutes+ for most of us to even feel comfortable with simply listening. In a culture that applies value according to what an individual does or accomplishes, focusing on who we are and simply "being" feels a bit like running a race in mud. By the end of our time, we dialogued our muddy experiences, yet - concluded our love for the discipline. 

Though our goal was a Spiritual exercise, Meditation provides "unparalleled benefits" to all of life: Physical, Mental, Emotional and the Spiritual. According to "The Benefits of Meditation" organization, here are just a few...

 "Physical Benefits:  Reduce muscle fatigue and tension, lower high blood cholesterol, strengthen the immune system, reduces the occurance of pain, insomnia and headaches, unlimited energy, helps you to create an eternal and infinite flow of pure lifeforce energy...

Emotional Benefits:  Less irritability, reduction in the "fight or flight" response, and more emotional self-control. Helps bring perspective when confronted with a crisis thus making the crisis more manageable. Learning to integrate all the senses in your daily life, through meditation, will bring a myriad of emotional benefits and fullness to your life and help you become a better observer - which will help you respond to situations rather than react...
Mental Benefits:  Better mental focus, concentration and creativity.  Less stress and anxiety and greater peace of mind.  Meditation seeks to bring harmful and counter-productive thoughts and feelings to the surface within you, quell them and help you gain the necessary perspective to invoke more truth and reality in your life...
Spiritual Benefits:  Greater self-awareness, the feeling of being more "connected" and a greater sense of purpose, along with the added benefit of helping you to resolve past issues that tend to get buried in the psyche and cause difficulties for you on an unconscious level. Meditation is not a destination but a fascinating journey where you will become more awakened to your true self..."

"Success and significance has nothing to do with what you do, and everything to do with who you are." -Wm Paul Young [author of "The Shack.]

2 things....

1. Mediation is not easy...I thought this was going to be an easy task but that was not the case. We did this for about a half hour and it took about 15-20 min just to clear my mind completely and then I could only hold on to that for about 5-8 min. This is something that I would want to try to do again. I think the more you do it the easier it will get. Also it might help if I have a focus for the meditation that day which could be a number of things. I didn't have anything prepared so I spent a lot of the time trying to stop thinking about what needs to be done and focus on breathing. Music help a lot so I will keep that in mind for my next session and lastly I need to find a good spot to practice meditation.

2. I took a nap yesterday for 20 min and I didn't feel so tired and drained all day and I was able to stay up a little longer to get a few extra things done!
Yeah for Napping!

Meditation

Meditation is truly an art. I want everyone to think about this for a moment. For our spiritual exercise, the Belmont Presidents, took an hour to meditate and be in complete silence. Prior to this task day, I would never have guessed that being totally silent and still would be so difficult. For the first 20 minutes or so, I just sat there thinking to myself that I needed to quit thinking in order to calm myself and clear my mind, so I could properly meditate. As you can imagine this was a bad cycle, because I wanted to calm down, but couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. Finally, after a certain point, I felt myself becoming calmer and began to appreciate meditating. It was incredibly relieving and relaxing with a sense of being both in complete control and out of control at the same time. Meditating will happen in the future.

Meditation Excercise

Meditating is harder than I thought it would be. Our group took about an hour to listen to music and focus on spirituality. It took a long time for me to clear my thoughts and just focus, but time went by really quickly surprisingly. Like most women, I have a spaghetti brain where everything seems to be connected and one thought can lead to another thought. The music definitely helped with me focusing my thoughts.

I plan on meditating again, next time in addition to music I want to focus on a passage from the Bible. I also want to find a very peaceful spot. Perhaps when the weather gets nice I can meditate outdoors.

I LOVE SLEEP!

Sleeping is one of my favorite things to do. Being a mom means that sleep is just as important. When my day starts it doesn't end till I get to sleep. With school, housework and my baby boy I need all the energy I can get. If something doesn't get done in the normal time of my day ( before 10:00 PM) the day...forget it...I am not going to lose sleep and stay up trying to finish something that will not be my best work anyway. I feel so much better after just a 20 min nap. It makes the rest of my day not so hard. I was pretty excited when our group found research to backup napping in a positive way. It makes me feel less guilty when I take a cat nap in the middle of my day!
Happy Napping
Becky!

Sleep!!

As we oulined in our video, the benefits of sleep are extensive! I have gone through times in my life where I have had trouble sleeping. When this happens, everything feels wrong the next day. I don't think straight, I'm grumpy and just not myself. I think that our society doesn't place enough emphasis on rest. We reward those who work 60 hrs a week. As we discussed in class today, it is about balance! Yes, working had is a great trait. However, if you don' get a sufficient amount of rest, you will not be as productive. Being healthy and at the top of your game will help too. Without sleep, this becomes very difficult. It's hard to find down time during the day for a short rest or getting enough sleep at night, but in the long run it's worth it!

