Health Promotion

chillWELL

WELLWVU is encouraging students to adopt a chillWELL state of mind to reduce stress and optimize quality of life and performance. chillWELL is a part of WELLWVU’s liveWELL campaign, where each month pairs social marketing campaigns with educational activities to address healthy lifestyle behaviors. Stress was identified by WVU students as the leading impediment to academic performance on the National Collegiate Health Assessment II conducted in February 2012. Since much of stress is determined by individual perception, chillWELL focuses on activities targeted at helping students see the world from a more positive point of view. According to Shawn Achor, the winner of over a dozen distinguished teaching awards at Harvard University, where he delivered lectures on positive psychology in the most popular class at Harvard, your brain switched to positive performs significantly better than your brain at negative, neutral, or stressed. Research has shown that writing 3 new things a day that you’re grateful for for 21 days trains your brain to scan the world for the positive. With just 2 minutes of gratitude training a day, your brain is 31% more productive, intelligence and creativity rise, resiliency and motivation increase, and energy levels and general health and well-being improve. To that end, chillWELL pairs a social marketing campaign with activities to help students experience the world in a positive way. Activities include:

WELLGO Calender

Use building blocks to plan and identify activities that make up a typical day (e.g., breakfast, class, workout, free time, dinner, etc.). Understand how you’re spending most of your time and whether you’re making the most out of the time you have. Learn how to set priorities and explore relationships between specific behaviors and performance. Click here.

Online chillPack

We’ve created a chillPack to help you chill and retrain your brain to look for the positive. Do one activity a day and watch your productivity and perspective change for the better. Click here.

Mantra Workshop

Mantra Workshop is an artistic workshop that encourages the use of positive self statements

Yoga

Learn Anusara Inspired yoga techniques and begin to shift your point of view to focus on the positive and be connected to your heart space. Yoga is also great for decreasing stress and increasing strength, flexibility, and vitality. Class is offered continually on Wednesdays at 4:00 at the Student Rec Center.

Guided Breathing exercise

No need to schedule – just click here and listen online.

Guided Progressive Muscle Relaxation

No need to schedule – just click here and listen online.

HeartMath

Transform stress into resilience with this computer based biofeedback system. Heartmath focuses on teaching students to self-regulate emotions and build coherence (smoother, more relaxed heart rhythms) skills. Can be introduced to small groups beginning late Fall 2011.

Chillwell Days

Relax with activities that are sure to take your mind off what’s stressing you out. Coloring, finger painting, beading, tea making, and stress ball making are just some of the activities.

Programs can be requested any time of year for delivery to any group of students. To request a program, click here.