Mental health and emotional well-being in everyday life- Assignment

First year students

Duration: One week
Submission via: Email ( campus-counsellor@dalailamainstitute.edu.in )

Objective of this assignment

The purpose of giving this assignment is for a few reasons. Whatever we have been discussing in
class so far about understanding one’s thoughts and feelings, taking care of oneself, wellness and
mental health promotion, we are now on the way to put these into practice and embark on this
journey of understanding oneself and then caring about others well-being.
Secondly, it is aimed to leave an imprint in other’s lives through your small act of kindness or
gratitude. We never know what lies behind the mask that each one of us is wearing. It may just
be a token of gratitude / a simple message from your end but for the receiver, it might touch their
heart and embrace this forever in their life, we never know.

So, here’s the assignment that all of you are going to do over the next week.

The assignment is about completing as many tasks as you can and you are expected to complete
these within the given time frame. You can do one task per day so that you’re not overwhelmed
by it.

1-Write three positive affirmations/ messages and give it to three students on campus.
You can be creative in your own ways with the message and the means you use. For example:
making a mobile wall paper with the message and sending it to the student, a painted stone that
he/she will forever keep and remind of you, or simply a message written on a colorful piece of
paper.
Give it to three students on campus. ( ideally someone you don’t know or want to start a
conversation. )

2-Give a genuine compliment to a faculty of your choice.

You can give a handwritten note/ mail them something that you want to say to a faculty member.
Be it a compliment, appreciation, sorry letter or anything. You can keep it anonymous if you
like.
( if you find it difficult to get the email of faculty, please do let me know:) )

3-Do three small acts of gratitude/ act of kindness in and around the campus.
This simple act may involve feeding the stray dog, helping a suffering insect on the way,
volunteering in cleaning services or anything.
It need not be restricted to people, you can be creative in your act of service.

4-Hunt a special spot/ corner for yourself on the campus.

You can hunt for a space around the campus for yourself, anywhere you feel connected to or
belong. Sit there for a few minutes and write down your feelings and thoughts.
You may also take a picture of your favourite corner.

5-Drop a sorry message / or an appreciation note to someone from your past

This need not be from the campus. You can simply drop this message to anyone from your past
to whom you feel sorry/ or anyone from your past who deserves an appreciation from you. If you
can’t think of either, drop a gratitude message. ( reminding the other person how much you value
their act and your feelings associated with it ) This will be more like a retrospection.

6-Write a five sentence message for yourself ( affirmations, goals or what you want
someone to tell you)
Write a five sentence message which can be your affirmations, what you wish to hear from
others when you have a bad day, your goals or anything about you. Keep it short, simple and
specific.

7-Self-care activity / Self-treat

Shower yourself with any three self-care activities, it can be treating yourself with new clothing,
get one hour extra sleep, watching one more episode than the daily limit or anything that you
don’t do for yourself on a regular basis.

8-Stream of consciousness
First thing: play your favourite music and blast it out, or capture a beautiful scene.
After that, cleanse your mind by writing down your stream of thoughts without any defence and
edit. Be very candid with your feelings. Do a brain dump where you are writing without any
evaluation, judgement and editings but simply expressing your ideas and thoughts.

Upon completion of these tasks, share one of the tasks that you enjoyed the most when doing it
and write your reflection in a paragraph. You can also add the comments you received from
people involved in these tasks.

Assessment and Evaluation

This paper carries 12.5 marks for your internal assessment so, you will be evaluated based on
the submission of this assignment and obviously, your attendance of this class.

I believe a week is more than sufficient to carry forward these tasks so, please submit your work
on time and ensure your diligence and integrity.

Enjoy the process of doing it! Cheers!