How are you reducing the effects of stress during these times of sustained anxiety? VUMC’s Lindsey Colman McKernan, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, says that bolstering your “overall foundation of health" with good nutrition, exercise and sleep habits will go a long way toward strengthening your mental health.
Vanderbilt Health offers a variety of resources to help you build these habits and maintain your resiliency. MySouthernHealth offers a large menu of nutritious recipes to mix up the meal routine, advice for cooking with kids, recommendations to curb the desire to overeat when anxious, and suggestions for ways to work up a sweat while working at home, such as high-intensity interval training.
The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt offers daily 10-minute, live streamed, guided meditation practices, and this YouTube playlist shows Osher experts guiding you through meditation and deep breathing exercises and a 5-minute exercise break while remote working.
VUMC’s Work-Life Connections (WLC) is currently providing counseling, coaching, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Services and resilience skill training through ConnectCARE, a new option that provides teleconsulting sessions via phone or confidential Zoom videoconferencing. Make an appointment for a ConnectCARE session by calling 615-936-1327, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and scheduling a time to talk with your WLC-Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselor. Your counselor will contact you at the designated time for your confidential session.
The WLC/EAP team has also created Your Well-being Navigator, an online storehouse of resources to support your physical health, mental health, social health, home life and workspace, particularly during the time of COVID-19.