When you hear (or read) the word movement, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
For some of us, it’s a run, for some it’s time at the gym, for others it could be walking your dog, or dancing to your favorite playlist. Movement doesn’t always mean exercise but it is always a chance to get our heart rate up above resting.
The beauty of movement is that it is something we consciously and unconsciously experience all the time. As UMBC community members, we don’t often think about walking from the parking lot to our first destination of the day as movement. But it is.
During our time of physical distancing and staying home, many of us are becoming sedentary, which negatively impacts our health. To combat risk related to sedentary lifestyle, we must intentionally incorporate movement into our daily routine.
Some of the benefits of movement are:
Stress relief
Better mood
Increased energy
Loosening stiff muscles
Weight management
Lowering risks for chronic diseases in the future
Improved concentration
So how can we incorporate more movement into our daily routine?
Find something for you.
When trying to incorporate more intentional movement into your routine, it is important to pick something that you would actually like to do. For some of us, it could be taking a walk during the day or doing an indoor workout.
Schedule it.
Creating a schedule increases the likelihood of accomplishing a task. Treat movement as an event for the day. Select a time that works best for you and stick with it. Try using an activity planner.
Enlist a partner.
Lots of things are better with friends, including getting active. Getting friends or family members to join you can create a sense of accountability and create stronger social connections.
While the CDC has asked that persons only physically interact with people who live with us, that doesn’t prevent you from getting active with others who don’t live with us. Use an online platform, such as Google Hangouts, Whatsapp, FaceTime, to connect with a partner during a planned time for movement.
Together, let’s commit to incorporating more movement in our daily routines and getting active.
UMBC is offering a number of ways for community members to stay active during physical distancing. Check out UMBC Recreation for resources to help you stay active!
Want a few more options? Give these a try:
7-minute Workout App: Free app available for download
Nike Training Club: Free app available for download
Strava: Free app available for download
AFSP Out of the Darkness Walk: Take a virtual walk with friends to raise awareness!
Stress is a part of everyday life. However, there are certain situations that can cause stress specifically for college students.
The first year of college brings the stress of something new.
For returning students, there could be the stress of taking more challenging classes in their major and finding the perfect internship,
Some students are managing classes and work while being active in one of UMBC’s many campus organizations.
Outside of college life, sources of stress can come from family and world events, such as natural disasters or the political climate.
Right now, COVID-19 has an impact on our everyday life, as well as academics and work.
But not all stress is bad.
A healthy level of stress can serve as a motivator.
Positive stress, called eustress, can help you focus and improve your performance on activities such as tests, playing sports, or interviewing for a job.
Stress can turn into a major problem if it is not managed properly. It can have serious consequences on your school performance, body, and mind.
Difficulty concentrating
Increased worrying
Trouble completing assignments on time
Not going to class
Short temper or increased agitation
So what can we do about stress?
One useful method in managing stress is Mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the practice of being fully aware of where you are and what you are doing.
If you have never tried mindfulness, the best way to start is by incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine.
Activities such as walking, eating, or breathing can be done mindfully. Here is a 7-minute mindful practice that can help you to reduce stress.
The Counseling Center is offering virtual 30-minute mindfulness practices Monday – Friday, 12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., beginning April 22. Check out their myUMBC group for updates and to access the Webex link.
The Counseling Center offers additional resources to help you cope with stress.
Free online workshops with Counseling Center staff
Free phone apps are also available.
]]>Bringing Theory to Practice (BTtoP) supports practices in undergraduate education that "nurture active and integrative learning, personal well-being, preparation for meaningful work, and democratic citizenship." With a Multi-Institutional Innovation Grant from BTtoP, David Hoffman and Romy Hübler from UMBC's Center for Democracy and Civic Life, along with national partners, are developing tools for educators and students to use in cultivating, practicing, and promoting civic courage.
