SAFETY

A guide to feeling safe

Feeling safe is a fundamental need. Yet it is easily neglected. Like knowing who you can rely on for support, managing stress and setting boundaries.

Stress affects our mood and our health – but it doesn’t need to! We have a bunch of simple, healthy ways to reduce and relieve the symptoms and causes of stress in our lives.

On the other hand new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction: reaching out to others.

Check out this 5-minute Wellcast video for advice on stress management.

This 5-minute Wellcast video has some great tips on how to study for a test.

 

We need Boundaries to feel safe, comfortable and respected. We will look at the different kinds of boundaries we can set and how to set specific ones to suit our needs.

Check out this 4-minute Wellcast video on ways to boost your self-esteem:

Good boundaries free you | Sarri Gilman | TEDxSnoIsleLibraries

This 15 minute Ted talk by Sarri Gilman explains how trusting yourself and deciding your own clear boundaries can enhance relationships and improve quality of life:

Trust is very important in relationships. An invaluable part of deciding who or what we want to trust is intuition or our gut feeling. We will discuss what intuition is and, in turn, how it can be a useful tool to help make decisions!

Check out this 5-minute Wellcast video for a quick guide on how to maintain strong friendships:

A 5-minute Wellcast video looking at social rejection and how to deal with it:

Check out this short Wellcast video for 5 tricks on conquering your fear:

Humans are sociable creatures. We love a chat when things are good, or a simple shoulder to rest our head on when days are tough. We’ll look at why it’s important to learn to communicate well and how to find the support you need.

Wellcast – How to Help Someone Who is Suicidal

Check out this video to understand a few key signs of suicidal thoughts, or if you think someone you know may need help.

Wellcast – How to Help with Suicidal Thoughts

Check out this video if you feel you may need some help or for further tips on how to help others through this.

A 2-minute Wellcast video on How to Support Your LGBT Friend:

This 5-minute Wellcast video offers information and support on ‘coming out of the closet’.

Unfortunately, (cyber-) bullying is constantly happening in our modern society. In the times of digital age, we have to be extra careful about what we post online, whom we connect with and share our secrets with. We will learn how to keep safe in a harsh environment.

 

Neuroscientists talk about how we have one brain but two minds. We have a mind that acts on impulse and seeks immediate gratification, and we have another mind that controls our impulses and delays gratification to fulfill our long-term goals. We face willpower challenges when the two minds have competing goals. Learn what influences us to procrastinate or why we fail to resist temptation, and learn about small interventions that can have large, positive outcomes.

Author and Stanford health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, PhD, talks about strategies from her new book “The WillPower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It” as part of the Authors@Google series. Topics include dieting/weight loss, health, addiction, quitting smoking, temptation, procrastination, mindfulness, stress, sleep, cravings, exercise, self-control, self-compassion, guilt, and shame. For more from Kelly McGonigal, visit kellymcgonigal.com

We often forget to take time for ourselves to give ourselves the love and care that we need. Self-compassion has nothing to do with being selfish or egocentric. Self-love is one skill that can sooth the emotional scars we might carry from the past.

This talk is from the “Practicing Mindfulness & Compassion” conference, 2013. Here Kirstin Neff, Ph.D., discusses self-compassion and how to leave insecurity behind: