Emotional Wellness

Emotional Wellness begins with your awareness of thoughts and feelings. You can't change what you're not aware!

A Simple Way to Begin

Building emotional awareness can start by simply noticing your emotions, both positive and painful, and giving them a name. Take a few minutes out of the day, maybe when you're standing in line or waiting for class to start, to ask yourself, "Where is my mind? How am I feeling?" and then just name what you notice without judging it. 

I'm feeling pressured...

I'm feeling excited...

I'm planning for what will happen tonight...

Take it further:

Journaling, talking more openly about feelings with trusted friends and family, guided meditation, and mindfulness apps are other ways you can build emotional awareness.

Notice patterns:

As you practice awareness, you'll begin to notice patterns in the way you think and feel. With time, you'll also get to know common triggers for these inner experiences and how you'd like to respond to them. 

Explore these mindfulness resources to learn more about building awareness of your thoughts and feelings: 

• Headspace App
• Stop.Breathe.Think
• Mindful.org
• Arizona Mindful Ambassadors YouTube Channel
• How Mindfulness Changes the Emotional Life of Our Brains TED Talk
• All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes TED Talk

The Power of Postivity

While it's normal to feel down or have negative thoughts, our emotional wellness takes a hit when we spend the majority of our time in negative thoughts and emotions.

As you build awareness of your thoughts and feelings, notice how often you're dwelling on a negative thought, worried about the future, or complaining. Without judging the negative experience, ask yourself if there's another way of looking at this situation or a better-feeling thought you'd like to focus on. The goal isn't to be 100% positive all the time but rather to be aware of your thoughts and more deliberate in where you direct your attention. 

Practice 3's

A fun exercise for building on the positives is to practice a 3:1 ratio of 3 positives for every negative. Every time you catch yourself in a negative thought, see if you can come up with 3 positive things. Your positive thoughts can be about the object of your negativity or something completely unrelated. The only rule is that you come up with 3 positive things for every one negative. 

Journal to Boost Your Mood

Gratitude and optimism journals are another easy way to practice building on the positive. To start one, take a few minutes at the beginning and end of the day to think of 3 things you're looking forward to and 3 things that have gone well recently. That's it!

Explore these resources to learn more about building on the positives: 

Information & Exercises:

• The PERMA Model of Happiness
• Greater Good in Action Positive Psychology Exercises
• Sounds Good Podcast by Good Good Good

Apps:

• Beautiful Mood App
• Grid Diary App
• Stressbusters App, University of Arizona Edition

Healthy social relationships are an important part of your overall well-being, especially emotional wellness. They are thought of as one of the primary building blocks of human flourishing. 

Look for Face-to-Face Contact

Make a point of having quality face-to-face interactions in your daily life. Even if you feel you don't have a lot of opportunities, you can still have positive interactions with coworkers, classmates, acquaintances, or passersby. Try to make eye contact with the people you encounter throughout the day. Offer them a smile, a friendly comment, or small talk.

Build on Positive Friendship Qualities

In your closer relationships, make positive friendship qualities like validation, quality time, reciprocity, and conflict resolution a priority. Make a point of cultivating positive interactions built on these qualities and let the important people in your life know that you appreciate them.

When Quality Relationships Seem Hard to Find

• Start where you can.
• Have a heart-to-heart with the important people in your life about ways you'd like to strengthen your relationship.
• Identify those people who feel good to be around.
• Try joining social groups, clubs, or volunteer organizations where you could meet new people sharing similar interests.

Explore these resources to learn more about building your social support:

• Tips On Making Good Friends 
• The Surprising Benefits of Volunteering.
• Self-Help Tips for Overcoming Social Anxiety
• 200 Questions to Get to Know Someone
• 39 Things to Do With Your Best Friend at Least Once

Your body needs care to function well physically and emotionally, and sleep and nutrition are a great place to start. Changes in appetite and sleep are often some of the first signs that your emotional wellness could use some care. You've probably also noticed that you're not at your best physically, mentally, or emotionally when sleep and nutrition aren't on track.

The link between mood, food, and sleep is undeniable, but when life gets busy, it can feel hard to stay on track. Explore these resources to take good care of your nutrition and sleep:

Nutrition:

• Can Food Put You In a Happier Mood
• Cooking on Campus Recipes
• Fundamentals of Nutrition

Sleep:

• How to Get Better Sleep
• How to Improve Sleep Habits
• 4 Things to Always Do In Bed
• 6 Tips to Design the Ideal Bedroom for Sleep

Apps and Online Tools: 

• In the Moment Mindful Eating App
• Ipnos Relaxation and Sleep Tools
• Omvana Audio Tracks

PERMA stands for:

• Positive emotion

• Engagement

• Relationships

• Meaning

• Achievement

• Vitality

These are the building blocks of human flourishing. When each of these domains is expressed in your life, you feel better and do better.

If you're feeling off-balance, do a quick self-test. Is one area of PERMA lacking in your life? How can you bring it back into alignment?

Explore these resources to bring more PERMA-V into your life:

• Greater Good in Action Science-Based Emotional Wellness Activities
• The PERMA Model: Your Scientific Theory of Happiness

Ever felt like hiding away? Maybe after a stressful day or when you’re feeling embarrassed? Everyone’s felt that way before. Sometimes, it’s a sign that you need just that: an escape. And sometimes, it means it’s time to reach out for support.

Here are 12 signs it’s time to reach out (rather than retreat):

1. Feeling depressed, hopeless, or helpless.
2. Feeling panicked or obsessed about a situation in your life.
3. Feeling increasingly disconnected from the people in your life.
4. Dissatisfaction with solitary time but afraid or reluctant to reach out.
5. Difficulty getting out of bed.
6. Exhaustion even after getting a good night’s sleep or taking a break.
7. Difficulty focusing even when you have all the right conditions.
8. Loss of motivation, interest, or pleasure in the things you normally care about.
9. Changes in your normal sleeping and eating patterns.
10. Mood swings.
11. Feeling paralyzed by responsibilities or obligations.
12. Having thoughts of hurting yourself or being better off dead. (Click here for more crisis support.)

More Ways to Reach Out:

• Don't Suffer From Your Depression in Silence TED Talk by Nikki Webber Allen
• 10 Ways to Reach Out in a Mental Health Crisis

How to Support Others Who Reach Out for Help: 

• How to Help a Friend
• 7 Ways to Support Others During Tough Times

10 signs you need some time to yourself:

1. Feeling pulled in too many directions.
2. Small social interactions make you feel exhausted when they normally don’t.
3. You’re so caught up in other people’s lives that you haven’t taken care of yourself.
4. You’re suddenly forgetting things, canceling plans, and showing up late.
5. Confusion about what you want in life.
6. Feeling annoyed or resentful for things that don’t make sense to you.
7. Filling your time with activities to avoid being alone. (Surprising but true!)
8. Irritability.
9. You’re constantly rushed or stressed.
10. You don’t feel like yourself.

If alone time is what you need, begin here:

• Ease into it with small routines. 
• Let other people know if this will be a big change. 
• Keep a “me time” wish list.
• Remember that recharging is productive!
• Explore what makes you you.

Explore these resources to make the most of your solitary time:

• 15 Inspirational Activities to do Alone During Weekends
• 15 Journaling Exercises to Help You Heal, Grow, and Thrive
• 29 Journal Prompts for Anxiety

College can challenge and change every aspect of your life. This can be hard, but hard doesn't mean you're failing. The process of exploration is the fire that forges a resilient spirit. When you remain open to learning from the growing pains of life, you come out stronger than before.  

Explore these Stronger Than's resources for building your resilience.