By Dr. Kathleen Downey
Assistant Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
How do you take action with your wellness?
Do you experience yoga, choose healthy eating patterns or actively plan on a rest schedule? These are things we all know we can choose to act on to impact our physical wellness. We recognize it doesn’t just happen. Instead, we need to be intentional about our choices.
How do you choose to address your emotional, spiritual or community connection wellness? Being in the driver’s seat of wellness requires us to not just think about it. Rather, we must choose to act.
More than 400 students chose to act on their wellness recently by participating in Wellness Week, developed and hosted by CHSS students and faculty. They incorporated a wide variety of activities featuring a different type of wellness each day.
Tuesday’s wellness feature was physical wellness. More than 80 students enjoyed making choices about healthy snack options as they filled a free snack bag, spoke to a nutritionist and participated in a yoga class on the lawn near the Student Advising Services Building.
Emotional wellness is often at the top of the list when we think of wellness in general terms. Wednesday was dedicated to exploring actions to impact our emotional wellness through the give-and-take affirmation board. Surprisingly, one affirmation found its way into the SAS Building elevator! How many people read “I can do anything” on a Post-It in that elevator and felt inspired?
Thursday’s focus on spiritual wellness included an opportunity to decorate a spiritual journal and connect with the Theology Thursday blog through GCU’s College of Theology.
We all have our own journey when it comes to our spiritual wellness. Finding ways to actively engage in that journey can help us reflect on our purpose. Isn’t that the reason we are here?
The biggest draw, however, was Friday, which highlighted community connection through a drum circle, planting potted seeds and creating a community quilt that will be displayed in the CHSS Building.
We learned through COVID how important it is to be connected to each other. And we seem to still be craving it.
When you walk outside near building 18 on Mondays and hear the drums beating in the Sociology Drum Circle Club, stop for a minute and join in the community of it. Grab a drum and add to the music.
Or put your name on the list the next time Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers to support a family in our GCU neighborhood. Contributing to the collective can truly feed our individual wellness.
We can’t just crave it; we must act if we want to make a difference in our overall wellness. What will you act on for your wellness each week?
