2020 has been a challenging year for mental and emotional well-being.  “Mental health is the silent pandemic that is also happening right now,” says Uma Naidoo, M.D., nutritional psychiatrist, chef, nutrition expert, and author of This Is Your Brain on Food. As we look to 2021, we can view our mental and emotional well-being in different ways, changing our perspective.
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While holidays are traditionally associated with family gatherings and sharing time with loved ones, individuals who have experienced a loss can find the holiday season to be an especially challenging time. This year combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, record unemployment, and staying home for the holidays instead of visiting relatives and friends, an extra layer of stress and even sadness may permeate this holiday season.
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Improving Your Mood in Nature

Even during a “normal” year, winter weather and longer nights can take a toll on your physical health and mental well-being. This year, we’re facing additional challenges with COVID-19, job losses, virtual learning and working working from home – taking care of our mental well-being is more important than ever.
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This year during the holidays think about offering your presence…
A study in The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, suggests that small acts of kindness, not grand overtures, make people feel most loved and supported.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

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.
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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.
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