“Everyone else is pulling all-nighters; I should be doing the same”… “I’ll take care of my mental health once I’m done this term”…. “Even though I’m exhausted, I must still be a part of this club, have a leadership role in that organization, go to as many events as possible, and be a near-perfect student, friend, performer…”.  Sound familiar? 

These are all common sentiments I hear from students and staff/faculty alike. We wear our lack of sleep and our stress like a badge of honor. Just think about how often we might hear someone, or ourselves, brag about “how little sleep I’ve had because of work”,  “I’ve pulled three all-nighters this week” or state that “I’ve had no time for friends and social invites because there’s just too much to do”. 

It’s as though we have the belief that if we are getting through a Dartmouth term without feeling on the verge of burnout, that we must be doing something wrong; that somehow success and importance are intrinsically tied with being over committed, over scheduled, and extremely exhausted. 

We challenge you to question that notion, and that common narrative, with these simple action steps that can help transform the way you, and others, think about self-care: 

1. Celebrate and admire people that engage in balancing behaviors – if a friend prioritizes sleep and has a routine that is attractive to you, ask them what their secret is instead of shaming them inadvertently.
   
   
2. Ask yourself honestly: Is the frantic and over committed way I live my life doing me any good? If the answer is, yes, keep doing what you are doing!  If the answer is no, consider what is driving you to do all the things you are doing.  See if there are any areas you can lessen your commitment to.  Maybe it’s not taking on that leadership role in a club, or not running for an exec. position for your Greek house, or not taking that fourth class. Give yourself permission to do what is in the best interest of your happiness and wellbeing every once in a while. 
   

3. Ask others: Start changing the dialog by asking friends “How are you taking care of yourself today?”  Start encouraging yourself and friends that pulling all-nighters is actually NOT the norm. Celebrate the days you have the time to schedule a wellness check-in, to go for a walk, or to watch some Netflix without the judgment or false thoughts that you are not doing enough. 
   
   
4. iRest to Refresh – Knowing that getting adequate sleep and feeling rested positively impacts our academic performance, see if you can commit to taking the time to rejuvenate and rest.  Improve sleep habits and depression by signing up for the self-paced Refresh Canvas course.  Or give yourself the gift of deep relaxation and sleep-like rest at our live, weekly iRest Yoga Nidra sessions. 
   

Wishing you rest and wellbeing!

SWC Team

“Engaged mindfulness is about offering the practices and values of mindfulness, including nonjudgmental awareness, self-acceptance, empathy and compassion, to all members and sectors of our society, especially the more underserved or marginalized.”

www.engagedmindfulness.org

How can we practice Engaged Mindfulness to respond with intelligence and compassion to the increasingly challenging situations that come our way, personally and collectively? What practices can help us take better care of our strong emotions, like anger and grief? 

Well my friends, we are in luck!  All this week, Dartmouth will have a very special visit from experts in the field on this topic; senior monastic Dharma teachers in the Plum Village Tradition of scholar, poet, peace activist, and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh from Deer Park Monastery in California. 

All week there will be opportunities to bask in their wisdom as they share practical examples of how mindfulness practices can be applied in our daily lives so we can find dynamic responses to the ever-changing difficulties in our study, work, and relationships. 

A webpage of events and registration links will be updated daily with additional information, but below are specific events you, as a Dartmouth student, may be interested in: 

1. Tuesday, April 18th, 4:30 PM – Rollins Chapel. No registration is required.
   
   Happiness Is Here and Now: Engaged Mindfulness in a Complex and Changing World  – A public talk on applying mindfulness to our daily life to create a collective attitude of cooperation, abundance, and joy.
   
   
2. Wednesday, April 19th, 4:30 PM – Rollins Chapel and Dinner to follow at the Cube and Occom Commons. Registration for dinner required through the Houses.
   
   Deep Relaxation followed with House Community Dinners
   A guided meditation at Rollins Chapel to relax the body and mind. Followed with a mindful dinner discussion for undergraduates exploring how mindfulness can be applied in daily life to cultivate happiness.
   

3. Thursday, April 20th, 2:30 PM – The Hood Museum. Registration Required.
   
   Creativity and the Art of Mindful Living
   Art appreciation and discussion with an artist and senior monastic Dharma teacher. 
   

4. Friday, April 21st, 4:00 – 8:00 PM – Church of Christ. Registration Required.
   
   4-Hour Retreat – Radical Mindfulness: Applied Practice to Cultivate Insight and Compassion
   A mindfulness retreat for Dartmouth students, faculty and staff including guided meditations and contemplative practices to support well-being and collectively address the challenges we face as a human species. Register by 4/18 6:00 PM to receive a meal.

In addition to all of the opportunities highlighted above, there will also be daily meditation sits at 8:00 AM in Rollins Chapel, Mindful Movement on Baker Lawn, and a discussion around creative solutions to the climate crisis.

Hope to see you there! 

