📚 Topic Guide: Well-Being & Self-Care

Archive Old FAQs
#1

We’re collecting resources and knowledge to support those running public educational programming on well-being and self-care in their communities.

If you want to be notified about updates to these resources or upcoming community calls dedicated to this topic, please sign up using this form.

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Free courses for learning circles:

  • The Science of Happiness
    The first MOOC to teach positive psychology. Learn science-based principles and practices for a happy, meaningful life.

  • The Science of Well-Being
    A Yale course focused on misconceptions about happiness, annoying features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change and build productive habits.

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🌚 Wed Oct 7 2020 — Community Call: Assessing and Reflecting on Courses
#2

Open Culture also shared this list: Free Courses to Maintain Mental & Physical Health During a Pandemic that lists Coursera’s most popular health & well-being courses:

  1. Mind Control: Managing Your Mental Health During COVID-19 from University of Toronto
  2. The Science of Well-Being from Yale University
  3. Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most from University of Michigan
  4. Stanford Introduction to Food and Health from Stanford University
  5. A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment from Indian School of Business
  6. Positive Psychiatry and Mental Health from The University of Sydney
  7. Hacking Exercise For Health. The surprising new science of fitness. from McMaster University
  8. Introduction to Self-Determination Theory: An approach to motivation, development and wellness from University of Rochester
  9. Biohacking Your Brain’s Health from Emory University
  10. Managing Your Health: The Role of Physical Therapy and Exercise from University of Toronto

It also includes some summaries from The Science of Well-Being which has been updated to reflect specific information about coping with the pandemic:

Santos answers questions from viewers, covering topics like avoiding tension and arguments with our loved ones, staying informed on the world without creating more anxiety, how can frontline/healthcare workers combat anxiety, how to keep yourself positive when living alone without family or friends, how to keep productive and healthy at work with the threat of layoffs, how to look for a new job after being laid off because of COVID, how to help your child who is missing their school friends, how do we create good experiences to create good memories, what we can do about sleep problems, how to care for family members with COVID while also working a job, and how to show random acts of kindness during this time (which is what Santos covers often in her Happiness Lab podcast). Overall, focus on self-compassion, Santos says, which has to be the starting point for all of this.

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#6

Hi! I co-created a learning circle recently called Intro to Self Care. The topics include the Relaxation Response, the Importance of Intention, Sleep, Meditation, Self-Massage, Movement, Deep Relaxation, and Healthy Social Connections. Jordan, my co-creator, also made sure that we had the Eight Pillars of Joy sprinkled throughout. We also include “breakouts” where you can talk about Journaling, Healthy Diet, Healthy Hobbies, Nature, and Intellectual Stimulation.

The learning circle’s emphasis is on doing the things that make you feel better. We are focused on how you feel right now, not how you can be the best version of yourself in six weeks. While we do discuss healthy eating and exercise in two modules, the emphasis is on feeling better, not looking better.

We’d love feedback, so if you offer this learning circle, please let us know what you thought!

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