Tip #4: Your health matters

As we follow these social/physical distancing/isolation or quarantine guidelines that are now put in place, it is natural for us to feel *extra* stressed than usual.

You must recognize that this is also the time to focus on your mental and physical well-being. You and your health are important; this comes before everything else.

To care for your physical health, stay active -- move around your house/apartment each hour, and if you use a FitBit or another step tracker walk when it tells you to. Small actions like this have a big impact on your health. Do yoga if you can -- there are now plenty of yoga classes that are being streamed live. Make a commitment to cook and eat healthy. Support local farmers when you can.

Remember to care for your mental well-being as well. I share below some tips on mental well-being sent by one of our CS students and a TA for CSCI 1170. (If you have any tips to share that you feel might help your peers, please let me know! Thanks in advance!)

• Practice mindfulness -- helpful in stressful times like this. This can be done through traditional meditation but is so much more than that. It’s about reminding yourself to be in the moment. Resources for mindfulness:
  • Helpful apps: Calm and Insight Timer.
  • Many resources online to learn about mindfulness.
• The MindShift app -- It is a free app by Anxiety Canada that uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It has a lot of great tools for managing anxiety, including journaling and functionality to track your moods and show your trends on a graph. If yet another app isn’t all that appealing, simply journaling with a pen and paper can be so great for organizing thoughts and working through feelings. There’s a lot of research to back up the mental health benefits of journaling.

Also, please remember that Dalhousie student health and wellness centre is offering digital and same day appointments to support you now.

Please find that information on their website and please reach out to someone if you need help: https://www.dal.ca/campus_life/health-and-wellness/services-support/student-health-and-wellness/make-an-appointment.html

Take care, and may the Force be with you.