Summer Wellness Series: Physical Wellness

To kick off our summer wellness series, we wanted to start with the topic of physical wellness. Often times the first thing we think of in connection to physical wellness is nutrition and exercise. Although these are very important, we also want to make sure we touch on other factors that can help or hinder you to feel your best self.

Physical Activity:

Our bodies are made to be active so it is important to keep them in the best state that we can. Why? There are SO MANY benefits to physical activity that directly relate tour overall health! Physical activity and exercise can help you sleep better, manage stress, and is a very strong predictor to reduce risks of health problems such as heart disease and high blood pressure. The American Heart Association outlines these and many more here: Physical activity improves quality of life.  

Nutrition:

Eating well is also an important aspect of physical wellness.  Many of us have heard the saying “You are what you eat,” and while it is not to be taken literally, there is truth to this statement. What we put into our bodies provides us with the energy we use each day, so we want to be mindful that what we are using to fuel our bodies is making us feel our best! The USDA and their MyPlate guidelines give a great overview of the major food group and how they contribute to a healthy diet.

Here are some other areas of physical wellness that you might not think of right way that you should also consider with physical wellness:

Sleep:

We all at one time or another have felt like we have not gotten enough sleep. It is not always easy or realistic to get a full night sleep every night, but surprisingly the effects of sleep deprivation can effect your body both short and long term in your life. Making a point to go to bed an extra hour earlier a few times a week can give your body that extra time to recharge and help you feel your best.

Routine Medical Check:

A great way to be proactive with your health is to stay on track with any routine medical examinations. This includes a routine physical/dental exams as well as other procedures that might be suggested based on your age or family history. The CDC provides some great resources on how to prepare for your next routine exam so you can make the most of your time with your doctor or physician.

So now that we have introduced some of these areas of physical wellness, we want to keep the conversation going! Visit our Virtual Student Union and click on the Summer Wellness Series discussion forum to dive into this topic more!  We will explore goal setting, sharing experiences with other students and finding resources to help you improve or maintain your physical health!

How are you staying active this summer? Let us know know on Twitter using the hashtag #commit2fit

This Week at NOVA Online

Open registration for fall classes is currently underway. Check the schedule of classes in NOVA Connect and follow this tutorial to help you search for online classes through NOVA Online. Make sure you change the date to reflect the term you are looking to register for (summer ’15 or fall ’15).

checklistAre you thinking about an online course through NOVA Online, but not sure if it is right for you? Review our Furthering your education with NOVA Online recording to see if online learning is a right fit for your current educational needs. You could also take the Smarter Measure assessment to see how your personal learning styles will work with online courses.

Have you ever been assigned a paper or project and don’t know where to start? Are you curious what library resources are available to you without going to a campus library? Join the NOVA Online Librarians for the Beyond Google – Basic Library Skills for Online Learners webinar on Thursday, June 11 from 6:30-7:15. This 45 minute webinar will give you a brief introduction to what library resources are available to you as an online learner. There might be more than you expect! Register here.

Physical Wellness – This week for Wellness Wednesday, the focus area of Physical Wellness emphasizes maintaining a healthy body. This includes upholding an active lifestyle, mindfulness of your eating habits, sleeping, managing stress, and the importance of preventative medical care.  Maintaining a healthy body is a key component to a long healthy life. Do you use wearable technology to help count your steps? What do you do to stay active? Use #Commit2fit to share your pictures and stories.

What are your summer plans? Have an internship? Traveling? Taking a class? Day Trip? We want to hear about your adventures. Use on Twitter to share pictures and stories.

Connect with Your Success Coach

As a NOVA Online student, you have access to a plethora of resources to promote your success.  From free online tutoring, to online workshops, webinars, blogs and more; NOVA Online offers unlimited resources to promote your success. In addition to these and other resources, you also have access to a personal success coach!  Your success coach is available to promote your goals and maximize your learning experience at NOVA Online.

