National Women's Health Week

May 13th through 19th is National Women's Health Week! The observance was coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Women's Health, and is designed to help encourage women to improve their physical and mental health. In keeping with this goal, the theme for 2012 is "It's Your Time", and it is hoped that women all around the nation will take time this week to do all of those things that we often put off the rest of the year, such as

• Getting a health checkup or preventative screening
• Working on becoming more active
• Focusing on creating and sticking to a healthy diet
• Paying more attention to our stress level and overall mental health
• Avoiding - or stopping - unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking

To learn more about the observance and to get ideas for ways that you can work on taking better care of yourself, check out the website here: http://womenshealth.gov/whw/.

I also wanted to take a moment to spotlight TWU's own Institute for Women's Health. This group is focused on becoming a comprehensive authority on women's health and well-being and they have made it their mission to enhance women's health through research, education, and advocacy. Each year they hold the Power of a Healthy Woman conference, and the 2012 conference is coming up on Saturday, September 22nd. In addition, they are currently working on several other research projects. So, if you have not yet explored this resource, be sure to check them out!

What ideas do you have for ways to take better care of yourself? Do you have any goals for your health this week? If so, share them with us!