Elaine Penn’s Tips For Staying Healthy in College
College can be exhilarating, exciting and full of amazing experiences. Elaine Penn—a popular speaker, trainer and performer—reminds students the importance of taking care of themselves during those stressful college years.
In her keynote, Don’t Run on Empty: Taking Care of Your Physical and Emotional Health in College, Elaine shares valuable tips with students on how to deal with the overwhelming moments when the exams bear down, the social obligations pile up and the money gets tight. Elaine inspires students to nurture their bodies, minds and spirits by providing “easy to digest” information about diet and nutrition, and her audiences learn affordable ways to eat healthy and increase energy. Students will discover how to become centered during their most chaotic days.
It’s the middle of the semester and you hit your wall. You feel burnt out, tired and uninspired to finish the mound of homework lingering on your desk. Remind yourself to make a conscious effort to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually—to lessen these burn-out experiences. Even the smallest steps can improve your health, lower your stress and enhance your enthusiasm for life.
Here are Ten Tips Elaine suggests to keep it all together:
1.) Drink plenty of water. It is vital that you stay hydrated.
2.) Reduce soft drinks, as well as sugary and fried foods.
3.) Increase natural/whole foods, like fruits, vegetables and nuts.
4.) Eat more “power foods” such as: green leafy vegetables, berries, fish, almonds, and whole grains.
5.) Exercise for 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.
6.) Develop healthy ways to reduce stress, such as deep breathing exercises, visualizations and affirmations.
Visualizing yourself doing what you want to achieve opens up that part of the brain that makes it possible. Affirmations are just statements; say what you’re going to achieve and say it to yourself. Not what you think you’re going to do, but things you are going to do said Elaine, on ways to reduce stress and become more focused.
7.) Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Eliminate negative self-talk.
If you think positive thoughts on a regular basis, your life will reflect that. But, if you spend your day stressing out over school, gossiping about your friends or engaged in negative self-talk, you’ll draw negativity and stress into your life said Elaine.
8.) Create an attitude of gratitude. Develop a list of things you are grateful for in your life and put it where you can see it everyday.
9.) Have fun by participating in healthy activities, like watching movies, hanging out with supportive friends and taking walks outdoors.
10.) Create a vision of the kind of life you want regarding your health. Do one thing each week to move towards this vision.
You have all kinds of opportunities to make choices while you’re in college. Choices about how much you study, how much you party, about what you eat and drink, and about your relationships said Elaine. Making healthy choices for your mind, body and spirit will help you get through the tough college times and help create a better experience along the way.
Don’t Run on Empty: Taking Care of Your Physical and Emotional Health in College is great for new student orientation, health and wellness weeks and student leadership conferences. Many of the activities in this keynote can be simply taught to others, so the benefits for your campus are exponential.
Check out campuspeak.com/penn to learn more about Elaine and her keynotes.
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