Self Care Workshop

Target Audience:

Students of WWU- specifically students who live in the dorms, on-campus
A general workshop for any student (VU)

Overview:

Our goal is to provide an opportunity for students to learn about self-care practices, while becoming a better known resource on campus. Additionally, we want to support the Western community in managing the stress and pressures in their lives by promoting positive thinking and effective coping skills. We plan to reach these objectives by providing effective stress-relieving strategies, promoting help-seeking behavior, and opening the conversation surrounding self-care methods in college.

Duration: One class session (50 minutes)

Objectives:

Upon completing this session, students/faculty/staff will be able to:

1. Identify 2-3 resources on campus they can go to for self care help

2. Practice 2-3 methods of self-care (meditation, mindfulness, etc.)

3. List 2 benefits of self care

4. Name two personal goals to reduce stress

5. Identify two personal stressors

Introduction (10 min):

Hi everyone! We are members of the peer health education team THRIVE. We strive to support the emotional, mental, and social well-being of the Western community. My name is (everyone can introduce themselves).

Part of staying healthy is making sure you are taking care of yourself. Self-care is a broad concept that means many different things to different people. It involves engaging in activities that can reduce stress and improve our mental health. Investing in your own well-being can result in improved social relationships, heightened self-esteem, and increased energy and effectiveness. It cultivates personal resiliency and serves as a buffer against the negative effects of stress.

Okay, so we before we get into our activities we are going to do a little ice-breaker. This ice-breaker is one ya’ll probably know called Never Have I Ever. Everyone should get in a circle (get into the circle) except for one person who will be in the middle. For this demonstration I’ll be in the middle and show ya’ll how it works. *Everyone gets in a circle (hopefully there are enough people at the workshop for this icebreaker)*

(After everyone is in the circle) The person in the middle will say their name and something that they have never done. For example, I would say “Hi my name is _____ and never have I ever (give an example – gone skydiving, taken a chemistry class in college, etc)” and everyone who HAS done those things, will switch places in the circle. You do have to make sure you are moving around the circle, you can’t just take the spot of the person next to you. The person in the middle tries to get out of the middle by stealing someone’s spot. The person left without a spot will be the new person in the middle and then they will say their name and something they have never done, and so on. We do have a bit of a time limit so not everyone will get to go unfortunately.

Anyone have any questions?

Do the ice-breaker… (Maybe a total of 5 minutes)

Okay everyone can sit back down where there were! Ya’lldid a great job!

We are giving you a hand-out help you set up some self-care goals along with assess your self care practices in the inventories. We have five stations today, each promoting a different element of self-care to help you fill out your inventories and goals sheet. The stations will also teach you about the benefits of taking care of yourself and easy ways to do so. We have emotional, psychological, spiritual, academic, and physical self-care stations, and you’ll be at each for about ten minutes and we’ll give you a two minute warning when time is running out. Ya’ll will start at one and rotate clockwise from there.

We are going to number you off from 1 - 5 so please remember your number (Number everyone off) Okay, if you’re a 1 you are going to start at the emotional self-care station, if you are a 2 you are going to start at the psychological self-care station, if you are a 3 you are going to start at the spiritual self-care station, if you are a 4 you are going to start at the academic self-care station, and if you are a 5 you are going to start at the physical self-care station.

Any questions?

So go ahead and get to your station and we’ll get started!

Resources/Materials:

Spiritual:

Small pieces of cardstock to create collages on
Magazine cut outs
Glue sticks and/or tape
Scissors
Magazines

Emotional:

Mandala thank you cards
Pens

Psychological:

Mandala thank you cards (from Emotional Station)

Colored pencils, markers

Physical:

Nutritious snacks (apples with peanut butter, granola bars, popcorn)

Chairs

Academic:

Paper
Pens

Emotional Self Care

Welcome to the emotional self-care station!
Please fill out this emotional self-care inventory with the paper and pencils we have provided (2 min).
Please find a partner to discuss the self-care inventory with (allow about 15 seconds). What were some self-care practices you feel you excel at? What was a new self-care technique that you had not considered before?(1 min)
Whole Group discussion: (1 min)

- How did the self-care inventory go for you? How did it make you feel?

- Do you have any new self-care goals for the future?

