Hello, my name is Maxwell and thank you for listening to the podcast. Today, we will be talking about physical health and wellness. And you will listen to an interview I conducted with dotted Brittany Hudson, who is the Sport Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow on campus and works with athletes who are part of the university. In this interview, Dr. Hudson answer some questions AS, as cautions might have about physical health and wellness. So without further ado, here's my interview with Dr. Hudson. Today, I am joined by Dr. Brittany Hudson. Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Hudson, Anki ramming. Would you like to give a little rundown or what you do on campus? Sure. I am Lee Sport Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow in athletics department, which means that I essentially provide clinical services to our student athletes. Cells do bonuses, kind of exactly what I do all day. Very, very interesting stuff. So today I had a couple questions that I'm going to run through with. You. Want to hear what you have to say about them. First question I have is, how does physical health and wellness tied into mental health and wellness? Yes. So for me there is no distinction. I like to think of our overall wellness is including our physical, emotional, mental health and wellness. So I think they tied directly into each other. And I always like to talk about the mind-body connection. So when we're mentally healthy, when we're kind of running on all cylinders with that positive thoughts in our head. Filling, well refilling, say fulfilling, okay, that's the end for how well we move, how we take care of our bodies, and vice versa when our bodies are filling the best. That's where Dylan kind of Ag, if we're feeling kind of paint, anything like that that's manifesting in our body. We can be pretty sure that that's an indication of how we're feeling mentally. And so I think they work together. They're kinda symbiotic in that way where when one feels good, the other feels good. When one feels bad, the other sounds that we can always kind of think if we're not fully aware of our thoughts. If we're having pains in our body that are not necessarily coming from a particular place, then maybe we need to look at our thoughts and vice versa. So another question I had is, what are some ways that you think that people can keep up with physical activity or exercise during these times of COVID-19. And what about the people who do not have access to a gym or exercise equipment? So considering that the mind-body connection is so important, anything that we do to move our bodies is going to be helpful. And of course, we want to stay safe in these COVID times. We don't want to have to go to the gym where it may be crowded for some of us that have difficulty breathing or things like that, working out in a mask may not be the best option for us, but it really is anything that we can do that's helpful for our bodies. I'm just going to be helpful for our mind. So some of the ways if you In your dorm and you have limited space. Stretching is a quick, simple, or it could be alone, but simple way to kind of move your body. Anything that you're moving anyway, that you're moving, even if you have limited space. Stretching, doing yoga. Simple is like forward bends in, standing up straight and stretching our spines. That's also going to be really good. If we are experiencing anxiety or things like that, it can kinda settle into our body. So stretching is one of the ways that we don't need much space. We don't need any equipment. We all we need is ourselves and maybe a little square little box that we're standing in that, you know, 510 minutes of stretching really does wonders. So that's definitely one of the ways can do it. Someone like me. I like to stay at home and work out. I'm not too big of a gym person, but I still like to be active. I do jumping jacks throughout the day just to kinda get the blood flowing as soon as I wake up, I do a couple. Anytime that I'm feeling kind of sluggish enough, film kind of tie in my body. I'll just get up and do some jumping jacks. Again, all you need is one little limited space. You can kind of get there, get active, and that's something that really gets your blood plumping, get your blood flowing, wakes you up, make sure lined up, and you're good to go. What advice can you give college students who are living in a small confined space such as rooms and residence halls, smaller apartments, or students who live in areas where there's not too much outdoor space, want to continuously be physically active. So it's important that your your space kind of feeds you in that way. And so like I mentioned before, any kind of space that you can carve out, you can do things that don't require much room, that require you to kinda move from end to end. But things that you can do in a steady-state, things that you can do from a standing position, any kind of exercises like squads or lunges. It doesn't require you to move around a lot, doesn't require you to kinda fleeing and stretch your body out completely. But these are things that you can do and small confined spaces, I would say, you know, if you want to do them in smaller spurts throughout the day, then that's also helpful because you're staying in your space, you're in more of a confined space. And so working out for maybe an hour during the day while also going to be helpful, being kind of active and not feeling like you're stuck in your combined space at different spurts throughout the day is also going to be really important if you can't get out. So if you notice you're staying home, you're doing homework in your dorm room and you're sitting at your desk, and your desk is in kind of cramped space and you're sitting there for hours at a time, break up those hours, stand up, stretch, do some squats, do some jumping jacks. Just like lift your arms up to the ceiling. Anything like that doesn't require you to move around a lot, but it does wonders to get the blood flowing. Get you active. Always good to get the blood flowing, moving around a little bit. So what are some posited that come out of that being because we are group. There are many right there, meaning literally our bodies. I always say move it or lose it, right? We're all very young at this point, but there will be a point where we won't be so young and your body's got to last you for the rest of your life. And so as long as you get some movement in through out the day on a regular basis, your body's going to hold up for a long time where we're not machines were humans but our bodies can, we can kind of think of them as machines. Exercising if you're not moving them, if you're not kind of bending your limbs and stretching them out and they can get kinda tie, it can get kinda painful. So definitely won't want to make sure that we maintain active E and that's the importance of it. But also, you know, we've been talking about this whole time. It, it really helps with your mental state. That mind-body connection is very important when we're moving our bodies. You know, scientifically, I'm not that kind of doctor, but I do know enough that when we're moving our body and the oxygen is flowing in the blood is falling. It does wonders to help us be in a more steady, positive mental space. It does a lot for us to release some