by Philip Payne | Jul 9, 2021 | Wellness Wheel
As a student, it is easy to get stressed and overwhelmed with school, work, and other responsibilities. The feeling of finally getting your footing just to have another task pop up seems like a never-ending cycle. This past year has been even more unique because of the constant stress and uneasiness happening in the world around us. While there seem to be frequent reminders and posts on social media that stress the importance of “self-care” and “slowing down”, this is easier said than done, and in my case, I wasn’t sure where to start.
The Wellness Sessions and Apportis platform came at a perfect time for me. The Wellness Sessions gave me the opportunity to interact and connect with my peers and allowed me to learn from them while the Apportis platform served as an excellent resource for finding information on the wellness wheel and beyond. I found myself looking at other resources related to mental health and wellness out of genuine interest and curiosity. Apportis provided extensive information and resources in a way that was easily accessible and digestible. This served as a great starting point for me while I worked on my wellness journey this semester.
by Philip Payne | Jul 1, 2021 | Wellness Wheel
This Spring term I had the opportunity to participate as a Wellness Coach for the Student Affairs in Higher Education program. Prior to my involvement in wellness Wednesdays, I always knew at some point I wanted my wellness to be a priority. But it was something I didn’t make time for and therefore didn’t see how such practices could change my entire day. The pandemic seemed like the perfect time because during this time, I felted the most stressed, alone, and overwhelmed.
I initially jumped at the opportunity of being a wellness coach after taking a course called Helping Skills in effort to further the skills I’ve learned in that class. Being a wellness coach presented so many opportunities in myself development and my contribution in helping others in theirs. As a result of the program, I allocated time to several different types of wellness including but not limited to my wellness mentally, financially, physically spiritually, and socially. The workshops helped me realize areas that I may be more well-rounded in than others. It also helps me realized when I focus on one wellness, it also positively affects some of the others. For example, I am one who unfortunately spends so much money eating out. When I started to use my money more wisely such as buying groceries instead, that was also helping me physically due to the nutrition I was receiving from meal prepping.
One of my favorite workshops was the social wellness workshop. I think it came in perfect timing as we have been experiencing this new quarantine life. Since the pandemic, my social life has been nonexistent which has played a huge role in my functioning. I am a people’s person and there is something about being around people that brings forth motivation. Before, the pandemic I would plan a trip once a month to help me get through the semester. It would give me something to look forward to in effort to finish the week or month strong.
Going through isolation made me unmotivated academically and to even do anything for myself. However, the session allowed us to brainstorm ways we can socialize virtually. Since the session and utilizing some of the resources and ideas we came up with, overall, I’ve felt a lot more energized and fulfilled. I loved our sessions because it helps each individual intentionally and holistically. It was also nice to know that you are not only one going through what you are which makes life a lot easier.
Being a coach was also amazing. I’ve always been intact with the thought of being able to help other people. I’ve always been one who helped others but being a part of this helped me realized that you have to help yourself before you help others. We typically met on Wednesday at noon which was also a great selling point for me. It was mid-week and mid-day. I knew if I started my week rocky or had a rocky start to my day, that I will have a better afternoon or week after attending a wellness Wednesday.
I would recommend Wellness Wednesday to all students especially students who don’t often seek out counseling for several reasons. Relatively speaking, in my case, I felt this was a way to receive counsel without having to single yourself out. While this program was offered for the Student Affairs in Higher Education graduate students, I hope eventually it will open up to all students because it is that impactful.
by Philip Payne | Jun 24, 2021 | Wellness Wheel
The experience I had as a Wellness Coach in my final semester was insightful and fulfilling. I feel that I learned a lot about the wellness wheel, my wellness status, and my coaching abilities. Getting to learn from my peers was great, and I liked the activities that we did during each session. Whether that was run by my peer or the guest speaker we had. These sessions informed me about all the dimensions of wellness and how they all interlace with one another. There were some that I never thought about before and others that I learned so much more about. I did my session on emotional wellness, and I learned an extensive amount about what it is, how to improve it, and what other institutions are doing to help their students improve it too. The resources provided by Apportis were integral in my learning process, and I used them during my session as well.