At this station, we have cards available in order for you to start a gratitude exercise which has benefits for emotional self-care. (Pass out cards and pens/pencils; 30 sec)
Please take a few moments to think of someone to whom you are grateful. How would you describe them? What qualities do you admire about them? In what ways have they supported you?
(After about 20 sec) If you are comfortable, please share with us a few of the qualities you appreciate most about your selected person (take hands or shout- outs; perhaps write their suggestions on a white board). Those would all be excellent descriptors to include in your cards! Feel free to use other's ideas as inspiration for what to write in your own card (2 min).
This gratitude exercise involves writing a letter to someone who you are grateful to have in your life. You may thank them for their support, tell them about a quality you admire about them, or express gratitude in any other way that you would like. Expressing gratitude has been shown to boost emotional and physical health in numerous ways; from reducing aches and pains and improving sleep to boosting self-esteem and resilience post-trauma. (30 sec)
When you finish your card, I encourage you to share it with the person you had in mind. Gratitude has the potential to improve your own mental health and make someone else’s day!

Please use the last 3-5 minutes to start drafting or writing your gratitude card. Don’t feel rushed; you can always finish the card later. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help!
(As they are leaving) Make sure to keep your cards with you as they will be used again at the psychological self-care station. Thanks again for coming!

Spiritual Self Care

Activities/Procedures:

Fill out spiritual self-care assessment (1-2 minutes)
Explain how to do collage (1-2 minutes)
Facilitate discussion about why the participants think it is important (2-4 minutes)
Further explain why spiritual self-care is important (2-4 minutes)

Script:

Hi everyone, as I said before, my name is McKenzee! At this station, we will explore spiritual self-care. We are going to use the first couple of minutes to fill out the spiritual self-care inventory. You can find the page in your booklet and start.
So at this station we are going to be making motivational collages. This is an example that I made myself. **Hold up and point to key aspects of the example, such as why you chose to place the magazine pieces you chose**
We have pieces pre-cut out from magazines or you can cut out your own. Then you can use the glue and scissors to create a collage on the the pieces of paper over here. This is designed to help you create a piece of art to keep with you that will remind you of the person you want to be and the life you want to live. By choosing which pieces you put on your collage and putting your finished product in a place that can serve as a little reminder; you are doing an amazing thing to help cultivate spiritual self-care. Y’all can go ahead and take a minute to reflect on what you want your piece to look like if you want or just go ahead and start.
(As they are starting to work on their art pieces) So while everyone is working on their collages, can you turn to the people around you and talk about the inventory and activity. Why do you think it is important to maintain spiritual self-care? Did anything surprise you when you were filling out your inventory? Anything you want to change or anything you were proud of yourself for? Anyone want to share?(This could allow for some group discussion as well depending on answers and time)
Those were all really great answers! Spirituality is a very broad concept that fits many different lifestyles. It can be a very personal or communal activity depending on how one defines it. For a lot of people it helps build a sense of purpose, discover the meaning of life, and push themselves to be the best they can be. That’s why we are making these collages; to help us create and remember all of the ideas and perspectives that our spirituality gives us. As you can see on the self-care surveys you all filled out, there are many ways to practice spirituality every day. Ensuring that you are participating in meaningful activities, practicing awareness and mindfulness, and just allowing yourself the opportunity to be inspired and reflect on life are all important aspects of self-care.
Thanks for coming everyone! It’s okay if you didn’t finish, you can take all the pieces with you and finish it later.

Psychological Self Care

Activities/Procedures:

(1-3 Minutes) Fill out psychological self-care section of assessment.
(1-2 Minutes) Have participants share out in the small group share one thing they practice a lot, and one that they would like to improve.
(1-2 Minutes) Facilitator/s pass out cards and explain the benefits of mindfulness activities in terms of stress relief and taking good care of oneself.
(4-7 Minutes) Members of the group color cards, facilitator can share more fun facts and mindfulness techniques.

Evaluation/Assessment:

What is one psychological self-care technique that you can use in your everyday life?

What is one campus resource you can access concerning mental health?

What are some benefits of practicing mindfulness?

Script:

Hello! Welcome to the Psychological Self-Care station. My name is ().