tension, release, some stress release and anxiety. We're students, we have so much going on so much that we're balancing at all times. Really busy can be really stressed out. You always want to perform and achieve and your grades are very important. So that can be a lot in, when you hold it all up in your head all the time, you don't release it from your mind. It can settle into your body, whether or not you know it. And so moving is really going to be positive in terms of helping take care of your mental health. It's a non-traditional way that we think about. But, you know, if you land in a therapist's office for for whatever reason, likely you will hear them tell you to take short walks if you can, or try to find a way to get up and move around. Because that's the number one way that we can quickly kind of impact our mental health. That quick, quick joke to our mind to just breathe, take some, say, take some deep breaths, get some oxygen, some blood up there. Really does wonders to improve our mental state. And also I think just it can feel good for you to take care of yourself, right? The year near our own people were ONE person in, especially in these COVID times when we're confining, were isolated. It can be really easy to sit in one place all day and get stuck. But this is one way that we can practice and self-care moving our bodies. It doesn't have to be a whole lot, but this is one way that we can practice self-care and just make sure we're staying in good shape and overall good health. Moving your physical state is super important for so many aspects of our daily lives. Very interesting stuff. So with these kinds of COVID-19, what are some innovative and new ways people can be physically active if they can go to the gym or don't have equipment that they could use your help. Yep. So what's really big now I've notice is virtual classes. There are plenty of apps, there are a lot of folks who are on Instagram or on YouTube everywhere that you can maybe see to access on your computer or your phone. There are a lot of ways that people are offering virtual lessons, virtual classes, virtual trainings to help people stay active. You can do something as simple as a Google search and you can always find kind of exercises that you can do without having to use equipment, without having to go to the gym. The information is 100% out there. If you are someone who likes to work out or who need C10 and accountability partner to be physical, I would definitely suggest doing like Zoom or FaceTime video chats. How every video chat doing that with a friend or with someone so that you can maintain that connection. Just again, it doesn't have to be long and drawn out. You can keep it simple, five or 10 minutes in the morning. When you get a chance throughout the day to just do something that year, follow along with the video or follow along with your friends on video chat. Definitely tap into the virtual world. It is something that I've noticed is really been blossoming in terms of the offerings for showing people how to be active, how to be, how to exercise, how to move in limited space. So I would definitely say use, use those resources, your phone, your computer, things that you access all the time. They have ways that you can stay active without having to leave your house and go to the gym. I think there's a great tips and resources for people to use and sort of think outside the box for new ways to work out during these times. Finally, our last question is, what can somebody do if they don't have much free time or want to be more crazy, I couldn't find the current to work out work on their physical health and wellness. So I would say start small with any goal you have, start small. We often kind of want to jump into the big goal. You know, I want to be active, which means I want to work out for an hour or five times a week. Right? But you'd have to built especially if you've been in a in a place for a little while, we haven't been as active. It is okay to start with. I just want to do five minutes a day or I just want to be able to work out what's this week. Those smaller goals will be different for everybody based on how your level of physical activity before a period where you haven't been active. So China set the goals that work for you, knowing your body and how physically been in the past. But when a 100 percent set smaller goals, look at the bigger picture, but set the bigger picture as your longer term goal. If you want to work out five times a week, make that be your larger goal, but build up to that. Start with one day a week. It's really important when we're trying to get back into these habits, when we're trying to do something to take care of ourselves, that we give ourselves a way to achieve along the way. So if you can set a smaller goal, say okay, for this week, I'm going to work out once a week. So 30 minutes, when you meet that once a week for 30 minutes, it's going to be easier for you to then add another day of 30 minutes. Because you've shown yourself that you can do it improvement to yourself that you are capable. And you go, you'll probably start to feel the effects a little bit right after that first time of filling more positive, feeling more optimistic, even if maybe it hurts little bit, you got a little tight and say your muscles are sore. But generally, it tends to make you feel a little bit better when you set a smaller goal and you will achieve it. It feels like you're able to accomplish the bigger goal. We have to focus on one foot in front of the other. Start with the process versus the end goal. So start small. As much as you'd think he can do five minutes a day. That's part of the process. That's okay. That's on the journey. And you will eventually work your way up until the major goal of five days a week or whatever that goal may be. Well, thank you again for coming to speak to us, giving us all these tips, ideas, new ways that we get better ourselves and our physical health and wellness dugouts. And again, I cannot thank you and not for taking the time out of your day to speak to me. And I know that all the students who will listen to this podcast are really going to love all the information that they get from you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It was my pleasure to join you. I really appreciate you reach now. Thank you very much. Have a great day. You too. Take care. Again. I want to thank Dr. Hudson for taking the time to speak with me and giving such great answers and information to the questions I ask. I hope you, the listener enjoyed the interview and everything Dr. Hudson had to say. I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen and learn from this podcast. And as always, remember to protect the flock. Thank you. Intro and outro music. Do you like resound on Wednesday?
Blue Hen Wellbeing Community Podcast S2:E2
From Angela DiNunzio Seguin March 25, 2021
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In this podcast, listen to a great interview conducted with Dr. Brittani Hudson, as we talk about physical
health and wellness, why they are so important in our lives, and how they are intertwined with mental
health and wellness.
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- Student Wellness and Health Promotion
- Date Established
- March 25, 2021
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