While listening to other wellness sessions, I took a particular interest in physical wellness and how I can take strides to improve it. After the session on physical wellness, I looked to Apportis for resources. I found many different types of resources and they were all helpful. The site was easy to navigate, and I could find what I wanted quickly. I have started to focus on my physical wellness and improve it through various avenues. Eating healthier, working out, sleeping better, and creating goals for all those aspects of physical wellness. I am excited to put forth the effort to reach my goals so that I can start improving a different aspect of my wellness.
The scheduling piece of Apportis was also intuitive. It was simple to set up an availability schedule and set-up appointments with mentees. I thought this was a great addition to what we were already doing as a program and hope to something similar in the future. Overall, I enjoyed my experience in this new initiative. I hope to work with it in the future and learn more about wellness along the way.
by Philip Payne | Jun 18, 2021 | Mental Health
As an intern at Apportis, I have learned how the Apportis platform can connect tele-behavioral health professionals with patients in need of mental health support. Sometimes the emotional support that is needed is helping to process difficult emotions. Toxic positivity, which you may not be aware of, is an example of one of those emotions.
Maintaining a positive attitude when things are going wrong is a common coping practice. We all try to stay strong and let things go, but this way of addressing your hardships is not always a healthy one. Toxic positivity is the belief that we should always remain positive and uplifted no matter how difficult a situation is. This belief encourages us to ignore hard feelings and emotions and to maintain a positive attitude even in the most dire situations. Toxic positivity can affect us in a lot of different ways that can be easily ignored. You can stunt your growth by having this view on life, and even ignore experiences that are needed for you to grow emotionally. You may also feel guilt and shame when trying to convince yourself that what you are feeling is wrong or not important. Isolation and problems in your relationships are likely to become an issue. If you can not be honest with yourself or your own feelings, how will you be able to process the feelings of those in a relationship?
Mark Manson, an American author and publisher is quoted as saying, “Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.”
It is very important for us to acknowledge our emotions and to face them head on. If we do so, we can get them out of our system in a healthy way and allow other true feelings to come about. If we are able to accept ourselves and embrace our emotions we will find ourselves at peace with pain and open to genuine love. Try your best to avoid toxic positivity by noticing how you feel and being realistic about it. Simply by putting your emotions in words you can get on track to rid yourself of those negative emotions. Most of all, try to listen to your loved ones when they tell you how they feel. Sometimes by telling them to cheer up and look on the brighter side, you encourage them to ignore the hardships. A lot of the time they want someone to simply listen, not to shame their feelings. If we all do our part in letting go of the toxic positivity and facing our good and bad emotions, the world would be a healthier place.
by Philip Payne | Jun 11, 2021 | Wellness Wheel
When it comes to health and wellness of college students, I feel like this year was an all-time low. The stress and changes that came along with the pandemic caused students to be thrown through hoops that they never saw coming. That is why this program was an essential part of the education of the future Student Affairs professionals. If Student Affairs professionals are unaware of the coping mechanisms and warning signs that come with different areas of health and wellness, how can they evaluate their own lives as well as help the students around them.
This program jumped right into all aspects of health and wellness including; emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, financial and more. We learned how connected all types of wellness are. If even one aspect is off, then your whole wellness wheel is off and can have a domino effect in your life. It was so nice to hear from my peers in this aspect. I feel that whenever you know the presenter or have some kind of tie to them, you tend to listen and retain more after hearing the presentation. I also loved being taken through different activities. This allowed me to practice some of those techniques that I had learned throughout each session.
Apportis was a great resource for us coaches to utilize. It was full of resources about my topic as well as it made it easier to connect with other coaches and my peers outside of the meetings. It was nice to be able to chat with the Apportis team and give them feedback on our sessions and their programs. I think that they have HUGE potential with this world going more and more digital on a daily basis.
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