1. MENTAL Health & Personal Resiliency: ESTABLISHING YOUR OWN PERSONALIZED FITNESS GOALS!

2. Minds On… What words come to mind when you think of Mental Health?
What words come to mind when you think of Mental Illness?
What is the connection between Physical Health & Mental Health?
Ask the students to quickly shout out answers to the following questions.
Write out their answers (or have a volunteer write them) on the board and leave them up for future reference.

3. Mental Health What is Mental Health?
Mental health is not simply the absence of mental illness.  It is sense of emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being that enables us to meet the opportunities and challenges of life with a sense of confidence and hope.
As students watch the Shared Language video (next slide) have them note:
Discussion/Reflection Questions:
What is mental illness?
What are the 4 indicators of mental health?
How can a person without mental illness have poor mental health?
How can a person with mental illness have good mental health?
What contributes to a mentally healthy community? School?

4. Mental Health: A Shared Language
How do we understand mental health and mental illness?
ture=youtu.be
This 6 minute video by CAMH ( Canadian Association Mental Health) explains the separate but interconnected concepts of mental health and mental illness, as well as what it means to ‘promote mental health’, in ourselves and in our communities.
1 in 5 people may experience mental illness, but 5 in 5 of us (all of us) have mental health!

5. Discussion/Reflection Questions
What is mental illness?
What are the 4 indicators of mental health?
How can a person without mental illness have poor mental health?
How can a person with mental illness have good mental health?
What contributes to a mentally healthy community? School?
Key messages from Shared Languages:
Just like physical health, we all have mental health – 5 in 5 of us have mental health, while 1 in 5 of us will experience a mental health difficulty or a mental illness
Mental health is not just the absence of illness, it is the sense of emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being that enables us to meet the opportunities and challenges of life with a sense of confidence and hope
It is as important to nurture our mental health as it is our physical health

6. Resilience What is Resilience?
Resilience is the ability to cope with life stresses, to ‘bounce back’ from difficult & challenging life situations and to maintain a sense of emotional, spiritual, psychological and social well-being.
Resilience – the ability to protect and maintain one’s mental health and emotional well-being while responding to the stresses and challenges of life.

7. Resilience Explained What is Resilience? https://youtu.be/cqO7YoMsccU
The Science of Resilience
Show the following 2 minute video: What is Resilience?
This 2 minute video provides a definition of resilience and the factors that contribute to development of resilience
Show the 2 minute video that immediately follows: The Science of Resilience
(you can click on this link below or it should begin automatically following What is Resilience.
This 2 minute video shows how resilience develops and is impacted by both individual characteristics and social/environmental factors.
As students watch the Resilience videos have them note:
Discussion Reflection Questions:
What does resilience mean – can resilience exist without challenge or adversity?
What factors contribute to the development of resilience (individual and environmental)?
Name 3 risk factors that tip the scales towards negative outcomes for children
Name 3 protective factors that tip the scales towards positive outcomes for children

8. Discussion/Reflection Questions
What does resilience mean – can resilience exist without challenge or adversity?
What factors contribute to the development of resilience (individual and environmental)?
Name 3 risk factors that tip the scales towards negative outcomes for children
Name 3 protective factors that tip the scales towards positive outcomes for children
Key Messages:
Resilience is built within our social context – not just individual characteristics:
Individual temperament (genes) is the building block for resilience but more important are environmental/social factors that support the development of resilience
Social/environmental factors that help build resilience (no matter what your genetic predisposition): Responsive relationships, skilled caregivers, financial security, safe communities, healthy food – you may be able to think of more!
Social/environmental risk factors and protective factors can tip the scales from negative to positive outcomes

9. Your Personal Fitness Goals
What are your personal mental fitness goals to support your own resiliency for the coming term?

10. Your Personal Fitness Goals
Complete at least one strategy to support each of the following areas :
Being aware of how I am feeling
Maintaining a positive frame of mind
Getting enough sleep
Coping with stress (3 strategies)
Reaching out for help when needed (apps, community services)
Distribute handout: My Mental Health and Resilience Plan
Being aware of how I am feeling:
The first step in maintaining mental wellness is knowing how you are feeling – once you know and accept how you are feeling you can work with it.
Maintaining a positive frame of mind
Research tells us that our thoughts can determine how we are feeling
Getting enough sleep
Youth require 9hours of sleep per night for optimal well-being.
How many hours are you getting?
Coping with stress (3 strategies)
Stress is part of everyday life and can strain our sense of mental wellness
Reaching out for help when needed (apps, community services)
Name a trusted adult you can talk to
Find a community service you could ue if you were struggling with mental health concerns

11. Your Personal Fitness Goals
 Resources:
Mental Health Resources for Students are now available on our LDCSB website.
rces/Pages/default.aspx
mindyourmind.ca is a great resource for wellness resources: Tip Sheets for Wellness on mindyourmind website
Direct them to the following resources to research strategies to support mental wellness and resiliency.
I suggest you direct them to the link for Mental Health Resources for Students now available on our LDCSB website. This will ensure that they are aware of a reliable place to search for information at any point in the future should they need it.
If you prefer to offer handouts, you could download and print some of the Tip Sheets for Wellness on mindyourmind website (link below) or direct students to this resource to develop their list of strategies for their own mental fitness plan.
You will find 20 to 30 Strategies and Tips on each page.
I recommend the pages on:
Quick Stress Relief
#bethinkFull Stress Relief Tips
How to Stay Well Rested
Coping With Anxiety
Time Management and Setting Priorities
Starting High School

12. The ‘Broken Cup’

13. Resilience and the Broken Cup
We must accept that life can be challenging at times.
You don’t have to be perfect to be resilient.