Sleep: Operation Narcolepsy

Sleep is the one of the most important aspects to living a healthy lifestyle. Being healthy is not all about eating nutritious and organic food, working out for hours each day, or staying up to date with the news to find out what is the next major health concern in today's society; having a proper and consistent sleep schedule is essential to keeping one's body up and running. I think that this point is often overlooked by our hectic society of today, and it is long overdue that something is changed about this.
For our second task day, "The Presidents" did a study on the effects of sleep, both positive and negative, and created a video to show our new knowledge. While working on the video a few things really caught my attention. Previously, I knew that sleep was incredibly important to people being able to function; I cannot mention how many times, during college, that I got 4 hours of sleep one night and the next day I completely failed at everything. However, the one really cool thing that I discovered while doing this task day was that sleep has a serious connection with the memory function of the brain. So much of the time students subtract time from their sleep hours in order to give more time to studying; this is not such a good idea, because often times a lack of sleep will not only hinder someone physically the next day, but also will also hamper the person's ability to remember things. So next time you think that sleeping is just another way to take more time out of your day, remember (if you can) to ask yourself "Am I really saving time and helping myself by not sleeping?"

Naptime!

I really got a lot out of this group task day. Not only was it a lot of fun to film, but I learned some important information about resting.

Naps have always been a puzzling thing to me. I rarely take naps. Once I'm up, I'm up. Naps do not work for me.

But, I do like resting, and according to our research, laying down for 20 minutes and relaxing can be just as beneficial as a 20 minute nap.

The bottom line here, is slowing down. This relates to the mental task day and the article Tyler brought in. Basically, we need to slow down, we cannot go-go-go all the time.

What I take away from this is the importance of getting enough sleep each night and taking time each day (even if it is for just a few moments) to slow down, step back and relax.

"NAPTIME" presented by THE PRESIDENTS.

Mental Excersice...and then some

So I missed out on our group task Tuesday but I did get to read the articles and reflect on them. After I read the task I came to the conclusion that this task did more than just complete our mental goal.
Dawn had an article dealing with sleep. The article stressed again how important sleep is. With what we learned about sleep we know better that it will help us physically.
Tyler had an article that made me things emotional. It kind of was a let go and try this kind of article. It was fun which we sometimes forget to do. We touched on this today a little in our class discussion...its important to have fun and do something we like. I think that is so important and sometimes we forget.
This task we did should be something we do more often. We should read something that we like and interest us. We should also take it and share it with other people. You might think it is lame but it also may open up new ideas and maybe even teach something to someone else.
From our task we did not just complete a mental goal but the silliness helped our emotions and the information on sleep helped our physical. Those were just two of the four articles I read from our group.

Over all job well done on our first task sorry again to my group for missing out.

PS....We are working on adding some videos to our blog so look out for it!

Becky!

Mental Workout!

Goal: To braoden my knowledge of other reading styles. It also helped me take time to read something else besides my academic works. Sometimes it feels like thats all I have time for!

Josh's Article: Obama Administration May Take on BCS, SI.com

In this article, I learned that the Obama administration wants to change BCS to a playoff sysytem because of antitrust sysytem. Senator Hatch also got involved because his homestate was deprived a chance to play for the title. ( unpure motives perhaps??) It amazes me what people want the government to get involved in!

Jessica's Article: A Missed Connection Leads to a Special Bond, Chicagtribune.com

A Canadian woman who was stranded at the airport was taken in by a complete stranger. The man took the woman back to his home and gave her dinner and a place to sleep. Tom Smith, who works at Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, commentes that sustained acts of altruism like this one are rare. Not only does it renew my faith in humaity, but makes me introspect about my willingness to help. Not often that we see things like this now!

Tyler's Article: From "Good" Magazine, "Unplugging" Your Life

The section of the magazine that Tyler had us read had all kinds of great facts about how to unwind and make you life easier. I read that we should get a seperate e-mail for "junk" mail like shopping coupons so we keep or personal life seperate. I learned a breathing technique where you breath through one nostril at a time and induces relaxation. Also, it made me think about rearranging my living space. This can help liven your mood and give you a new perspective. Lots of good stuff! The breathing exercise was especially helpful ( I need all the help I can when it comes to relaxing!).

Mental Wellness: Group Task #1

During our first group task day we focused on our Mental wellness. We each brought in an article we thought was educational/beneficial to read. We met in class and went over to Bongo Java to read/discuss.

Tyler’s article was In Defense of Time Off was a very beneficial read that gave me some really good ideas when it comes to slowing down in life. According to the magazine, the definition of slow is to “focus on quality, authenticity, and longevity rather than a mindless adherence to the faster and cheaper ethos. Some ideas I took away from this were simplification. This could mean something as easy as giving up processed foods. I also really like the idea of having an a designated block of hours where you turn off gadgets. This means no phone, computer, or ipod. This will make you focus on more important things and actually help you stress out less.

Dawn’s article Want to Boost Your Memory? Try Sleeping on It was interesting and scientific. The article was about an experiment on how sounds can impact your memory when played in your sleep. What I took away from this article is that if I want to remember something I need to sleep within 12 hours of that information. Also, factual memories occur in deep sleep, not REM.

