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Gratitude — Sometimes it’s the Little Things

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This past year living the quarantine life, spending 24/7 at home, I’ve learned to be grateful for a lot of things, of which I’ve written down quick notes and added photos of those moments. It has helped me get through the tough days. Sometimes they are just little things that make me smile, like watching the squirrel and the crow go at each other along the fence line outside my WFH office window–and with it being a brief moment–writing about it in my journal is a nice way to remember.

For my journaling, I like to use the Day One app for my iPhone (free version) since 2018, and I am able to include photos. Being able to include a photo allows me to look back on the moment that made me happy along with a few notes about that moment (even if I wait until the end of the day or the week to add the entry, it adds the photo to the correct day). There are many journal apps to choose from, so I suggest selecting the one that works best for you.

What gratitude can do for you and read more about the Neuroscience of Gratitude

  • Brings happiness
  • It releases toxic emotions
  • Reduces pain
  • Improves sleep quality
  • Reduces anxiety and depression

Benefits of a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude journaling can give you a new perspective on what is important to you and what you truly appreciate in your life. Through the UCI Be Kind – Be Well Ambassador Toolkit, here is the link to a printable Gratitude or Laughter Journal.

  • Like many gratitude practices, gratitude journaling can lower your stress levels
  • By noting what you are grateful for, you can gain clarity on what you want to have more of in your life
  • Your gratitude journal is for your eyes only
  • On days when you feel blue, you can read through your gratitude journal to readjust your attitude and remember all the good things in your life

Don’t forget to visit our UCI Libraries’ Gratitude Board.

Spring into Your Garden – Join us on Breakaway Moments…

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With Earth Day just around the corner and Spring already here, come join us as we share gardening tips and resources.

Funny gardening Memes

Break-away Moments:  Spring into your Garden (resources and tips)

  • Date/Time:  Friday, April 9 | 11: 00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
  • Zoom link: Meeting ID: 988 4661 2592/ Passcode: 895170/ or add attachment to your calendar.
  • We will share resources and tips for growing your garden: BIG or small
  • Grow your own veggies, fruit or herbs
  • Share your tips, what are you growing, etc.
  • If you’re unable to attend, please stop in here for all sorts of information on growing your own garden.

Did you know about the many benefits of gardening?

Get more exercise, Boosts your Vitamin D, Eat more fruits and veggies, Reduces stress

 

Friendly February…

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The Healthy Workplace Working Group would like to share the 2021 Friendly February calendar from Action for Happiness:

“We need each other more than ever right now! This month let’s focus on reaching out to connect with others and doing our best to be a good friend. Our acts of kindness and connection ripple out and impact so many more people than we realize – and they also boost our own happy hormones too! In stressful times people around us may be feeling the strain, so let’s try to keep calm, take time to listen and show compassion.” – Action for Happiness

Take a look at some of the activities on this calendar, and we hope you will participate in one thing. It doesn’t have to be on the date shown, and it will benefit all involved.

We hope to see you at our February Breakaway Moments activity that will be announced soon via a liball.

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up” – Mark Twain

Printable calendar: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/968399/february_2021.pdf

 

Holiday Movies, Music, Decorating, Evening Walks and more as stress reducers during these uncertain times…

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Here are some of the things I love to do as the December clock ticks down to the year’s end that help boost my mood. See articles below about holiday mood boosters:

  • I love to watch holiday movies (I enjoy the classics as well as I’m a Hallmark fan), and it takes me away from other worries of my day. I really do come away with laughs and feeling good.
  • I decorate the house with the tree, indoor and outdoor lights and other festive décor. Since March we’ve seen the same view of inside our house so it is a nice change.
  • I listen to holiday music while working or doing other indoor activities.
  • My husband and I have enjoyed evening walks around the neighborhood and all the twinkling lights. It has really changed up our mood after being in front of our work screen all day. The only tough part is we usually go on our walk just after our work hours and most are cooking their dinners and the aromas smell so delicious.