If you are experiencing course concerns or struggles, your coach is here to listen to your concerns and support you without judgment or criticism – he or she is your personal advocate.  Your coach will create a respectful and collaborative partnership from the initial communication. Using our resources and services, success coaches will suggest innovative strategies, and solutions to provide easy access to resources, referrals and information that will promote a positive academic experience

Sometimes students consult their coach if they are experiencing challenges juggling their personal responsibilities, college, work, and family.  Other students may call seeking support as a first time college student in need of assistance with test taking skills, time management and transitioning to college life.  Many students reach out seeking academic resources to complement their study routine or if they have an emergency situation and are uncomfortable approaching their instructor.

Whatever the problem, your Success Coach will take the time to listen beyond your concerns/questions to hear your needs. Sometimes a struggle is as easy as getting a little more information to fully understand the need. Many times students contact a coach presenting a struggle that seems overwhelming but the real concern is often something else that can be easily addressed with professional assistance and guidance.

When you are struggling, looking for resources to promote your learning experience, or have questions or concerns, you are encouraged to connect with your success coach. Your coach will be there to serve as your advocate, empower you and promote your success.

contact usFor more information, please email your name and student ID to elisuccess@nvcc.edu or call 703.764.5076. Have a question, but not sure who to ask? Start with a Success Coach!

Written by Adrienne, NOVA Online Student Success Coach

Motivational Minute: The Many Faces of Stress

file cabinet

Ever find yourself flipping out over the smallest things and you have no idea why? It seems like all it takes is for the wind to blow in from the wrong direction and your brain explodes?! If this sounds like you, the jury has deliberated and has found you guilty of being stressed! Whenever there are circumstances that put a significant amount of stress on us, the tasks of everyday life become much more difficult to manage, we feel out of control, our tolerance takes a serious dive and, before we know it, we’re throwing tantrums over the most minute things.

Because so much of our lives are lived on the go, we can sometimes overlook just how much we are being impacted by our stress and miss the telltale signs all together. Our body is usually the first place signs of stress show up. Stress in the system can cause a slew of physical symptoms, i.e. restlessness, fatigue, digestive problems, headaches, etc.  Increasing awareness of the connection between mind and body can help ward off some of the negative physical effects of stress. Practicing activities such as, progressive relaxation, taking mental body scans, doing yoga, stretching, and meditation daily can dramatically decrease physical tension. Increasing awareness of how your body feels when you are in your natural, calm state will help you return to that state faster when you feel overwhelmed.  Incorporating these practices into your daily routine will also  help you identify and recognize any change in the body and mind that stress may induce with more ease and accuracy. Knowing yourself has more perks than you could imagine and it’s the first step in taking action to address the root of your stress. Namaste.

–Jennifer, NOVA Online Success Coach

Resources for Managing Stress:

Omvana is a free meditation app that has guided progressive relaxation sessions you can follow. This is a great activity if you’re having trouble sleeping as a result of stress.

If you would like to talk to someone about what’s going on with you, Call 2-1-1 or click here  to be linked to local and statewide health and human services. When calling, you can speak  with a trained professional for assistance with identifying sources of help. All referrals are confidential.

Check out Managing the Demands of School through Meditation

stress comic 2

Student Life Summer Wellness Series

vitality  word cloud on blackboardLooking for ways to get involved and connect with your peers while taking summer classes? Join NOVA Online Student Life for our Summer Wellness Series! You might be asking yourself, what do we mean when we say “wellness”. Wellness can be seen as any self-directed habits of well-being that attribute to your overall quality of life. Within our series this summer, we will be highlighting six different dimensions of wellness that can affect you as a college student .

By participating in this Summer Wellness series, you will be able to:

-Identify how concepts of health are connected to issues of academic success, diversity, the environment, and lifelong wellbeing.

– Recognize awareness that health involves the holistic balance and integration of physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual, aspects of oneself.

-Define personal health values and understand these values within the context of a larger healthy society.

– Actively apply health decisions by recognizing how personal choices and habits play a role.

Here is some more information about the six areas that we will discuss:

Physical Wellness – This area emphasizes maintaining a healthy body. This includes upholding an active lifestyle, mindfulness of your eating habits, sleeping, managing stress, and the importance of preventative medical care.  Maintaining a healthy body is a key component to a long healthy life.

Intellectual Wellness – Staying curious and engaged in learning new things. Being a lifelong learner won’t just make you a well-rounded individual, it will make you healthier. Engage in creative and mentally stimulating activities. Read for pleasure, be aware of social and political issues, or join a club or group that focuses on enhancing intellectual interests.