The April 15, 2020 edition of Bringing Theory to Practice's newsletter Bringing It features the project in a Grantee Spotlight prepared by the people collaborating on the project:
At a moment when we must practice social distancing to sustain life and health, all of us in higher education can plant the seeds of enhanced civic proximity. With support from a BTtoP Multi-Institutional Innovation Grant, David Hoffman and Romy Hübler (Center for Democracy and Civic Life, UMBC), Melissa Baker-Boosamra (Office of Student Life, Grand Valley State University) and Craig Berger (Community Engaged Learning, Kent State University) are developing tools educators and students can use to build skills and foster dispositions to support civic proximity and engagement in a wide variety of settings, including within institutions. The initial products of their collaboration, a Civic Courage Reflection Workshop facilitation guide and worksheet, help workshop participants to recognize aspects of civic courage beyond a willingness to take a risk for a cause, reflect on their past experiences with this expanded understanding of civic courage in mind, and identify opportunities to practice civic courage now and in the future.
Participants in pilot workshops have shared that they have gained new insights about how to deal with challenges in their own workplace and organizational settings by using foresight, looking for opportunities to collaborate, and practicing strategic patience. The facilitation guide, worksheet, and other tools to be developed align with theCivic Learning and Democratic Engagement Theory of Change, which describes how higher education can extend and deepen its support for students as co-creators of a thriving democracy.
Alternative Spring Break (ASB) leaders will help develop plans and learning opportunities for the week of UMBC's Spring Break, and will work in collaboration with the other leaders and Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff to create a holistic, empowering ASB experience for all participants. The role requires both independence (being a self-starter, organizing group sessions, guiding participants) and teamwork (following through on commitments, cooperating with other leaders and Center for Democracy and Civic Life staff, asking for help when needed). The topics each group explores will emerge from leaders’ curiosity about Baltimore and social issues.
All undergraduate students are invited to apply. Preferred but not required: Applicants will have participated in ASB or a similar multi-day experiential learning program.
Past leaders have explored a variety of questions, such as:
- How do people who have been formerly incarcerated transition back to living and working in Baltimore? What can be done to support that transition?
- What are the difficulties and barriers that people experiencing homelessness face in Baltimore and what can be done to mitigate those issues?
- How are food disparities created, perpetuated, and challenged in Baltimore?
- How do the arts support community empowerment and well-being in Baltimore?
Applicants can choose to explore those questions or propose new ones.
Ideally group leaders will work in pairs (two leaders for each group, sharing responsibilities). You can identify your potential partner when you apply or we can propose matches for you. Working in pairs is not a requirement, but in our experience it works very well.
Romy Hübler and David Hoffman coauthored an article in the 2020 NASPA Annual Conference Knowledge Community Publication entitled “Reimagining Student Affairs Practice by Enacting the CLDE Theory of Change.” In this article, they connect the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Theory of Change with ACPA and NASPA Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Educators, and identify specific steps student affairs can take to support students’ engagement. They write: “Taken together, these steps for renewed emphasis on creating civic-minded campus environments can provide opportunities to imagine and cocreate the thriving democracy we have yet to actualize. As stewards of the CLDE Theory of Change, we invite you to join us in thinking about how to do this important work within our institutions.”
Read the entire article here on pages 28-31.
David Hoffman and Romy Hübler published the following article in the March newsletter of the American Democracy Project:
Building Civic Proximity: Reflections and a Call to Action
When the two of us launched UMBC’s Center for Democracy and Civic Life in July 2018, we were clear about the road ahead. We had come a long way already: with support from colleagues in UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs and across the institution, we had begun to integrate new thinking about civic learning and democratic engagement into many aspects of our campus culture and practices. Now we would be even better positioned to help people develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to create healthy communities and tackle challenges together. Then came COVID-19. The road ahead became much more difficult to see.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Life's work builds from the premise that civic life encompasses everyday settings and relationships through which people can generate the power to shape their world. Modeling the kind of generative relationship we sought to foster, we took special pride in doing almost all of our work side by side, literally. We declined the option to build private offices within our shared space. When one of us got an opportunity to make a contribution or develop a project, we invited the other in. We know that we are more creative, productive, and humane when we are breaking down walls and joining together as thought partners and co-creators.
