Sustainability and Wellness

Sustainability and Wellness
Professor Krista Bailey
11 April 2016
Power 9 Blog 1 of 3
by Cheri Gray

To move in the directions of Right Tribe, I started reconnecting with one of my friends this past week to catch up on what’s been going on in her life.  Right now, I am reconnecting with conversations on the phone.  Also, I went to a conference with a large group of women from IU South Bend and made an effort to converse with people I did not know.

It was nice to connect with other WGS majors and find out about their research.  My roommate was someone I never met, and I took the time to find out about her life and how she came back to college later in life.  I was proud of myself that I took time to make connections with this group of women.  Right Tribe means I need to be in a community so I need to make sure I interface with people.  April is going to be a very busy month school-wise for me and a little bit on the crazy side.  I am going to have to make a concerted effort to keep connections open with my friends and not use my busy school schedule as an excuse.  It is important for me to keep working on making connections so this develops into a habit.  Hopefully, some of this connection making will start becoming a habit and won’t take so much thinking.

To Downshift I have started using the App, “Stop, Breath, Think” I have been using this app right before I go to bed at night (while lying in bed).  This is a guided mediation app that I am practicing alone because I don’t feel I would be able to mediate in a group.  I am actually able to mediate and downshift.  I know the more I practice mediation using this app that I will be able to relearn how to let stress leave my body.

I haven’t made any new habits in the moving naturally area.  I am keeping the habits that I already have by parking further away and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  I talked with a classmate this past week about what I could do to decrease the use of my car and she thought that perhaps buying a bicycle would help me in this endeavor.  Until I make a decision to buy a bike, this weekend I am going to walk to the Garden Patch as it is close to my house and has some sidewalks that I can use so I don’t end up smashed on the pavement.  I believe if I can walk to the Garden Patch without incident that I will get over the fear of the traffic.  Walking to the Garden Patch would be the start of a good habit and I could get some of my grocery shopping done in the process. I know I will be doing this alone as I don’t think I could get any of my friends to walk with me down Main Street much less Edison Road (which has no sidewalks).

This past week, I focused on trying to make new habits and not let my busy schedule be used as an excuse for stopping my path to a healthier, happier me.