Josh’s article Justice Dept: Obama Administration may take action on BCS was the most current event type of article. It was interesting to read about a different side of our president and to learn more about the world of college football.

I really enjoyed this group task and I believe it was beneficial. In a way, it was relaxing to just sit at a coffee shop and read. Our group goal was to broaden our knowledge/perspective and believe we achieved just that.

Blog #1

Mentally-stimulating Group Task

Exercise: To read articles that caught the attention of fellow teammates and write an explanation of how each other's article affected us mentally.

Jessica: Chicago Tribune "A Missed Connection Leads to a Special Bond" ->

I have always been an avid fan of reading the newspaper whenever I can, and actually would rather not get my news from the internet, but instead every morning, sit down, get a nice cup of coffee, and read the good ol' black and white. What I love about the paper is the versatility and variety of the articles, surprising the reader everytime he/she unrolls it.

The article Jessica brought was a truly awe-inspiring and unique story that would make anyone smile. It was a story of an older woman, who was handicapped, had a meager financial situation, and completely down on her luck. She was traveling over the holidays, and had a horrible day of flying; with flights being delayed, missing flights, and way more sitting in an unfriendly airport than she ever wanted, it simply was not a good day for her. When she was about to break down in tears, a nice man began talking to her to find out what was wrong. Turned out the man was a successful Chicago businessman. He decided to take the lady home to have dinner with his family, get her a room in a nice Chicago hotel, and a ride to take her to the airport in the morning.

These kinds of stories always mean alot to me. This is a wonderful story of a random act of kindness that shows the incredible love people have for eachother. This really touches me because in this world of difficulties it is often hard to see the small joys and kindness in life. This story showed once again that there is hope and I no longer have to be pessimisstic.

Tyler: Good-The Magazine "In Defense of Time Off" ->

I am always rushing around and constantly have things to do. This is certainly not my choice, but somehow it always turns out that way with me being super busy.

It was a very interesting article, because it showed a different side of things, instead of the typical work as hard as you can as much as you can, it talked about ways that someone can take time in order to relax and have free time. The article stressed the often forgotten joy that is free time and ways that it can be easily achieved. A few of the ideas caught my attention: do not be afraid of relaxing, perform a blackout that is not using facebook, internet in general, do not look at your phone, etc., and finally set aside alotted time for being lazy. One can enjoy being lazy by wearing comfortable clothes, reading more enjoyable books, not being afraid to watch a television show, and sleeping more.

Thanks to this article, I hope to take advantage of more free time, in order to more efficiently manage this busy semester.

Dawn: Time magazine "Want To Boost Your Memory? Sleep on it." ->

When trying to describe a college student, many things come to mind, but the most apparent is the sleep-deprived zombies walking around our campuses. Sleep is a necessary part of life that needs to always be a priority, sadly while in college, students often forget this fact.

The article recounts the recent studies of Northwestern University scientists on the affects of sleep on memory retention. In the article, it states how deep sleeping seriously helps one ability to better remember things that they did the previous day. Studies showed that people are able to remember more acutely if they sleep on it, and if someone can achieve R.E.M. or the state of dreaming, motor activities (sports, dancing, etc.) are easier to do.

This article informed once again the benefits of sleeping and resting, in not just the physical, but also the mental aspect.

MENTAL WORKOUT. -TY.

Our goal: to exercise mentally.

Task: Read each other’s recent favorite article to expand knowledge base.

Success? Absolutely. Not only did I learn new things, each article gave me a deeper glimpse of my team members and their interests.

“Want to boost your memory? Sleep on it.”

–TIME mag. [Dawns Article.]

Summary: “During deep sleep, the brain replies certain experiences from the day, which, in turn, strengthens the memory of what happened…Deep sleep can strengthen factual memories, but only if the person naps within 12 hrs of learning.”

Thoughts: I gained a new feature to my “excuses to nap” list.

“Obama admin may take action on BCS.”

–SI.com [Josh’s article]

Summary: The Obama administration is openly questioning the legality of the BCS in college football in attempts to change it.

Thoughts: Does this scare anyone else? Why the hell is the gov’t trying to get involved in athletics. It smells like communism?

“A missed connection leads to a special bond.”

–Chicago Tribune [Jessica’s article]

Summary: “Random acts of kindness are witnessed everyday, but such sustained displays of altruism are far less common.” –Tom Smith [U of Chicago]

Thoughts: The text read: “I cried and cried and cried.” I was so involved at this point with the story of a wealthy man’s value for a stranded 79 yr old woman, I felt myself want to cry with her. Thank God I didn’t. Its risky business crying in the middle of a coffee shop, especially when my group mates probably already think I’m a bit weird as it is.

Dean, a wealthy 43 yr old Chicago businessman, took an excess of time, energy and money to give Elsie, a 79 yr old Canadian woman, a push around the airport in a wheelchair, a place at his table to eat, and a comfortable bed to sleep. Growing up amongst the wealthy, who far more often make comfort and convenience their narrow path from which they rarely stray, I fell in love with this story of true altruism.

MEET THE PRESIDENTS.