What have you been doing to change things up and enjoy the festivities of your holiday celebrations? Check out some of the articles listed below

Be sure to join the Healthy Workplace Working Group for our Friday Breakaway Moments on Holiday Movie Trivia & Discussion, at 12:15pm. Meeting ID: 915 9858 3117. It should be a fun and interesting discussion about our favorite holiday movies.

Here is the holiday music list created for our 2020 Year-End event. Spotify is a free app.

Resources/articles to read (thanks to Natalie for finding these):

Holiday Stress: How to Cope

Holiday Decorations Can Help Boost Your Mood

Holiday Movies to Get You in the Festive Mood

Get Fit at Your Desk Exercises

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Work out at your desk with air punches, march in place, chair squats, prayer hands, chest opener and back rolls!

Get Fit at Your Desk With These Simple Exercises

Want to work out more, but don’t feel like you can spare an hour at lunch or first thing in the morning? No worries. You can improve your strength, flexibility and energy with some basic moves at your desk. Print out the pdf and keep it nearby as a reminder or keep it up on your screen.

  • Lauren Korzan, an American College of Sports Medicine-certified exercise physiologist who teaches workers how to get fit in the office, shares a few simple exercises. The secret to success is taking short breaks throughout the day to do these exercises, Korzan says. Small bursts of activity add up to real results. “People are busy. Sometimes the only opportunity they have to be active is in the office,” she says. “If you can fit in two or three 10-minute sessions a day, that’s great.”

 

Self-Care September Calendar

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We are finishing up our first week of September, and heading into a holiday weekend. September can be one of the busiest times of the year as we prepare for UCI’s academic year to begin, and this year we have additional challenges as we work in a virtual environment. Here’s to being a little kinder to ourselves in Self-Care September.

Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential. No-one’s perfect. But so often we compare our insides to other people’s outsides. This month we’re encouraging everyone to be kinder to themselves (as well as others), especially when things go wrong. Self-care increases our resilience and helps us get more out of life. It also helps us accept others as they are too.

Explore more here: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/10-keys-to-happier-living/be-comfortable-with-who-you-are

If you would like to print the calendar, go here: https://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/913601/september_2020.pdf

Keep Moving Forward…

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As I move through my daily life of working from home with my husband and daughter, we are finding solace in stepping away from our work areas, taking a walk, going out to the garden, and refocusing on us. Our home was time away from work, and now it seems all squashed together in one location. Taking walks together or finding other physical outlets has helped us separate our work life from home life, to keep moving forward with one foot in front of the other, and physically work off that additional energy so we sleep better. We’ve even taken walks while it is sprinkling and have found it refreshing (today there was no one else out walking).

Sleeping well and exercise helps boost the immune system.

If you can’t get outside for a walk, here are a few ideas to help you to keep you moving forward:

Keep Moving Forward!

Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Outbreak

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Dear UCI Libraries,

Your HWWG team is working on finding some helpful information and healthy things to do while we are working from home. More details to come.

I know I’ve been feeling stressed. Not the kind of good stress from a productive hard working day, but a weary stress from so many changes and uncertainty. Here are some helpful tips and information to help guide us.

Go to this link for an info-graphic by the World Health Organization on reducing stress and maintaining a healthy lifestyle: [Read more…]

Spread The Word Not A Virus Campaign

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Have you noticed? The UCI Libraries have recently installed hand sanitizing stations, which will help us all stay healthier, but here are a few more healthy tips.

UCI Wellness is promoting a healthy workplace campaign to help control the spread of viruses. A few of your UCI Libraries’ Wellness Ambassadors are wearing campaign shirts today, and we have also put up posters and coasters around the LL and SL Libraries.

Here are some helpful tips to keep us all healthier:

Spread The Word Not A Virus. Keep your health a priority. If we all work together, we can spread the word about healthy hygiene habits that can help reduce the transmission of viruses – and even the common cold.

  1. Wash Your Hands
  2. Cover Your Cough
  3. Stay Home If You Are Sick
  4. Clean Common Areas

Select  Image  for  more  details: