Making the Most of Winter Sunlight with Skukura Woods, MSCP '20
If there’s ever been a year where crawling into bed as soon as the sun goes down seems reasonable… it’s this one. And while taking the occasional day to rest and recharge is totally normal and healthy, you can’t spend all winter long in bed. Enter: Skukura Woods, recent graduate of our Master of Science in Counseling Psychology program.
Skukura Woods, MSCP '20
After graduation, Skukura Woods joined Gwen’s Girls as a Youth Development Specialist, and created Intimate Ascension LLC, providing wellness solutions like growth coaching, meditative movement, and workshop facilitation. She’s returned to Chatham multiple times to share her knowledge and facilitate workshops for RISE and virtual yoga sessions for the Chatham community, focusing on decolonial, holistic, and affirming wellness. Her unique approach to mental and physical health is just what the doctor ordered to get the ChathamU community through an especially challenging winter season.
Mental wellbeing tips during the winter months:
1. Go for nature walks, or at least open your blinds and windows to let in what sunlight we’ve got.
2. Stay hydrated!
3. Create and stick to your morning routine (Skukura’s morning routine includes a cup of tea and meditation or yoga) .
4. Eat Healthy. It’s especially important to Skukura “because I tend to want to go into seasonal ‘hibernation’ and crave [too many] carbs.”
5. Increase your Vitamin D intake through healthy foods like salmon, egg yolks, fortified vegan foods, or supplements.
6. Keep active as much as possible to combat lethargic feelings and low energy.
Special tips for students:
As we wrap up the Fall 2020 term, exam stress can compound an already trying year. Skukura recommends affirmations and gratitude reflection as ways to buoy our spirits and remind us of all we have. She also recommends using intervals of work and rest. Skukura takes 30-40 minute breaks throughout the day with self-care activities such as yoga, warm baths, and grounding exercises to be in the moment. She incorporates self-care into her lifestyle and it really helps her focus on the task at hand.
What advice would Skukura give to her own undergraduate self? “Determine what your best looks like, given everything you have going on in your life. Don't let others' expectations, or your own dictate or equate your worth to your work productivity; that's not what's really important at the end of the day. Your well-being will allow the flow of everything you desire to naturally come into fruition. Don't fight against change; know that that is the only thing that will be constant in your life, so embrace it!”
We encourage students to get in touch with The Counseling Center, which is open for virtual appointments with HIPAA-compliant Zoom accounts for secure, confidential, and private teletherapy. You can call (412) 365-1282 or email counselingservices@chatham.edu with questions or to set up an appointment, or try our You can also try our peer-to-peer support platform, TalkCampus.