Social Wellness – This area can include developing healthy relationships. Having a strong support network that can give you guidance when you are stressed or need stress relief. Nurturing pro-active and reactive habits that can aid in the development of healthy communication (online and in-person) and boundary development.

Financial Wellness – Understanding how to live within your financial means. Planning for future financial health. Learning to think short and long-term in order to manage your resources is essential for a healthy financial experience including learning to be a good consumer.

Spiritual /Emotional Wellness – College is stressful and students can often feel overwhelmed. Maintaining a healthy emotional and spiritual  life is important to overall health. This can include managing your stress level, staying on top of school work and knowing when to ask for help. Exploring spirituality can include  a religious or faith community, meditation, being in the outdoors, spending time exploring yourself with reflection.

Cultural /Environmental Wellness – Taking care of your  personal surroundings. Actively working to serve your environments can improve your health and the health of the people around you.

Through sharing resources, discussion with peers and personal reflection, you can prevent future health problems and consequences by making healthier choices a habit and part of your everyday life.

How can you participate?

1) Follow this blog,  every Wednesday this summer for our wellness posts! Review the articles, videos, and resources that we will post each week and share your thoughts and comments.

2) Join in our weekly discussions!  Visit our Virtual Student Union and find our Summer Wellness Series discussion forum.  Share some of your own wellness experiences and connect with peers

3) Follow us on Social Media! Follow us @NOVA Online on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on new topics events and fun virtual wellness activities throughout the summer.

For more information, contact elistulife@nvcc.edu

Research Series: Refining Your Topic

Sometimes when we choose a topic to research, our topic is too broad. For instance, you’re assigned a 5 page research paper. This might seem like a lot, but once you start researching you will need to  narrow your topic to fill those 5 pages. With  a topic that is too broad, you could write an entire book with the amount of research you can find!

To begin, start with your broad topic and add extra elements to it. For example, the ‘Civil Rights Movement’ can be narrowed to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. To focus it even further you might look at the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s in Washington, D.C.

Picture demonstrating narrowing a topic

See how I’m adding these extra elements to focus my topic? First I add a time period and then I add a place. The extra elements are not limited to time frames and locations; sometimes they are specific people or themes.

Starting with a good topic will make researching a lot easier!  As always, if you need more help with your topic or research please contact the NOVA Online library at NOVA Online-Library@nvcc.edu.

Time Management Tips

Now that you have a clear understanding about why you are taking classes, it is time to plot out when you will be working on them this semester. 493707153Taking a college course is a definite time commitment. While online classes give you flexibility, they frequently require more time than classroom based courses, not less. In an online course, it is essential that you check in several times throughout the week to make sure you are staying on track and not missing any announcements from your instructor.

You will need to make sure you do the reading assigned for the course in addition to the practice exercises and the graded assignments. To budget your time appropriately, allow 2-3 hours each week for every credit you are taking. So, if you are completing six credits of classes, make sure you budget 12-18 hours in your schedule for doing your reading and coursework. Furthermore, when scheduling your classes, allow 15 minute breaks for every hour of uninterrupted study to allow yourself to retain what you are trying to learn.

Figure out the calendar/planning system that works best for you early on in the semester. If a paper calendar works best, use it! If you prefer to set alerts and updates on your phone calendar, use it! Mark in the times that are already committed to things like work, meetings, or other necessities. Also mark in the time you need for meals, commuting, and sleep. After that, schedule in the hours you intend to spend studying. View these in your mind as your class time and try to keep them as consistent as you can every week, so you create a habit. Establishing a routine is key to staying on track!

Then, on the first week of classes, attend your class by logging into blackboard during the first scheduled window and complete as much of your first week’s assignments as you can. Most classroom based courses encourage you to miss no more than two class periods a semester. Try to be at least this faithful to attend your self-scheduled online study periods. When it comes to taking online classes, building strong habits is critical to success!

Do you have any questions about managing your time or staying on task throughout the semester? View an online recording of Tips for Success in Online Classes to learn more techniques to help you succeed.

Want to work with your NOVA Online Success Coach? Contact your coach at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076 for tips for success and resources to help you have a successful semester.