No Stress Here!

Learning to deal- that’s a skill we would all love to master, right? Well our girls have got it down! Yesterday we identified various life stressors and discussed effective anxiety reduction strategies. We kicked off the day with some really fun relay races that had the girls running and skipping in all sorts of ways. In each race they had to get to the table, write down one thing that causes them stress, and get back to the finish line as fast as possible! Afterward,  we each shared one problem we are having and brainstormed ways to help resolve the issue. For example:

        -          Problem: My dog always wants attention while I’m trying to work.

             Solution: Take the dog for a walk before starting homework.

  -          Problem:  It hard to get my homework done.

             Solution: Work on it a little each night so it doesn’t seem overwhelming at the end of the week.

Our workout today was a race for missing pieces of a tool kit that the girls can use in stressful situations. For each lap they completed,  girls received one tool to put in their kits. The “tools” were different suggestions to help girls manage their time. Some of these tools were: taking breaks every 30 minutes while doing homework, writing down assignments in a planner, and asking for help when needed.  

After our workout,  we played a really fun game to get to know each other. We learned about what stresses us out, our favorite activities, the biggest adventure we have been on, our favorite subject in school, and more. For our  Girls Life lesson of the week I asked the girls to think about everything they do each week and create a calendar to reflect how they each spend their time. Hopefully now they can have a visual aid to help them manage their time and get their work done.

We finished the day by practicing some stress reducing activities in the Teen Lounge. Girls had a chance to play ping pong, make new friends, talk with coaches, and color. Tomorrow’s lesson will build on yesterday. We will discuss how to balance everything going on in our lives.

Keep Running! Look for another post on Friday!