Mental wellness is a broad term that goes beyond being mentally fit.

Mindfulness is defined as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.”

When you meet someone new, chances are the question “what do you do?” comes up within the first five minutes of your conversation. In the United States, we put a great deal of value on our jobs; sometimes to the point that we define ourselves by our job title. This may not seem like a big deal, but when your identity is your career, it can negatively impact your mental health. 

Traditionally, summer was a time for kids and their parents to relax and enjoy some unstructured days – a chance to decompress, have fun and play. But thanks to the ubiquity of personal technology, as well as the increasing number of scheduled summer activities, the summer can feel an awful lot like the hectic, plugged-in school year for some families.

It’s Mental Health Wellness Week and unlike other awareness days and weeks the focus is on staying well, not the condition itself. Two of the goals are promoting the benefit of mental wellness for both the mind and body and educating people on how to incorporate mental wellness techniques into their daily lives, whether you have a mental illness or not. The best way to stay well is to have good coping skills and build resiliency to deal with life when it throws us curveballs.