That spirit is a hallmark of our Alternative Spring Break program, which positions students to forge strong relationships with each other and with community partners in Baltimore. We lost that program to COVID-19 the week before it would have taken place, after five months of planning with student leaders. Other announcements followed, each both necessary and painful: classes will be moved online for two weeks after the break. All programs and gatherings will be postponed until early April. And then: classes will remain online for the rest of the semester. All programs and gatherings will be cancelled until we can safely reconvene. Faculty and staff will work remotely. Our shared space has become a virtual one, at least when the wifi is working.
This is agonizing. Our work is entirely about fostering civic proximity. We need each other, all of us. We must be able to work together, co-creating our lives and communities and shaping our shared destiny. We cannot allow the social distance needed to sustain life and health to exacerbate the civic distance from which we were, collectively, already suffering.
And so we are thinking about what we can do to sustain and even deepen civic proximity within our institution during these challenging weeks (months?). The Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (CLDE) Theory of Change envisions a future in which “[r]ather than conceptualizing civics as confined in particular activities such as voting or providing voluntary service, Americans will build empowering democratic relationships and understand themselves to be potential civic co-creators in their workplaces, on their campuses, and in the everyday interactions that give meaning to their lives.” We can help to enact that future through the choices we make in the coming weeks. We are inspired by stories we are hearing (and living) about people in neighborhoods across the U.S. pulling together (albeit at a safe distance) for company, comfort, and mutual aid. The people within our institutions can do the same, and we can help.
We were hosting monthly gatherings for students, faculty, and staff who want to share personal stories about their connections with civic issues in order to support each other in acting with courage. We will take those gatherings virtual. We had planned to host a “Dinner with Friends” program for people interested in topics relating to Election 2020 to encourage civil dialogue across difference. We will break that program into smaller pieces and take it virtual as well. We will experiment with inviting people from our institution into virtual spaces where they can share their stories of navigating these unprecedented circumstances. We will both support groups with prior affiliations and forge new connections across differences in roles and previous experiences.
We know that a great deal will change because of what will happen in the coming weeks and months. It is hard to see what is ahead of us, other than more dislocation and social distance. But we can be certain that more than ever before, individually and collectively, we will need civic proximity, and all the skills and dispositions necessary to support it. Civic learning and democratic engagement is, and will be, more important than ever before. We have work to do, starting with identifying the civic bridges we can build and support close to home. Let’s be well, safe, and together.
What are you doing to support civic proximity within your institution and with community partners? Please share your stories with us by emailing Cathy Copeland, Program Coordinator, American Democracy Project at copelandc@aascu.org.
]]>First day of classes online, we got this UMBC! Show us your best distance learning outfit or your set-up for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL photo. We will pick some of our favorites and send you a care package. #UMBCTogether, because we are going to get through this together while we are apart.
The Haven at College, a UMBC partner providing outpatient treatment and recovery housing, is now admitting students to its confidential virtual outpatient program tailored to the specific needs of college students.
All online outpatient services are covered by student health insurance (telehealth services in-network with Carefirst) and students can connect with like-minded peers who, along with Haven clinicians, provide community, accountability, and relief from isolation during this challenging time.
Treatment services include group, individual and family therapy; case management; life skills and educational sessions. Community support includes recovery coaching, family support, online recovery meetings and online peer support.
UMBC's Haven Recovery Residence has suspended services at this time. The Haven Residence at College Park is open to UMBC students.
Additional information is provided in the attached flyers. For more information, please call 888-224-2836.
If you have benefitted from Center for Democracy and Civic Life programs or just believe in what we are doing, please consider making a donation in any amount this Thursday, February 27th, which is UMBC’s Giving Day. Please also consider asking friends and family to support the Center for Democracy and Civic Life.
The Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s work and programs are possible in part because of generous donations from members of the UMBC community. Giving Day is when students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and friends of UMBC pull together to support the programs that are helping them to thrive. Tax-deductible donations are especially impactful on this day, thanks to community members who are matching donations.
Here’s where to make your gift: https://gritstarter.umbc.edu/p/civiclife/
To learn more about the Center for Democracy and Civic Life’s work, read our 2018-2019 annual report. Our Gritstarter page also includes information about STRiVE, Alternative Spring Break, and other Center for Democracy and Civic Life programs.
Thank you for your consideration!
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