Individual Wellbeing Resources
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Physical Wellbeing
Relieve Stress with a Massage
It’s important that we find ways to release the tension we hold in our body, such as our shoulders or neck. Massages help reduce stress, increase relaxation, and lessen pain and muscle tightness. You can perform a self-massage to release tension by checking out this video from the YMCA. If you’d prefer to work with a massage therapist, sign up for a massage at a local spa such as The Rejuvenation Station, Woodhouse Spa – Detroit or Bee’s Beauty Bar and Spa.
Healthy Eating and Shopping Tips
There are many benefits to healthy eating, from the way nutritious meals help strengthen your bones to boosting your immunity and energy levels! Check out this segment from WDIV-TV Local 4 News with tips on how to eat healthy for less.
Nail Care is Self-Care
Caring for your physical wellbeing includes pampering yourself. Our neighbors at The TEN Nail Bar does just that. The TEN, which is Detroit’s first modern nail bar offers a variety of services from manicures and pedicures to waxing and lash extensions and brow tinting. To learn more about this Black-owned business, check out this video.
Practice Yoga
Give yourself permission to unwind and release through yoga. Yoganic Flow is providing free public yoga classes in multiple parks across Detroit such as Palmer Park, Chandler Park, Clark Park and more. There are also a few past yoga sessions that can be viewed online. Co.act partnered with Yoganic Flow in the past to host a few yoga sessions in our space for nonprofit professionals to come and ease their minds and bodies. To learn more about Yoganic Flow, check out the video below.
Engage in Physical Activity
Finding fun and creative ways to exercise can be a bit difficult. Check out this list of 30 fun ways to get 30-minutes of physical activity in each day.
Strategies for Improving Your Physical Wellbeing
Caring for our physical health can impact our energy levels, decrease our stress and lower our risk of disease. Consider these six strategies from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on how to tend to your physical needs.
Group Runs
RUNdetroit hosts free group run sessions in the Detroit area as well as share about other Detroit Running Groups in the city and metro area.
Take A Walk
Take some time away from your desk to go on a walk around the neighborhood. While walking, consider listening to Black History Bootcamp – The Walking Podcast powered by GirlTrek. GirlTrek is the largest public health movement for Black women and girls in the U.S. Through grassroots organizing and award-winning social media campaigns, GirlTrek mobilizes women to live their healthiest, most fulfilled lives through a habit of daily walking. To join a GirlTrek walking crew in Detroit, visit the GirlTrek Detroit community’s Facebook page.
Ride On
If you enjoy cycling or are looking to ride alongside others, consider checking out some of the various indoor cycling locations. Vibe Ride host daily classes at their Detroit location. Cycle Bar also hosts a mix of classes in-person in Royal Oak and has on-demand fitness classes. If you’d prefer to bike around the city, check out the City of Detroit’s Bike Resource Guide.
Mental Wellbeing
Mental Health Habits
Taking care of our mental health is essential. Listen to the video below of various mental health habits presented by Psych2Go that you can incorporate into your self-care routine.
Rest is Resistance
Give your mind and body the space to rest. Resting goes beyond naps. In the words of Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, “Rest pushes back and disrupts a system that views human bodies as a tool for production and labor.” Explore how “Rest is Resistance” by reading this manifesto, which is rooted in spiritual energy and centered in Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism. It is a call to action and manifesto for those who are sleep deprived, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of Grind Culture.
Listen to the interview below where Tricia Hersey also known as “the Nap Bishop” discusses the importance of prioritizing rest to thrive.
Hay House Meditations
Hay House Meditations provides weekly guided meditations designed to help you relax and rejuvenate hosted by a different author each week. You can listen along on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Practicing Radical Self-Love
Sonya Renee Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, world-renowned activist and thought leader on racial justice, body liberation and transformational change, international award-winning artist, and founder of The Body Is Not an Apology (TBINAA), a global digital media and education company exploring the intersections of identity, healing, and social justice through the framework of radical self-love. In her book of the same name, The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love, Sonya lays out her radical self-love vision, arguing that all people arrive on this planet in a state of self-love before internalizing messages of shame and injustice from systems of oppression.
