Supported by
We want to give you the tools to live a more conscious life with ease, especially right now. A prize from our partners could be yours. Just post on Instagram about your participation in #TGClassroom. Check @TurningGreenOrg for details!
Overview
“When we walk like we’re rushing, we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth. We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth. Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master
Throughout Turning Green Classroom, we’ve asked you to think about the big picture: your ecological footprint, waste you generate, food you eat and more. Given all of this information, it can be easy to forget to care for yourself. But YOU are everything, the key piece to any larger picture.
To care for the planet, you must first care for yourself.
Making wellness a part of your lifestyle helps ensure that you have the energy and stamina to be an effective and enduring changemaker. In moments of high stress and urgency, wellness may feel like a low priority. But with a toolbox of techniques and commitment to prioritizing health, you can actually accomplish a lot more in all aspects of life-while feeling your best!
Today, we invite you to sustain yourself! Take time to celebrate what you have accomplished over the past couple of weeks. It’s quite extraordinary. Take a deep breath, clear your mind, and, as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests, feel your feet on the earth. With that, let’s get started on your daily dose of wellness.
Here are eight easy ways you can begin improving your health and well-being!
- Eat well.You are what you eat, and eating healthy foods not only takes care of your body, but the planet too. It’s a win-win!
- Exercise. It’s important to schedule time to move your body, even when you are staying home or when you have a lot on your plate! Everyone is different, so find a way of keeping active that you enjoy, be it running, weight-lifting, doing yoga, or going for a bike ride. Exercise has many physiological and mental benefits, which include reducing risk of chronic disease, increasing productivity and boosting mood.
- Get your zzzzz’s. Getting a good night’s sleep helps you retain information and perform better, strengthen your immune system and maintain a healthy metabolism. If you find it challenging to fall asleep, try to stop using electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime, have a consistent sleep schedule, and develop a calming nightly routine.
- Study and work smart. Eliminate distractions when working or studying. Turning off your phone when hitting the books means less hours aimlessly scrolling social media feeds! Try the Pomodoro method as a productivity tool.
- Follow your bliss. Have fun! Carve out time in your schedule to do something that brings you joy and helps you to relax. Whether going for a walk, talking with a friend, painting, or reading a good book, take some time to do something you love.
- Practice mindfulness. Being fully present has proven to help manage stress, increase memory and attention, fight depression and anxiety, and even boost the immune system! Where to start? Try a simple meditation practice here or here.
- Practice gratitude. Be thankful and show appreciation for your life and those around you. Similar to mindfulness, gratitude has been shown to increase happiness, reduce blood pressure, improve sleep patterns and even prolong life! Check out this short 2-minute video on the science of gratitude and how you can integrate it into your own life.
Explore holistic alternatives. Holistic medicine helps people regain balance in life by considering the whole person: body, mind, spirit and emotions. Consider natural remedies and preventive self-care.
THINK
By taking time outside to experience fresh air and sunshine (while safely social distancing of course), we can better appreciate our interconnectedness.
ACTIVITY
Practice disconnecting. Turn your phone off or put it on airplane mode to leave distractions behind. If you can, get outside in a place you enjoy. It may be as simple as stepping outside your home, finding a nearby trail, or enjoying your backyard. Take a moment to connect with yourself.
- Write five words describing how you felt after taking a moment for yourself.
DELIVERABLES
Upload a PDF Document with your responses using the upload button below.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.
THINK
Showing appreciation for life and those around us is one of the simplest ways to improve well-being. Yet so few of us make gratitude a daily practice. It’s never too late to start being thankful, so today’s activity will help you kickstart that or put it in higher gear!
ACTIVITY
Start by watching “An Experiment in Gratitude: The Science of Happiness” video. After reflecting on this video, think of a person for whom you are grateful. Write a letter to this person detailing why you are grateful. Include at least 5 ways they have positively contributed to your life. Be personal, intentional and genuine.
After you have written your letter, read it to that person by phone, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype or send it by email. Take note of their reaction and how it made you feel.
DELIVERABLES
Upload a PDF Document. Share how they responded and also how you felt.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.
THINK
The benefits of mindfulness are widely known, promoted by health professionals, celebrities, self-help gurus, even marines and inmates. While it may seem difficult, mindfulness is simply practicing the art of creating space for ourselves – to think, to breathe, to recognize connections between ourselves, reactions, others and surroundings. We hope that heightening your self-awareness will help you think about and develop a clearer vision of how you want to make change in the world.
ACTIVITY
Read this “Mindfulness Techniques to Reduce Stress” article. Check out this infographic for a more in-depth explanation of those practices. Throughout the course of today, make time to try at least two of the mindfulness practices. After practicing mindfulness for the day, tell us:
- What did you notice about your emotions and thoughts before and after each practice? Was there any difference?
- Which practice did you prefer and why?
- Were there any external or internal barriers that impeded you from having an effective mindfulness session? How might you eliminate those barriers in the future?
Share your experience and encourage others to practice mindfulness with a social media post. Tag @TurningGreenOrg with #TGClassroom.
DELIVERABLES
Upload a PDF Document with your responses and a screenshot of your social media post. Tag @TurningGreenOrg with #TGClassroom.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.