Program Description:

Stress Less 201: Mental Fitness is a free in-school presentation for middle and high school students. A follow up to Stress Less: Resilience for Success, this program teaches stress management techniques including failure and growth mindset, gratitude, changing negative thought patterns, flow, and progressive muscle relaxation. Teenagers may experience stress daily from sources like school demands and frustrations, negative thoughts or feelings about themselves, changes in their bodies, problems with friends and/or peers at school, and more. Most teens experience more stress when they perceive a situation as dangerous, difficult, or painful, and they may not always have the resources to cope. Some teens become overloaded with stress which can lead to anxiety, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness, or poor coping skills such as drug and/or alcohol use. By learning practical mental fitness techniques, teenagers can begin to manage stress and live happier lives.

What Students Will Gain?

Stress Less 201: Mental Fitness will help students understand the definitions of stress and mental fitness as well as learn and practice mental fitness through a variety of techniques. Presenters will facilitate discussion to help students find ways to incorporate mindfulness, resiliency, and mental fitness in their daily lives. Students will learn practical techniques to manage stress including gratitude, failure and growth mindset, progressive muscle relaxation, changing negative thought patterns, and flow.

What Students Are Saying?

“I liked the progressive muscle relaxation. I’m going to use that in my day-to-day life to help calm negative and stressful emotions.” 

“I liked the normalization of mental health and that we all have mental health; they touched on it and didn’t treat it as a burden or disease.” 

“There were many real-life examples of topics during the presentation which made it easier to understand what we were learning and apply it to our personal lives.”