Explore Meditation and Mindfulness Exercises
Looking to reduce your anxiety or stress? Consider practicing meditation and mindfulness. Monica Breen is a healing arts practitioner who teaches and facilitates mind-body practices like yoga, meditation and mindfulness. On her website, you will find free pre-recorded wellness videos and podcasts for yoga and meditation. Check out some of Monica’s teachings and practices as well as community resources. Co.act partnered with Monica in the past as part of the Mindfulness in the Workplace and Beyond sessions as part of our Nonprofit Wellbeing Series.
7 Tools for Managing Traumatic Stress
The National Alliance on Mental Alliance shares various tools for managing traumatic stress. Trauma can cause us to feel sudden intense negative emotions, affecting our daily lives, which is why it is important to manage our trauma.
The Sisters’ Couch
The Sisters’ Couch provides a safe space for Black girls to discuss mental health, and self-development. Join their newsletter to be informed of upcoming events. You can also find additional resources on their site for your mental and emotional wellbeing.
BLOOM Transformation Center
BLOOM Transformation Center is a full-service wellness center offering emotional healing and personal transformation through a variety of methods. Licensed therapists and practitioners offer traditional mental health services while incorporating holistic practices to help individuals transcend life challenges. Ancient Gong (Sound) Meditation Therapy and Revolutionary Trauma and Stress Release Exercises are a sampling of services offered in this tranquil space. Check out their classes and workshops here.
Emotional Wellbeing
Coping with Grief: Collectively and Creatively
How do we grieve individually, with our friends and colleagues and with the people we serve in our nonprofit work? Check out the recorded session hosted by Co.act Detroit and CultureSource on identifying grief and how we can tap into artistic and creative practices as a means to grieve and heal. This conversation will feature seasoned psychologist Dr. Myrtle C. Means with experience treating an array of mental health concerns and Lori Boettcher, Art Therapist, M.Ed., ATR-BC, instructor at The Art Experience.
Caring for Your Emotional Health
It is important to acknowledge how we feel and tend to our emotional wellbeing. Check out this video presented by Atena on the different ways we can practice caring for our emotional health.
Floral Therapy Detroit
Have you ever considered floral therapy to support your wellbeing? According to Floral Therapy Detroit, “Floral Therapy is a Creative Art Therapy technique that involves guided, free-style floral design facilitated by a licensed mental health care professional.” Floral Therapy Detroit’s purpose is to bring the creative process of floral design, presenting it as a natural, non-evasive form of self-care to Detroit and neighboring communities.
Art Therapy
Expressing ourselves and emotions through different mediums is one of the simplest ways we can be more spiritual. Here are 75 art therapy ideas by Expressive Therapist. Let’s Art About It Art Therapy Studio also hosts in-person and virtual art therapy sessions as well as employee wellness workshops by customizing the classes to address organization’s needs.
Find Joy in Journaling
As part of our Nonprofit Wellbeing Series, Christina Chateauvert of c.c.design LLC facilitated a workshop on how journaling can benefit your health and wellbeing. She shared realistic, pressed-for-time approaches to help you get your thoughts on paper and ways to cultivate a ritual of journal writing to meet you where you are. Check out her presentation slides from her session. Some of the resources uplifted by Christina includes:
- 52 Lists for Calm: Journaling Inspiration for Soothing Anxiety by Moorea Seal
- Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval by James W. Pennebaker
- Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice by Michelle Obama
Spiritual Wellbeing
A Study of Spirituality in the United States
What does it mean to be spiritual? How does this animate our daily lives? These are the questions at the heart of Fetzer’s Study of Spirituality in America. Working with social scientists, theologians, and academic experts, the Fetzer Institute designed a study to shine a light on unexplored questions about spirituality and civic life.
Ascension School of Healing Arts
Ascension School of Healing Arts is an educational facility located in Southfield, MI that offers various classes and metaphysical and healing arts programs. The organization supports you in cultivating self-love and stepping into your power. Their services include but are not limited to: Ascension healing, reiki workshops, zoom classes, herbal remedies, chakra healing, shadow work, singing bowls, etc.
