So, I made this Wellness Guide (Wellness Guide for Teens 2020 ) about 6 months ago, and for some reason, I never added it to the website. I had some people ask me for it today, and I realized that it wasn’t yet on here, so I’m adding it now. Please know that this is just a guide I wanted to write to help people with information about mindfulness and stress reduction, but if you are feeling upset or sad, it is also very helpful to talk to someone, like a parent, teacher, or counselor, and I urge you to consider doing that.
About the Wellness Guide: Sometimes things change due to life circumstances, and I know that there are two things in the Guide that have changed since I wrote it, so I’m going to tell you what they are here.
The first is that I said in the Guide that I deleted social media because I think it’s healthier not to be on it all the time. And I still believe that, and was off of socials for 8 months…but because of Covid, I’ve gotten back on it for now. I did this so that I can stay in contact with all the friends I don’t get to see in school anymore. One day, when life goes back to normal, I’m sure I’ll get off of socials again, even if it’s for a few months to take a break. I think it’s unhealthy to be addicted to our phones, and I prefer to “look up” and be connected to people through actual communication. Even though the phone gives an illusion of connection, it really disconnects us more than it connects us. But for now, it’s a necessary thing for me, and I did say in the Guide that I would be honest about what I am practicing and what I’m not.
The second thing that’s changed since I wrote the Guide is that the Mindful Kids Peace Summit (MKPS) is no longer only once a year during peace week. Because of Covid, we made a decision to have the video segments available all year round, so it’s more of a digital library now. Many of the segments are even on our YouTube channel. We wanted teens to be able to have access to this information because we wanted to help anyone that may be feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. For now, I am leaving the Wellness Guide as it is, but I’m sure I will update it at some point to reflect the new MKPS format. We may also re-name the MKPS at some point in the future to take the word Summit out.
So, hopefully, you’ll enjoy the guide, and you’ll find at least one thing in it that can help you practice mindfulness and kindness to self and others.
You may also want to check out other blogs on this site which explain what mindfulness, social emotional learning, and mindfulness-based social emotional learning are and how they can help with coping with stress and emotions.
Wishing you wellness,