We’re going to begin by taking a few minutes to fill out the psychological care section of your inventory. Let me know if you have any questions.
Great! Does anyone want to share something on the checklist that you’re pretty good at practicing regularly?
Now, is there anything that you could incorporate more often into your daily life?
Your psychological health is incredibly important. College is a stressful environment, and it can be easy to forget to take care of ourselves in between classes, work, and life in general.
(Pass out coloring cards)
Coloring is a great way to zero back in on the present and take some time to check in with how you’re doing. It’s also a good way to practice mindfulness- defined as focusing your awareness on the present moment, while accepting your thoughts and feelings without judgement.
Mindfulness, as well as meditation, has some awesome scientifically-proven benefits, like heightened cognitive flexibility, greater empathy and resiliency, and even an improved immune system. However, since most of us are usually thinking about 10 things at once, it can be difficult to quiet the mind and spend time living in the present. Feel free to take one of these handouts that outlines a few breathing exercises you can practice when you’re feeling stressed.
There’s also a cool app called HeadSpace you can download that has 10 minute guided meditation sessions you can partake in. It’s an easy way to slowly introduce meditation into your life.
I hope you enjoyed this station! Have a great time at the rest of the workshop.

Academic Self Care

Target Audience: Students

Overview:

The purpose of this station is to have the students evaluate their own academic self-care skills and methods. Also this station can provide information and techniques to practice academic self-care on a daily basis promoting their academic work.

Objectives:

Upon completing this session, students/faculty/staff will be able to:

1. Name 1-2 academic self-care techniques

2. Name 1-2 academic resources

3. Explain the importance of academic self-care to mental health

30 sec min Intro:

In this station we are going to address the perspective of academic self-care. First off we will take a quick self assessment to help you reflect on how you personally approach your academics here at Western.

2 min Survey:

1 min Quick Reflection:

Would anyone like to share an academic self-care aspect they want to focus on this quarter?

Does anyone have any questions about the academic self-care aspects listed?

Does anyone have any skills or ways they practice academic self-care?

5-8 min Discussion and Personalized Goal Setting:

What do you all normally do to relax when you’re stressed out from school? (share) Do any of you ever feel burnout? Recent research shows becoming burnt out can actually lead to physical symptoms. Working in a stressful environment for let’s say 11 weeks can lead to some recognizable symptoms. For example, some of the most common symptoms include, increased anxiety, insomnia or oversleeping, overeating or undereating, faults in memory, poor coordination, constant exhaustion, and rapid mood swings. However, these symptoms vary from person to person. Even though academic stress can be overlooked there can actually be serious symptoms. That’s why it is so important to take these small steps to look out for yourself. There are resources on campus that can help you manage your academic needs and prevent some of these symptoms. Does anyone know of any resources they could go to on campus for academic self care? We have the tutoring center in the library, we also have personalized tutors that go to some of the main residence halls, there is the academic advising center, disAbility resource center, career services, and the counseling center is always an option for additional support, all which are listed on your handout. Does anyone use any other resources that weren’t mentioned? These resources are specifically catered to your academic needs, do whatever works for your academic self care. Even just checking in with yourself can make a big difference when you feel overwhelmed. I like to make to do lists even with small things like eat breakfast to make me feel accomplished when I have little control over what my day brings. I want you all to have the opportunity to create your own academic self-care brainstorm. Whatever you need to help you through this next day/week/quarter/year. I want this list or plan to be as structured as you want or as simple as you want, anything that will help you check-in with your academics and help foster a more productive and stress free college experience. Any questions? Now take a couple of minutes to think about what would be most beneficial for your academic self-care. Does anyone want to share?

Physical Self Care

Overview: The purpose of the physical self-care rotation is to have Western students to assess, rate, and evaluate their current physical self-care practices. The self-care team will be providing physical self-care tools and sharing different ways and options to improve their physical self-care practices.

Duration: Short rotation (10-13 min)

Objectives:

Upon completing this session, students will be able to:

1.Practice at least two physical self-care practices

2.Understand the importance of physical self-care

3.List at least two kinds of physical self-care practices

Activities/Procedures:

Students will fill out physical self-care portion of the self-care inventory (1-3 min)
Students will comment or share as a group about the assessment (1-3 min)
Facilitators will discuss the importance of physical self-care (1-3 min)
Pass out the nutritional snacks (1-2 min)
Facilitators will demonstrate chair exercises and students will follow (1-3 min)
Evaluations will be passed out to be filled out by the participants by the end of the whole self-care workshop (1-3 min)

Evaluation/Assessment: Students will have the option to comment their experience with the self-care inventory and their experience during this activity in the evaluation. They will rate if they got most out of this activity.