Financial Wellbeing
Money, Mindset and Meaning for Nonprofit Professionals
True financial wellness is about values—understanding what is important to you and putting action steps in place to align what you do with what you value. In this session, Karen Beavor of Georgia Center for Nonprofits walks us through the 8 pillars of financial wellness and provide a toolkit we can use to begin or enhance our journeys toward financial confidence and success. This session was done in partnership between Co.act Detroit and Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) Detroit.
Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole
In “Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole,” Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche introduces the powerful concept of building wealth through financial wholeness, which she describes as a realistic, achievable, and energizing alternative to get-rich-quick and over-complicated money management systems. Check out the interview below with Tiffany Aliche and Andy Wang on the podcast, Inspired Money where she talks about her new book.
The Money Wellness Podcast
The Money Wellness podcast presented by The Finance Bar was created to dissect how our thoughts and emotions impact our financial decisions. Host Marsha Barnes will provide practical prescriptions to increase the health of your finances. Check out the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
11 Key Financial Wellness Tips Everyone Need
Looking for a few new financial wellness tips to implement? Check out this article on improving your financial wellness by Clever Girl Finance.
Mission:Money
Mission:Money provides resources dedicated entirely to financial wellness for nonprofit professionals. Presented by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits and supporting partners, let this guide support you in managing your money issues.
Workplace Wellbeing
Work-Life Balance Tips for Community Leaders
Achieving work-life balance can be difficult. In this webinar, Beth Kanter focuses on how to redefine our work-life balance as we consider returning to in-person work and how we set up a culture of wellbeing and teamwork to sustain us moving forward.
The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout
In the book, The Happy, Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout, Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman explores burnout and its impact on the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit professionals are invited to take various assessments to better understand how they support their holistic wellbeing.
Delegation for Nonprofit Leaders
Sabina Nawaz is a global CEO coach, leadership keynote speaker and writer who shared her Delegation Dial framework and addressed some of the biggest mistakes and challenges when it comes to delegation during the “Delegation for Nonprofit Leaders” session as part of our Nonprofit Wellbeing Series. Check out one of her articles on delegation: You’re Delegating. It’s Not Working. Here’s Why.
The essentiality of anti-capitalist self-care
Columnist Yoon Kim shares her take on self-care and how her understanding of it has changed over time. Check out her column published in The Michigan Daily.
Social Wellbeing
Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself
Licensed counselor, sought-after relationship expert, and one of the most influential therapists on Instagram Nedra Glover Tawwab is the author of the New York Times bestseller Set Boundaries, Find Peace, which presents simple-yet-powerful ways to establish healthy boundaries in all aspects of life. Rooted in the latest research and best practices used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), these techniques help us identify and express our needs clearly and without apology–and unravel a root problem behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.
Check out the interview below of Nedra talking about the importance of setting boundaries on an episode of The Psychology Podcast. You can also download a free book guide and order her book online as well as take a free boundaries quiz.
Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships
In Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships, licensed therapist and bestselling relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab offers clear advice for identifying dysfunctional family patterns and choosing the best path to breaking the cycle and moving forward.
Covering topics ranging from the trauma of emotional neglect, to the legacy of addicted or absent parents, to mental health struggles in siblings and other relatives, and more, this clear and compassionate guide will help you take control of your own life—and honor the person you truly are.
Check out the interview below presented by Family Action Network on managing unhealthy family relationships. You can also purchase the book and take the free Family Quiz online. Consider starting a book club among family and friends or joining a book club and recommending this as your next read.
Living Well in a Digital World
Have you ever thought about the impact technology has on your life? The Digital Wellbeing Podcast is a podcast that explores how we live well in the digital world. How do we work, rest, and relate well in our digital environment? The podcast features guests who are on the frontlines of digital wellbeing. Check out the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Social Wellness Toolkit
With strong social habits, you can create more meaningful connections with others and care for your mental wellbeing. Check out 6 helpful strategies to improve your social health by the National Institutes of Health.
Connect with Healing by Choice!
Healing by Choice! (HbC!) is a circle of women, gender non-conforming people of color health, and healing practitioners that offers an array of virtual and in-person offerings including embodied practices and movement and storytelling circles to name a few. Healing by Choice! is engaged in healing justice work through listening deeply to their communities and what is most needed. Check out some of their offerings and shared resources.