This week we focus on spiritual and 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 faith community, meditation, being in the outdoors, and taking time for reflection.

The following are some things you can do to focus on your emotional and spiritual wellness:

• Check out the Motivational Minute: Yoga Your Worries Away and Managing the Demands of School through Mediation blog posts.
• Take time to review the NOVACares From this website you can connect to ULifeline, an anonymous, confidential, online resource center, where college students can be comfortable searching for information they need regarding emotional health.  Learn about some signs and symptoms when a friend may need help dealing with emotional issues or a mental health problem in the Emotional Health section.   Find resources about sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management and relaxation, as well as connectedness and healthy relationships in the Wellness section.
• Need more ideas? Check out other articles that are part of the NOVA Online Summer Wellness Series.

Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your emotional and spiritual wellness!

This week we focus on Intellectual wellness. This involves utilizing your surroundings and resources available to engage your curiosity and learn new things. People who stay in tune with their intellectual wellness are more likely to embrace new ideas, think critically and seek out new challenges. Learning does not have to end in a formal classroom. Making learning a life-long priority can help you maintain good cognitive function as you age.

Intellectual wellness can be finding learning opportunities in an educational setting, but also in personal interests or active participation in community activities.

Here are ways you can start cultivating your Intellectual wellness this summer:

Summer Reading– When you are in school, it can sometimes be hard to find time for leisure reading, but reading for the mind can be compared to exercise for the body. It can even help improve your memory and vocabulary!  Here are references to some great leisure  reading material this summer:

17 Awesome New Books You Need To Read This Summer

Goodreads Summer Reading List 2015

Looking to connect and discuss a book with peers? NOVA Online also has a Book Club that you can join! email our NOVA Online Librarians for more information.

Current events – A great way to stimulate your intellectual wellness is staying knowledgeable with what is happening in the world. Digital media has become so prevalent that you can do this from practically anywhere you have internet. Check out these top phone apps to keep up with current events.

Teach yourself something new-Have you always wanted to learn a musical instrument? Thinking about doing some home repairs? learning a new skills is a great way to keep your critical thinking and problem solving skills sharp. Check out one of the many online resources that provide how-to’s for new skills: 100 Amazing How-To Sites to Teach Yourself Anything.

What are something things that you have engaged in outside of the classroom, maybe as a hobby that promotes your intellectual wellness?

Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your intellectual 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

Take Back the Night is an event held around the world to raise awareness about sexual and domestic violence and to promote a community that stands up against this violence. Decades ago in Europe, women from many countries met together as a tribunal council to discuss women’s safety when walking down public streets. This was the first ever Take Back the Night. In later years, a rally and march has been held in several cities around the world to protest several issues around women’s safety.

The first Take Back the Night came to the United States in the late 1960s. In 1973, Take Back the Night was held to protest pornography in San Francisco, and serial murders of women of color in Los Angeles. In October 1975, a march was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after the murder of Susan Alexander Speeth, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone. Since the 1970s in the United States, Take Back the Night has focused on eliminating sexual and domestic violence in all forms. Thousands of colleges and universities, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers have held this event all over the country.

NOVA has had three Take Back the Nights in the last year. We hold Take Back the Night twice a year, in April and October. NOVA’s most current Take Back the Night was held on April 21, 2015 at the Loudoun Campus. This event consists of a resource fair and rally followed by a candle light march around the campus. We invite resources within the NOVA community, as well as outside resources. During our rally, we invite sexual assault, domestic violence and/or stalking survivors to talk about their experiences. If you would like to participate in the next Take Back the Night at NOVA, please contact Angela Acosta at aacosta@nvcc.edu or 703-323-2406.

If you are in need of services or have questions, please contact NOVA SAS at nova.sas@nvcc.edu or text/call 703-338-0834 (24 hours / 7 days a week).

-Written by: Angela Acosta, Sexual Assault Services (SAS) Outreach Specialist, NOVACares Office 

Happy Earth Month! With Earth Day being celebrated on April 22nd, we wanted to highlight service opportunities that support environmentally conscious efforts. Check out these great resources where you can find opportunities not only to give back to your community by volunteering, but also being mindful about the future of our planet.

The Nature Conservancy–  This organization is focused on nature conservation all over the world and focuses on the science of how our world works to determine the areas and projects that are in need. View this video to find out more about the mission and vision of the organization: Who We Are &What We Do. On behalf of Earth day, The Nature Conservatory is offering several volunteer opportunities across all 50 states and several countries in the world to help promote the care for our Earth! Visit the site to find out more about a volunteer opportunity near you!

VolunteerMatch.org– Volunteer Match provides a great resource for anyone looking for volunteer and community service opportunities. The reason this site is highlighted is not only due to its large database of opportunities, but also the ability to search virtual volunteer programs as well. Take a look at the site and type “earth day” in the search bar to find several in-person and virtual opportunities to volunteer to promote environmental action and green living.

How are you celebrating Earth Day? DO you know of any other volunteer opportunities you would like to share? Let us know in the comments!

The Red Flag Campaign is a public awareness campaign designed to address dating violence and promote the prevention of dating violence on college campuses. The campaign was created using a “bystander intervention” strategy, encouraging friends and other campus community members to “say something” when they warning signs (“red flags”) for dating violence in a friend’s relationship. What are some of those red flags?

• Constant phone calls, texts, e-mails, or messages throughout the day or showing up unexpectedly
• Telling you how to dress or act
• Take your money or take advantage of you in other ways
• Try to isolate you and control whom you see or where you go
• Blame you for how they treat you, or for anything bad that happens.

Dating/partner violence is about power and control. Research indicates that in 21% of college dating relationships, one of the partners is being abused. College aged women (16-24) experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence. Recognize a red flag in a friend’s relationship? Violence and abuse in relationships usually continues and often gets worse over time if no action is taken to stop it. You can help your friend by being honest about your concerns. Say something!

If you are in need of services or have questions regarding red flags in a relationship, please contact NOVA SAS at nova.sas@nvcc.edu or text/call 703-338-0834 (24 hours / 7 days a week). We can help you approach a friend to let them know that you are concerned and help guide them to resources.

-Written by: Angela Acosta, Sexual Assault Services (SAS) Outreach Specialist, NOVACares Office 

1 in 5 college women will experience sexual assault during their college career.  In spite of this, sexual assault is a crime that is rarely talked about and even more rarely reported.  Anyone in our NOVA community can be a victim, not just students.

Sexual assault survivors are not alone. NOVA Sexual Assault Services (SAS) aims to address issues of sexual assault, stalking, and dating/partner violence by providing free confidential support and services to any member of the NOVA family.  We assist students as well as faculty, staff, and immediate family members, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Victims need support during and after such a crisis and we are here to help.

NOVA SAS provides the first line of contact for members of our community experiencing these difficulties. Besides offering telephone or in-person crisis intervention and support, we can accompany victims to police and/or court interviews as well as to the hospital or academic meetings.

Contact NOVA SAS at 703-338-0834 or by email at NOVA.SAS@nvcc.edu. We are available to help or support a victim in the best and safest way possible 24 hours a day. NOVA SAS is a program of the NOVACares Office.

-Written by: Angela Acosta, Sexual Assault Services (SAS) Outreach Specialist, NOVACares Office