Student Activities Calendar

DAY 1 | REFRESH

Coffee or Tea Meditation

Use your daily coffee or tea habit as a daily opportunity to practice mindfulness. Start by clearing your mind and focusing on the sensations coming from your coffee or tea. Notice the warmth of the cup in your hand and the rising steam. Pay attention to the aroma. Take a sip and be mindful of the taste and the warm liquid as you swallow. The basic premise of mindfulness meditation is to pay attention to the present moment — especially your own thoughts, emotions and sensations.

DAY 2 | MOVE

Organize Your Fitness Habit

Today I want you to take four simple steps to start forming a daily fitness habit. 

Organize your gear. Put your shoes, workout clothes, sports bra, socks and other clothes in one place ready to go. Consider sleeping in your workout clothes if you want to roll out of bed to work out each morning or pack your gym bag every night before bed and leave it by the door.
Pick a time. Choose a time every day when you can squeeze in just 5 to 10 minutes of exercise. Set your phone alarm as a daily reminder.
Pick a small amount of exercise: It can be a walk, some morning push-ups, a trip to the gym or the Well 6-minute video workout. 
It doesn’t matter what you do; it just matters that you do something physical every day to form a habit. Starting small will increase the chance that you’ll keep doing it. 
Plan a reward: Habits are formed when we are quickly rewarded for our actions. Choose a playlist or a book on tape that you will listen to only during exercise. Plan for a smoothie or a delicious coffee to reward yourself after every workout.

DAY 3 | CONNECT

Phone-Free Lunch

Your challenge today is to have lunch with a friend — but not your phone! Invite a friend or colleague to lunch and leave your phone (and other devices) behind or have a meal with your child or parent without the screens. This challenge may be tough at first, but try it a few times this week. You may be amazed at how much more you connect when you aren’t distracted by your phone.

DAY 4 | NOURISH

Have a Savory Breakfast

For today’s challenge, I want you to take the sweetness out of your morning meal. Your goal today and every day going forward is to cut all the sugar and eat a savory breakfast. A no-sugar morning might sound tough if you’ve grown accustomed to eating cereals, granola bars, muffins, pastries and sweet fruit yogurts. Instead, I want you to go for high-protein or plant-based breakfast foods. Some ideas: Eggs (scrambled, fried or boiled — or a frittata with vegetables) Berries and a handful of nuts Lettuce boat with mashed avocado, bacon and tomato When you decide to cut sugar from breakfast, your morning meal will be more creative and more delicious.

DAY 5 | REFRESH

Take a Self-Compassion Break

Today, take time out for a self-compassion break. Close your eyes and think of a situation causing you stress. Take a mindful moment and acknowledge your suffering, telling yourself, “This is stressful. This is difficult.” Remind yourself that everyone struggles. “Stress is part of life. I’m not alone.” Now soothe yourself by placing your hands on your heart or stomach, or wrap your arms around your body. Now give yourself words of kindness. “May I be kind to myself. May I forgive myself. May I be strong. May I accept myself as I am.”

DAY 6 | MOVE

Take a Sit Up Test!

For today’s Move challenge, take a situp test. Lie on the floor with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and feet flat on the floor. Cross your arms across your chest. Now raise your head and shoulders off the floor into a situp. Do as many as you can in one minute.

DAY 7 | CONNECT

Set an Intention to Connect Today

I want you to set an intention to make a deeper connection with another person. It can be your partner, a colleague, the barista at the coffee shop or a total stranger. It can be a very simple gesture or a longer, intentional conversation. It can be one person or every person you encounter today. It’s up to you. Here are some examples of intentions to connect: Today my intention is to smile more. Today my intention is to mindfully listen when I’m speaking with others. Today my intention is to learn more about a new person. Today my intention is to offer an act of kindness to a stranger.

DAY 8 | NOURISH Fatten Your Salad

Today's challenge is to create a delicious, healthful salad that you will really enjoy eating — and top it off with some fat! Yes, I said fat! Add some avocado, a little cheese or some full-fat dressing. Don’t skimp on other ingredients either — toss in some fruit and nuts to add flavor and pack in some protein: chicken, grilled steak, shrimp or salmon.

DAY 9 | REFRESH Choose a Mantra

For today’s Refresh challenge, I want you to create a personal mantra. A mantra is a word or phrase repeated (silently or out loud) to help you stay focused and motivated to achieve your goals. A mantra can be one word (“Love”, “Kindness”) Or it can be a phrase. (“I am strong.” “This too shall pass.”) Mantras can help you stay motivated during exercise (“Focus!” “Push!”) or they can be used to calm ourselves (“Breathe.” “You’ve got this!”) Many of us already use mantras instinctively when we talk to ourselves during times of stress, but I want you to create a mantra with intention. Here are some examples: "Stay present." "I am open to receiving universal gifts." "Today I choose joy." "Close your eyes, clear your heart, let it go." "I am capable of wonderful things." “I will accept what I must and change what I can.”

 

DAY 10 | MOVE

Try Our 6-Minute Workout Today’s challenge is to work out for just six minutes! Our workout video makes it easy — you’ll do four simple exercises for 30 seconds each and rest for 15 seconds in between each. You can stop there or spend a few minutes on some relaxing, bonus yoga poses. 

DAY 11 | CONNECT Schedule an Exercise Date With a Friend

For today’s challenge, I want you to schedule an exercise date with a friend. When you schedule a fitness date you get a healthy twofer — exercise for your body and a stronger connection with someone important in your life. Pick a fitness class that both you and your friend can attend once a week. Or instead of meeting for drinks and food, schedule a regular walk to explore a new part of your city. Meet for yoga or tai chi in the park or find a two-for-one gym membership and become treadmill buddies.

DAY 12 | NOURISH Reverse Your Pasta

Today, I want you to think about your favorite pasta dish and consider how to make it “veggie forward.” That means inverting the usual pasta-to-topping ratio. Make a veg-heavy sauce as the base of the dish, and sprinkle it with a little penne, orecchiette, macaroni or rotini. Cooking Light offers a number of veg-forward pasta dishes. My favorite is Broccoli, Lemon and Browned Butter Pasta.

DAY 13 | REFRESH Create Comfort

For today’s challenge, I want you to cozy up your bedroom. Think of the feeling you get when you escape to a nice hotel on vacation. You can capture that in your home every day by clearing out the clutter in your bedroom and making it your personal escape. Take the clutter off your nightstand and leave room for a glass of water, a scratch pad and a book. Make sure your curtains or shades are blocking out all light. Don’t skimp on bedding and pillows. For better sleep, remove the television. Screentime interferes with sleep. And for good measure, get a regular alarm clock and charge your phone in another room so you won’t be tempted to look at it from bed. For extra credit, spruce up the color of the walls for a calming effect. (I recently painted my bedroom walls a soft gray and added an inexpensive crystal chandelier to make the room feel more like a retreat.)

DAY 14 | MOVE

Try a Really Short Workout!

For today’s Move challenge, you will be trying one of our really, really short workouts. I’m going to suggest the four-minute workout because it’s incredibly simple. All you do is run, bike or do calisthenics at an intense pace for four minutes. That’s it. If you repeat this high-intensity workout three times a week, you’ll reap many of the same benefits as a much longer workout.