"Fortitude is the capacity that allows us to remain faithful to our convictions and to face with firmness and energy the different situations we encounter in life" (Nájera, A., 2013).

On this page, you will find episodes of Podcasts, TED Talks and Wellbeing Gym Activities.

This kit is a simple and replicable guide that will allow you as an employee, mentor, or tutor, in particular, to implement key activities that support the wellbeing of our students.

The effective use of these monthly kits will not only allow students to have access to relevant information but will also contribute to the well-being of our employees.

During the month of June, we will be working on strength and stress, taking as a context the exam period and the end of the semester.

In this section, you will find resources with questions and activities that you can do with your mentees to work on during this month. If you would like to refer them to this site, please share with them the mirror page, tqueremos.tec.mx/en/values/strength as these guides are just for you.

We hope it helps and thank you for your work!

TED Talk

The cure for burnout (hint: it isn't self-care)

Objective: To reflect on how we can stop the stress cycle so as not to fall into burnout, and how to start solving it if we already have it.

Duration: 18 minutes

After watching Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski's talk, reflect:

How do you react when you are in a stressful situation?
What do you do once the stressful moment passes?
Do you have clear tools to help you lower your stress levels?
According to the Nagoski sisters, one method to end the stress cycle is to go for a walk or get some exercise, have you ever tried that?
The video closes with the message that according to the authors, the cure is not self-care, but taking care of each other, how do you support your friends or loved ones when they are going through stressful times?

Podcast

Making the grades

Objective: To reflect on the role of grades in student life and how the pressure to get good grades affects our stress and happiness levels.

Duration: 35 minutes

After listening to the episode of The Happiness Lab, reflect:

The episode talks about how grades affect our emotional state, how you feel when you are in an exam period, and why, do you know methods that work for you to calm down what you feel in that period?
If grades did not exist, how do you think your learning process would be?
In your experience, when you are not being graded for something, how do you find the motivation to perform well?
When you don't get the grades you expected, how is your emotional state affected?
In the podcast it is mentioned that some people see their value as a person reflected in their grades, do you identify with this?
What steps do you think you could take to get rid of some of the stress caused by the exam period?

Wellbeing Gym Activities

Calm down with the 5 senses

Objective: To teach the student a quick relaxation and concentration technique that utilizes the five senses.

Description: Have a guide teach students that the technique for calming down is to take a moment to identify something they hear, see, smell, taste, or feel and then reflect on each of these findings in silence.

This style of short meditation will help students foster a habit of meditation.

Note: Links to supporting videos on how to perform this technique can be found in the appendix section.

Closing: In the closure of this activity, we seek to reflect on how different senses have a different impact when combating emotions such as stress or anxiety (Sabater, 2018):

"Smell is a gateway to our own emotions. The primary olfactory cortex is connected to the hippocampus and the amygdala, two brain structures directly related to emotions.
By observing relaxing visual stimuli we are able to reduce the feeling of stress and anxiety. On the other hand, a lack of balance in our emotional environment or disorder can intensify these emotions.
Tasting in the right way can reduce stress levels by eating slowly, enjoying food and its flavors or remembering a pleasant meal.
The sounds we listen to have an impact on the emotions we feel at any given moment. For example, some songs can generate feelings of joy, nostalgia, motivation, wanting to excel, etc.
Deficiencies, especially the lack of stimulation of our skin through touch, generate a sensory hunger that gives way to tension and anxiety. The skin is a surface that contains thousands of receptors craving to be stimulated, in such a way that a relaxing bath or a hug decreases stress." (Sabater,2018)

Soothing Beats

Objective: To promote a positive mood through music that is pleasing to the student.

Description: The student should create a playlist with at least 15 songs that when listened to, will help him/her to have a relaxed mood and reduce accumulated stress from daily life activities. Songs that the individual considers cheerful are recommended. You can personalize it further by putting a specific order, a background photo, a creative title, etc.

Subsequently, they should listen to it, it can be at a time when they are stressed, when they wake up to start the day with positive energy, doing homework or working, etc.

Closing: Emotional expression through music can be traced back millions of years ago, with countless purposes. Research published by Frontiers in Psychology found that people listen to music to regulate arousal and mood, gain self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness (Huron et. al, 2013). Specifically, with mood, upbeat music can make people of all ages feel happy, energetic, and alert. A 2006 study found that music helped reduce chronic pain as well as depressive symptoms (Harvard Health Publishing, 2011). Therefore, having a person create a playlist with songs they find enjoyable is an excellent way to promote a positive mindset or mood.

Bonus Podcast

As part of Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈 we leave you with the following podcast as a good option if you are looking to document yourself more on the topic or keep it in mind during the month.

Being a bonus episode, it does not carry reflection questions, but we hope it can support you.

How To Be a Better Ally

You might detest bigotry and injustice, but have you done anything to address these problems? There are many reasons we stay silent and inactive when we know we should intervene to defend the rights of others. We look at the psychology underpinning our reluctance to act and the ways in which we can match our moral beliefs with concrete actions.

Featuring James Barr and Dan Hudson, co-hosts of the podcast ‘A Gay and a Non-Gay’. WARNING: This episode talks frankly about discrimination, hate crimes and sex. For an ever deeper dive into the research we talk about in the show visit happinesslab.fm