Teen Well-Being Tips from a WIN Member!

One of the goals of Wello’s Well-Being Influencer Network (WIN) is to connect network members with opportunities to share their passions and gifts with the community.  This past weekend, WIN Member Julia Piechota represented Wello and led a well-being workshop for the outreach program GreatHER Together, a collaboration between the Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes and the Boys and Girls Club.  This program is for girls in 8th and 9th grade and provides them with mentoring and experiential learning opportunities with the intended outcomes of developing healthy decision making, strong interpersonal skills, a positive self-identity, good character, and future goal setting. 

Here are a few of Julia’s top tips for healthy habits for teens:

1. Recognize Your Self-Talk: Teens (and adults!) are bombarded by our own thoughts. Sometimes, these can be negative, or self-deprecating. Thankfully, there are techniques and habits you can form to shift self-talk from negative to positive. We can decrease our negative self-talk by pausing first,observing these thoughts, and asking ourselves “why this thought?”. You can also write down all the negative thoughts you had throughout your day and work on reframing  them into positive thoughts. Example: I’m not smart enough to get all my homework done. Shift your self-talk to “I will dedicate an uninterrupted hour to homework to complete my work because I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and if I get stuck, I will ask for help. ”
2. Fuel Your Body with Healthy, Balanced Meals: Make a list of balanced meal ideas and ask to have these foods added to the family grocery list (and even help prepare them for your family or friends!)
3. Practice Daily Mindfulness: Utilize your 5 senses (taste, touch, smell, vision, and hearing) each day to take-in the world around you. Example: When eating food smell the aroma of it, notice the texture and color of the food while being present to the way it feels as your teeth are chewing it. Or, lay outside in the grass taking in the feeling of the blades against your skin, the smell of the earth while listening to the birds chirping and watching the clouds float across the sky. 
4. Movement Everyday: Aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. Physical activity is great to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. It also helps to improve mood, sleep, memory, and energy levels. These are all things essential for healthy, growing teens.
5. Turn off the Screens: Eliminate the use of technology at least one-hour before bed. Better quality and quantity of sleep helps to improve concentration, productivity, performance, memory, and problem solving skills, while regulating your appetite and boosting your immune system. 
6. Daily Gratitude: Think about or write down 3-5 things daily that you are grateful for. This habit has been shown to improve your overall well-being by reducing  stress, depression, anxiety, and blood pressure, while improving sleep, self-esteem, relationships, and your immune system. At the end of the year, it is also a great way to look back at the things in your life that bring you joy.

Want to get involved with WIN and share your skills?  Click here!