Healthy social and emotional practices can cultivate important “protective factors” that foster wellness in children and adults.

May Wellness Video: What We Say and How We Say it Matters

April Wellness Video: Coping Skills

Social wellness
Social wellness focuses on building and nurturing meaningful and supportive relationships with individuals, groups and communities. It enables you to create boundaries that encourage communication, trust and conflict management. Social wellness also includes showing respect for others, oneself and other cultures.

You can foster your social wellness by:

• Reflecting on yourself and your social needs. What aspects of your social life do you enjoy? What parts would you like to improve?
• Making an effort to keep in touch with supportive friends, family and mentors.
• Participating in group discussions and practicing active listening.
• Joining a club or organization.
• Participating in study groups.
• Volunteering in the community.

Emotional wellness
Emotional wellness involves developing an awareness of your feelings and your response to everyday interactions. This awareness allows you to better understand why you are feeling that way and can actively respond to your feelings.

You can foster your emotional wellness by:

• Taking time to yourself to quiet your mind and reflect.
• Smiling and laughing! Sometimes humor is the best medicine to decrease stress and put life’s challenges in perspective.
• Seeking or accepting help and support from others when needed.
• Sharing your thoughts and feelings with someone you trust. Remember to listen to others’ emotions too.
• Practicing gratitude.
• Accepting mistakes and learning from them for next time.  
• Taking care of your body. Eating, being active, and sleeping – your mental & physical well-being are interconnected.
• Being kind to yourself.  

Eight Dimensions of Wellness. UC Davis Student Health & Counseling Services. https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/health-and-wellness/eight-dimensions-wellness

Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are an effective way to calm the mind and can be used to cultivate wellness anytime.

Five Fun Breathing Exercises for Kids

Relaxation Exercises

Mindfulness resources

Scholarly research finds that mindfulness practice decreases stress and anxiety, increases attention, improves interpersonal relationships, strengthens compassion, and confers a host of other benefits.  

This article, Benefits of Mindfulness, shares up-to-date research about mindfulness as well as live and recorded opportunities to practice.

This article, The Power of Mindfulness, defines mindfulness and explains how the practice can support children and teens.

Family Wellness

A Family Emotional Safety Plan answers the question: what if we simply planned for the inevitable high-stress moments that come with being part of a family and discussed how we were going to cool down with our families? We could have the chance to bring our best selves to most testing times in life.