Hello everyone!
My name is Julia
and I am a M.Sc Genetics candidate and my co-writer Paul is a fourth year
health major, both at Queen’s University. We are peer educators for Limestone
Community Education Centre, a place where people of all ages and abilities can
earn their secondary school diplomas and other life skills.
Our lessons are
focused on health education for adults and tips for improving the quality of
one’s life. Because health encompasses many different topics, we mainly focus
on nutrition, mental and sexual health. Our style of teaching is more
discussion-based than lecture-based because we find it more effective for
adults to contribute their ideas and brainstorm. This also allows us to gauge
where there may be gaps in their health education background, so we can strive
to fill in those gaps in future lessons. This past week we taught the power of
positive thinking, and we had a good response from the class. Some sub-topics
included the health benefits of positive thinking and how to think in a more
positive way.
The health
benefits of positive thinking
Researchers
continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on
health.
- Increased
life span
- Lower
rates of depression
- Lower
levels of distress
- Greater
resistance to the common cold
- Better
psychological and physical well-being
- Reduced
risk of death from cardiovascular disease
- Better
coping skills during hardships and times of stress
How to behave in a more positive and
optimistic way:
- Identify
areas to change.
- Check
yourself periodically during the day.
- Be open to
humor.
- Follow a
healthy lifestyle.
- Surround
yourself with positive people.
- Practice
positive self-talk.
Next lesson we
plan on diving a bit deeper into mental health and overcoming stigmas
associated with mental health disorders.
Smile at
yourself today J
Until next time,
Julia and
Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment