Creating your family’s gratitude jar
Wellness Wednesday: Creating your family’s gratitude jar
Our lives have changed significantly over the past couple of months due to COVID-19, and it is normal to feel anxious, worried and overwhelmed during this time of uncertainty. Most days, it’s more than enough to have to cope with our own feelings of stress, but situations like these can take a toll on everyone in a family. Many of us with children, for instance, are having to deal with the added stress of managing their kids’ surfacing worries and anxieties, as well.
Now more than ever, it’s important to help children navigate difficult obstacles and adversities, build resilience and spend time acknowledging all those things we do have and can control.
That’s why, in honour of Mental Health Week (May 4-10), Katie O’Brien, Senior Consultant, Wellness, Diversity & Inclusion is proposing a fun activity you can do with your kids (or your partner, roommate, parent or any one else you are currently cooped up with at home) that practises gratitude as a powerful way to cope with anxiety and feel close to others.
In this week’s Wellness Wednesday video, Katie and her son Henry make a “gratitude jar” together, to reflect on everything and everyone they’re grateful for during the COVID-19 pandemic – from food in their fridge, to their friends and family, and of course, Henry’s precious LEGOs.
Watch the video below and get inspired to make your own gratitude or “self-care” jar this Mental Health Week.
From May 4—10, Mental Health Week helps to shift perceptions about mental health and promote behaviours and attitudes that foster wellbeing.
Don’t forget — an important part of wellness is connectivity and community.
During this difficult time, we encourage you to go on Yammer and connect with your team mates and other staff across the organization, using the hashtag #WellnessWednesday.
Share your own videos, photos or tips about what you’re doing to stay well while working from home — or bravely working on the frontlines – and help inspire and motivate others.
You can also email communications@blood.ca with your ideas for future Wellness Wednesday videos.
Resources: Practicing mindfulness with kids and teens
Studies on teens and kids have shown that gratitude practice can significantly boost your mood – and your mental health – and is linked to enhanced happiness, optimism and social support as well as overall satisfaction with school, family, community, friends and self.
For more information on gratitude-inspired activities and mental health resources for children, check out the links below.