Guest Bloggers: Jadyn Malone 25’ and Maya Beauvineau 26’

Sustainability is vitally important to the well-being of both Dartmouth students and the wider Dartmouth community. Impacts from climate change are already being felt in every corner of the world, including the Upper Valley and the varied other places that Dartmouth students call home. Many people today, and especially young people, are suffering from eco-anxiety, a chronic fear of environmental doom. Climate change often feels like such an enormously overwhelming problem that students feel they don’t have the resources to engage with it. We want Dartmouth students to know that their voices are important and that they can have a real impact by supporting the College’s adoption of ambitious sustainability goals and strategies. 

What you can do: 

1. Participate in intersectional Earth Month events around campus! – Try the public talk by the Deer Park Monastics on “Engaged Mindfulness for a Creative and Spiritual Response to the Climate Crisis” on Friday, April 21st at 1:00 in Occom Commons. No registration is required, but seating may be limited.
   
   
2. Show Dartmouth leadership your support for bold climate action! – Complete this poll to help us generate ideas and energy for student-led intersectional climate action on campus.
   
   
3. Minimize your impact on the environment – Try using less single-use plastic, using energy efficient light bulbs, turning off your computer at night, using reusable coffee cups and water bottles, printing less paper, go paperless where you can, and buying produce from local farms.
   
   

Tips to help manage eco-anxiety:

1. Let yourself feel all the feelings – it can be a lot, but recognizing them is the first step in helping your process them.
   
   
2. Settle your nervous system – mindfulness and breathing practices can be helpful in bringing you back to baseline when you feel like you might be falling into a doom and gloom hole.
   
   
3. Talk to others – find communities of other folks experiencing climate emotions to talk with. If it’s too much for your friends or loved ones to discuss (and it might be for some), there are online climate cafes where you can speak freely with others who share similar feelings and concerns. 

Why it matters: 

1. Right now is a CRITICAL moment – Climate change impacts everything, from physical to mental to economic well-being, and from individual to international security. The US has a climate goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030, yet our emissions rose 1.3% in 2022 (Rhodium Group). AND Climate-related disasters are costly, in lives and money: the US lost $165 BILLION in 2022 alone, due to climate-related disasters (NOAA). 
   
   Through the Our Green Future process, Dartmouth has a window of opportunity to adopt ambitious sustainability goals NOW. 
   
   

BOLD climate action grows from the ground up – Climate solutions require bold leadership, but in order for our institutional and world leaders to adopt ambitious climate action goals, they must feel support and pressure from us! We must NORMALIZE climate conversation, SUPPORT each other, and create opportunities to CELEBRATE the beauty our Earth brings to our lives, so that we are able to ACT to protect our future as a community.

Thanks, and here is to a healthy Earth!

References:

1. https://www.sustainability.dartmouth.edu/ogf-update
2. https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1147986096/extreme-weather-fueled-by-climate-change-cost-the-u-s-165-billion-in-2022 
3. https://rhg.com/research/us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-2022/ 
4. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/23/1047753592/anxiety-from-climate-change-isnt-going-away-heres-how-you-can-manage-it

Anyone and everyone can make a difference. 

“A changemaker has empathy for others and is driven by the genuine goal of making the world a better place…Being a changemaker is not possible without also being creative. They have the courage to see and do things differently than they are already being done.” –changemakers.com/learninglab

Being a changemaker takes courage and it takes action. Especially when it comes to making change among our peers. The first step is to recognize that some social change would benefit the community. The second is connecting to the motivation to act — intention is not enough here. We need to mobilize our desire to do something good into Compassionate Action. Then we need to connect to our innate strengths of bravery and creativity so that we can be the spark for a collaborative approach to deep and lasting change. Here are three ways you can begin today:

3-Ways to Create a Better Dartmouth

1. Accept a friend’s choice to take a night off from drinking, to be sober curious, or abstain from alcohol altogether. All too often we question the choices of our friends and this makes trying something new, or maintaining something that feels “different from the norm,” harder than it should be.  We all hold different values and reasons we do what we do. Try not to judge others or add social pressure just because it might be different from what you would do.
   
   
2. Look out for one another.  Especially when there is a situation where there can be potential harm (e.g. maybe a friend drank a little too much, someone is being discriminated against, or you are worried about another’s mental health).  You can take action by doing something yourself like saying to a friend “I’m worried about you.  Can I get you home?”. Or you can play a role by bringing others in when it feels like it might be too much for just you to handle. What’s imperative is that you do SOMETHING.  Even the smallest acts of kindness can go a long way in making a safer Dartmouth. Check out the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative website for more ingenious tips and tricks to take action against harm.
   
   
3. Take steps to create more equity at Dartmouth.  As individuals it can be daunting to see how we can help shift the balance of inequity felt by many within our community.  But our voice and action, albeit seemingly small, can make big differences in creating a culture where everyone is on an equal playing field.  Speaking up against insensitive comments, uplifting the voices of others, and simply learning to take a step back and listen are all ways we can begin to shift the inequity scale starting now. 
   

How do you plan to be an active changemaker?