We can start with understanding ourselves and our mental health in the context of our history, our culture, and the impact of oppression. As we seek healing, we can practice soul care and find well-being.
We can start with understanding ourselves and our mental health in the context of our history, our culture, and the impact of oppression. As we seek healing, we can practice soul care and find well-being.
As young people, we often face uncertainty and adversity. Learn how hope can help us in proven and practical ways — and how it’s more than a feeling or wishful thinking.
“Hope is more than wishful thinking. Research shows hope can empower us to set goals, identify ways forward, and take action in ways that affect our lives and our mental health. I’ve seen firsthand how hope can be a beacon of light that guides our steps as we build resilience and find healing.” -Dr. Isom
Watch this video about Freedom Dreaming and try this creative exercise:
Freedom Dreaming: What Are Your Dreams of the Future?
Explore and share these resources to help nurture hope and emotional well-being in your life and community.
Cultivate Hope with These 3 Skills
Understanding the science of hope can help free you from moments of despair and helplessness to envision and create a brighter future. Let’s explore how you can free yourself from challenges to your well-being and the impacts of oppression to cultivate hope.
For young people, including those from underserved and under-resourced communities, justice is more than just a legal concept, it is a fundamental principle. Justice shapes your physical and mental health. Here are some tips to help you on your journey.
“As I was becoming a young adult, I began to see more clearly where justice and injustice reside. It was sobering to recognize how young people like me often faced barriers, discrimination, and various injustices. But this awareness also ignited a fire within me to pursue justice.” -Dr. Isom
Watch this guided meditation on justice and acceptance. See full exercise:
Guided Meditation: Justice and Acceptance
Explore these resources to support mental health and mindful justice in your life and community.
Liberating yourself from injustice, past challenges, and unhealthy situations is a key part of your soul care journey. Here are two tools you can use to develop daily habits that support your mental health as you strive for justice.
How do you learn to “live love” and not just think of love as desire and emotion? Television, movies, and your relationships may offer some useful examples, but they often show love in limiting ways. Let’s look deeper.
“My experiences understanding love are reflected in this quote by bell hooks: ‘It is easier to articulate the pain of love’s absence than to describe its presence and meaning in our lives.’ Her words led me to ask, “What exactly is this thing we call love?” -Dr. Jessica Isom
Watch this video and then try the exercise to explore what you believe about love. Do you have “destiny” or “growth” beliefs about love? Let’s find out.
What Do You Believe About Love?
Use journaling to reflect on love and a relationship in five helpful steps:
Journaling for Change: Growing Your Relationship Skills
Have you wondered how to define healthy love in your relationships? Research shows that you’re not alone. A mindful approach can help you explore and apply six components of love to strengthen your relationships — and your mental health.
Do you have spiritual practices that nourish your soul and bring meaning and support to your life? Let’s explore how soul care can support your mental health.
“During my childhood, I often didn’t enjoy myself. Whether it was forcing myself awake before school, or never having enough time for things I enjoyed, I was far from reaching my full potential… Today, I feel like the master of my life’s outcomes.” Haddy, senior, Case Western Reserve University
What if even a few minutes a day could help your spirit feel freer and more alive? Whether you are newly exploring soul care or already committed to a routine, embracing spiritual practices can be good for your health and well-being.
Try this step-by-step guide to draw on the power of spirituality in your daily life. Get Started
1. Choose your soul care goals.
2. Journal your reflections.
3. Set your intentions and take action.
Have you ever had emotions that felt more intense than you could handle? Or, had a moment when you sat with your emotions and cared for your feelings? Let’s explore healthy emotional habits.
In this activity, you’ll reflect on a few recent experiences to explore your emotional habits. How do you react to situations? What habits are helpful and which are less useful?
Try this exercise to explore ways to identify your emotional habits and coping styles. Then, try selecting a few healthy habits to explore over few days.
After reflecting on your emotional patterns and supportive emotional habits, try this activity to choose a habit to strengthen or adopt over the course of a week.
Have you wondered how using social media affects you? Can you imagine your life without it? How much time do you spend online? Let’s unpack these questions as ways to support your emotional well-being.
Do you have a fear of missing out, or stress about being available for your friends online, or have feelings of what’s called connection overload? Try this activity to map your stress points and well-being goals.
Try this activity to explore digital stress that may be showing up in your life — availability stress and connection overload.
Use this activity to support your digital peace by exploring Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and approval anxiety.
