03.25.20 Mental Health Wellness Update

While we all are telecommuting, OSFA will be sharing some ideas to boost your mental health during these difficult times. If you know of any videos, podcasts, articles, events, ideas, etc. that would be perfect to include in these emails, please send them along to Erica Tisdale at erica.tisdale@wisc.edu.   One Way to Improve Your Day: Schedule a walk into your day. In addition to the physical benefits of walking, studies have found that walking can increase your creative output by 60%, improves memory, and relieves symptoms of anxiety and depression. Consider working a 30 minute walk into your daily routine. Remember you still need to stay six feet away from folks, but if you walk around your neighborhood or even go to a state park, you should be able to keep your distance. Campus/Community Resource: Ascendium/Attigo is offering a webinar called Managing Stress During a Crisis on April 1^st at 11am. Register here: https://www.attigo.com/managing-stress-during-a-crisis-april. Cute Video of the Week: Hippo Fiona is Now 3 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yld5TwqQpTE. If you have kiddos, the Cincinnati Zoo has been streaming a different animal each day as part of something they are calling Home Safari. They also share an activity your kids can do afterwards. The livestream is at 2pm CST, but you can watch it after the fact on their YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE3VoxyYmyQCReOXk2ogsVg. Podcast of the Week: How to Handle Coronavirus Anxiety a Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-handle-coronavirus-anxiety-special-edition/id1087147821?i=1000468295073. This podcast takes a little over an hour. Dan Harris has a bunch of resources on his website if you enjoy this podcast: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide.