Showing Gratitude

As humans, we are naturally wired to consider the negative side of a situation. When we read the news, hear about additional restrictions or misplace something valuable, it’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong. But when we think about our lives, and I mean really think about all of the different components, there’s a lot to be thankful for.

We invite you to take a moment now and think of five aspects of your life you are thankful for. This could be a loved one, the changing of seasons, a certain scent that reminds you of place or memory, or something as simple as the ability to breathe. Now, sit with those five things for a moment, taking deep breaths and giving thanks for each of them individually.

Practicing gratitude through simple exercises like the one above allows us to change our perspective and focus on the positive.

To discover new ways to incorporate gratitude practice into your life, watch the video below or walk through this short exercise from Change to Chill.

Talk It Out

Join us for free mental well-being sessions led by Community Leaders, Healers and Counselors. We’ll talk about stress, coping with change and related topics impacting communities in Hennepin County. Learn more and register today.

Building Resilience

We all experience loss throughout our lifetime – the death of a loved one, job loss, the end of a relationship, illness, and any number of unexpected or expected events. Sometimes more than one of those things happens at the same time leading to cumulative grief.

During these times, it’s important to be gentle, show compassion to ourselves and others, and remember that these times and these feelings are not permanent.
Read more ›

Practicing Gratitude

Gratitude is more than simply saying “Thank you.” By practicing gratitude, we have the ability to shift our minds from focusing on the negative to appreciating what is positive in our lives.
Read more ›

White Bear Lake High School teacher Shannon Riebow talked with WCCO-TV about Change to Chill, a mental well-being resource and how the online tools are being used by teachers to help students focus on their mental health.  Learn more.

Fall Back

It’s that time of year again when daylight savings time comes to an end and we set our clocks back an hour for that well-earned extra hour of sleep.

A full night of sleep helps us repair muscles, restore our immune system, improve memory and even boost our mood! If you’re a teen, getting a full night of rest can mean better grades in school and increased energy throughout the day. But so many of us struggle with getting quality sleep every night. Luckily, daylight savings time is the perfect time to reset and start new healthy sleep habits.
Read more ›

We want to hear from you

Change to Chill works to provide teens and adults alike with resources like audio recordings, videos, activities, school partnership,s and more to stress less and navigate through life changes, both big and small. In these times, we know that there’s a lot of additional uncertainty and fear that exists and we’re here to help.
Read more ›

We know that we have a mental health crisis in our communities. To combat rising stress, anxiety, depression and suicide rates, especially among teens, Allina Health created Change to Chill™ (CTC) to give teens and young adults tools to better manage their stress and mental well-being. CTC helps teens identify causes of stress and offers useful techniques and resources to respond through three components: free, online mental well-being resources; community train-the-trainer sessions; and the CTC School Partnership. Reaching more than 500,000 teens, educators and parents since it launched in 2014, CTC is helping teens learn how to stress less and be well. Read more.

Finding Balance

2020 has been quite the year. On the one hand, we know that change is inevitable; on the other hand, so much change can leave us feeling stressed, anxious and out of balance.
Read more ›

Talk It Out Tuesday

It’s normal for us to struggle with our emotions every now and then. Growing up, going to school or work and building relationships can all cause stress, anxiety, and all kinds of feelings.
Read more ›

Allina Health’s Change to Chill offers students free online tools and techniques to address stress and anxiety. “It helps teens identify how stress personally affects them and gives some ways to build their resiliency and deal with the stress,” said Susan Nygaard, manager of Community Health Improvement, Community Benefit and Engagement with Allina Health. Read more.