August is National Back to School Month, and with that, a new year of learning fun begins! It can be hard for students to change their mindsets from summer vacation to classroom learning. As such, taking care of their mental wellbeing can sometimes fall to the wayside. It’s important for students to maintain proper self-care techniques to preserve a healthy mindset, and thus start off the school year strong. Here are our 3 top self-care techniques for students returning to the classroom.
Motivation Through Affirmation
Affirmations are a type of emotional support. They are things you say to yourself for motivation or encouragement. An affirmation is an effective coping skill when faced with an emotional problem. These are helpful when returning to the classroom to get yourself into the right mindset for success. Here are 7 of the top affirmations for students:
- “I am enough.”
- “I believe in myself.”
- “I have a sharp mind.”
- “I can achieve anything.”
- “I am capable.”
- “My difficulties are opportunities.”
- “We all make mistakes.”
You can say these statements to yourself every morning when you wake up. You can have them written in your locker to look at every day. You can set a reminder on your phone to give you one of these statements periodically throughout the day. You can take a moment during a stressful time to meditate over these words.
Achieving Calmness Through Meditation
Equanimity is an emotional state that allows you to stay calm. But how can you stay calm? There are many different coping mechanisms that will help you stay calm. If you like art, painting can be quite calming. Taking deep breaths will help. Yoga practice and meditation are other good options. Below is an example meditation practice. Give this a try and see if they help you achieve equanimity.
- Sit with your legs crossed on something comfortable, like a pillow. Sit up straight, shoulders rolled back. Rest your hands on your knees, palms facing up. Close your eyes.
- Take a deep breath in. Slowly exhale. Repeat this deep breathing throughout the practice.
- Imagine a calming place. It can be a meadow, a lakefront, or a local hiking trail. Picture this place in your mind.
- Imagine reaching out and touching a tree trunk, or a park bench, or a fallen leaf.
- Imagine the wind blowing against your skin. Focus on your breathing.
- Continue to imagine all the details of your calming location. When you’re ready, slowly open your eyes.
Mental Health Toolkit
We know the importance of a strong mind and strong body. It is easy to find ways to keep our body strong. We can eat healthy and exercise. There are many resources available to lead a healthy lifestyle. How can we get the same resources to keep our mind healthy? What can we do if we are having a dip in our mental health? You can create a mental health toolkit. This will be a collection of items you can access when you are feeling down. They can be actual items, such as a stress ball, or written reminders. If you know that going for a walk helps your mood, write it on a sticky note. Then, when you see it inside your kit, it will remind you to go get some exercise! You may also want to include the following:
- Pictures of calming scenery.
- Photos of loved ones.
- A stress ball.
- Positive words of encouragement.
- Sticky notes of your goals.
- A word puzzle to distract you.
Everyone has different strategies to deal with stress and a mental load. If you keep your items in a small package, it will be easy to take with you. Throughout your day, you can look at it to feel better. Small steps can make a big difference in your overall mental health.