Introduction
Using These Resources
This guide is a collection of free online tools to decrease stress, increase mindfulness, and help us build joy, movement, and calm into our busy lives. College can be an exciting time, but it can also be stressful - especially if you are living away from home, managing your finances, and stretched between being of service, finding your community, and doing your best in the classroom.
Getting Help
This page presents a selection of basic online resources intended to increase your sense of wellbeing and contentment. If you are experiencing an emergency, or have needs related to your physical or mental health, reach out to get professional help:
- Center for Academic and Student Achievement (remote appointments available)
- Counseling and Psychological Services (remote therapy services available for California residents)
- Crisis Services & Resources
- Health Promotion Services (remote appointments available)
- Public Safety
- Student Services
Meditation For Everyone
Engaging in a daily meditation practice, or using white noise machines can increase feelings of wellness, calm, and resiliency. Below are a variety of apps and websites for anyone interested in learning to engage in breathwork, guided meditation, and visualization.
For more on cultivating mindfulness, you can also try these campus resources:
- Calm
The Calm "Breathe" page linked here offers a visual guide to meditative breathing. The Calm app - available via the Apple Store or Google Play - features a variety of tools for meditation and mindfulness, including guided meditation, nature sounds, and exercise videos. - East Bay Meditation Center
The East Bay Meditation Center is a social-justice oriented meditation centre based in Oakland. Founded to provide a welcoming environment for people of colour, LGBTQIA2+ community, and underrepresented people.
The centre does not charge registration fees (but accepts gifts), and adheres to agreements for multicultural interactions and an accessibility policy. All classes, retreats, and programming will be offered online via Zoom for the foreseeable future. - eXHALeR
A browser-based breathing app to help slow breathing and aid meditative practice. - The Honest Guys
Free meditation and relaxation videos for a variety of experience levels. Includes guided meditation, visualization, and sleep-talk-down videos. - Insight Timer
Over 30,000 free guided meditation practices, including encouraging talks, and background noise to aid focus and relaxation. Available in a web browser, or downloadable as an app. - Liberate
Guided meditations and guided talks created by dharma teachers of colour, specifically for the Black and African Diaspora. Offerings are created with social justice in mind, and include talks on microaggresions, mental health, and spirituality. - My Noise
Over 200 sound generators which create frequency-shaped noise generators to mask distractions caused by everyday life. Noise generators span many themes, such as Natural Noises, Atmospheres, Transports, and Synthetic Noises. Noises can be streamed and calibrated for free online, streamed in Spotify, or available as an MP3 download for a fee. - San Francisco Zen Center
Established in 1962, the San Francisco Zen Center offers daily meditation practices, and a variety of classes and retreats. The centre values diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and environmental responsibility. As of March 2020, the centre has cancelled all in-person offerings, and is now providing zazen and dharma events online through Zoom.
Thoughtful Engagement
Sometimes, it's best to keep busy. One way you can do this thoughtfully is by colouring in pages - this can provide a sense of achievement or completion, improve focus and motor skills, brighten up your space, and finished pages make lovely gifts!
Another way to keep busy and make sense of what is happening is by keeping a journal. Taking time to write down your thoughts is a great way to process events, express yourself, and reduce stress. It can also be helpful to record your ideas and clear your mind during stressful times.
- 750 Words
Inspired by "The Artist's Way", this website encourages reflection through writing 750 words each day, in a private online journal. Includes metrics to track your progress and main trends in your work. - #ColorOurCollections
Free colouring books and pages based on the collections of over 100 museums, libraries, and archives around the globe. Images include botanical and animal illustrations, manuscripts, and curiosities from a variety of collections. - Crayola Colouring Pages
Hundreds of free colouring pages to print and enjoy; no sign-up or account required. - Online Coloring
A simple, browser-based game which allows you print out colouring pages, or digitally colour them online. - Penzu
Create a free, private, online journal with Penzu. Options are available for web browsers, iOS, and Android devices.
Streaming The Great Outdoors
Sometimes, we can't get out among nature as much as we'd like to, and not everyone has a companion animal in their home! Below are a selection of high-resolution livestreams from zoos, parks, animal shelters, and nature enthusiasts around the globe.
- Cornell Lab Bird Cams
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology partners with a variety of global national parks, bird rescue centres, and Audubon centres to produce a variety of high-detail livestreams, including nesting raptors, songbirds at feeders, and even an albatross! - Explore.org
A philanthropic multimedia organization, Explore.org highlights global conservation and rescue projects by partnering with organizations to create livestreams. Choose from hundreds of livestreams, including animal sanctuaries, pet rescue centres, and unique habitats. - Monterey Bay Aquarium Cams
Tune into the ten different atmospheric webcams at Monterey Bay Aquarium, including the Moon Jelly Cam, Sea Otter Cam, and Monterey Bay Cam. - San Diego Zoo Cams
Choose your favourite animal from eleven livestream cameras at San Diego Zoo, including a Koala, California Condor, and Polar Bear. - Smithsonian Zoo Cams
Stream footage of a Mole-rat, Lion, Giant Panda, or Elephant, live from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Moving With Intention
Regular exercise helps us produce endorphins, manage stress, and build our overall health. Below are a selection of resources created to help build a mindful, body-positive exercise programme within your own home, with no additional equipment needed.
- Darebee
A non-profit website which posts a variety of free daily workouts, exercise challenges, meal planning advice, and long-term workout plans. Exercises are designed to be completed at home, with no special equipment; and come with illustrated PDF instructions. Users can also signup to participate in an online community for more in-depth advice and support. - The Under Belly
An online yoga community with an emphasis on accessibility and body positivity; created by jessamyn stanley, who identifies as queer, fat, and Black. Video tutorials and practices are available through iOS or Android apps, or try a browser-based 14-day free trial. - Radically Fit Oakland
Radically Fit Oakland is a body-positive fitness space offering community classes and personal training to people who identify as queer, transgender, non-binary, people-of-colour, fat, or big-bodied. Classes are tailored to a variety of abilities, goals, and communities. Membership is available with sliding scale options, and a free initial class. As of March 2020 Radically Fit Oakland is temporarily closing its physical location, but trainers are posting free, 30-minute workout videos on their YouTube channel. - Well For Culture
An Indigenous grassroots initiative created by practitioners Thosh Collins (Onk-Akimel O’Odham, Haudenosaunee) and Chelsey Luger (Chippewa, Standing Rock Sioux), to promote health and resilience through The Seven Circles of Wellness framework. Contains exercise tutorials, a podcast, blog, and other resources blending Western and Indigenous perspectives. - Yoga With Adriene
Join Adriene Mishler and her sidekick Benji in over 500 free yoga and mindfulness videos and wellness challenges, for all interest levels, ages, and sizes.