Good Vibes Experiment - Flinders University Students

The Good Vibes Experiment is a campaign led by students at Flinders University. The campaign encourages us all to experiment with adding wellbeing-focused activities to our everyday lives. It isn’t about pretending to be happy. It’s about developing the knowledge and skills necessary to improve, sustain, repair or strengthen mental health.

The campaign is based on a core set of 20 evidence-based wellbeing tactics you can experiment with. They’re like taste-testers – if you like one, then you can keep going with it, or experiment with it further. If you don’t like one, that’s okay too – the point is to give it a go. And if you ever find yourself struggling, remember support is available.

We’ve made an activity book for you to explore and if you want to learn more. There’s more than one way to improve your mental health, we’ve made a stack for you try!

Activity book

The 20 tactics

Connect on social media

Resources

Activity Book

This activity book is both an educational tool, in which we share with you some of the science of improving your mental health, and a personal reflective tool (like a journal) in which you can take legitimate steps in investing in your mental health.

You can flip to any page in this book and there will be a unique exercise or experiment for you to try. Some of them are just for fun and to relax, while others are challenges to question your way of thinking, your habits, your priorities, etc.

Order an activity book

View activity book

The 20 tactics

If you would like to start the process of learning about the 20 tactics designed to help you improve, sustain, repair or strengthen your mental health, you can read the brief descriptions below.

The Tactics

Meditation and mindfulness. Learning how to be present and focusing your attention.
Seeking out awe. Taking moments to bask in the amazingness of something or someone.
Finding your meaning and purpose. Connecting to a purpose higher than you and understanding what you want to contribute to the world.
Future orientation. Taking the time to visualise the future you want for yourself and setting things in place to bring it into reality.
Understanding yourself. Learning more about the person you are, your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and personality.
Developing and expressing gratitude. Cultivating a sense of appreciation of the people and things in your life and the experiences you’ve had.
Building and supporting connections with others. Building and nurturing supportive relationships with friends, family, colleagues and even the a random stranger!
Developing self and other compassion. Extending understanding and kindness to yourself and other people during difficult times.
Forgiveness. Letting go of difficult thoughts, feelings and ideas about someone who has wronged you.
Expressing kindness. Engaging in regular acts of kindness towards self and others.
Seeking help. Knowing when and how to reach out for assistance.
Learning and teaching. An ongoing willingness to learn as well as pass on the knowledge you’ve gained to others.
Building a healthy lifestyle. Looking after your body and mind with healthy habits.
Spending time in nature. Connecting regularly with the natural world.
Having fun. Spending more time engaging in activities that bring a true smile to your face.
Facing your fears. Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.
Deliberate practice. Getting better at something through focused practice.
Enhancing productivity. Learning to work smarter, not harder and increasing your productivity and efficiency.
Expressive writing and art. Processing your feelings and reactions to things through writing and art.
Thinking about thinking. Learning more about the role that your thoughts and beliefs play in shaping your world and how to change or challenge your thinking.

Connect on social media

Follow Oasis on Facebook and Instagram for GVE updates during 2022

Oasis Facebook

Oasis Instagram

Use the Good Vibes hashtag!

Use #flindersgoodvibes to give a Good Vibes shout-out on your own social media channels.

Develop your own Good Vibes plan

Wondering how to incorporate Good Vibes Experiment principles into your everyday life? In this 3-part video series, Dr Gareth Furber from Oasis talks about how to develop a Good Vibes Plan – a strategy for sustaining and growing your mental health.

Resources

Visit the support and services directory to view the extensive range of free support services available at Flinders to support your mental, cultural, physical and emotional wellbeing.

Visit the Support and Services Directory

There are also a number of community and online services that you can access.

Community Services

You aren’t just limited to accessing services within Flinders University. There are hundreds of different services in the community that assist with all types of issues. Some starting points in terms of mental health include:

Headspace centres are ‘free and confidential service where young people aged between 12 - 25 can access qualified youth mental health professionals.
Links to Wellbeing provide counselling and mental health support across central and southern Adelaide.
Community mental health services are run by SA Health and include a range of services delivered through community centres, hospitals and home-visit services. Their website also contains links to other mental health services worth knowing about.

In terms of other community-based services, we recommend familiarising yourself with a couple of the community service directories, that is, catalogues of services for different issues.

One of our favourites is Ask Izzy – works well on mobile devices and documents a huge range of services.

Another good one is Affordable SA - which has a helpline you can ring (1800 025 539).

Finally, you can try the SA Directory of Community Services which have a huge catalogue of services, but not all are in the health and welfare space.

Online Services

We’re lucky to have lots of excellent online mental health programs and services.

These are particularly useful for people who want to learn more about mental health and get some therapeutic support but aren’t quite ready yet to visit a professional face-to-face.

There are two good entry points into discovering the best online mental health focused services and resources.

Head to Health is a government created portal to finding mental health resources from trusted service providers. The site isn’t just designed to provide links to services and resources, there are educational materials on there as well so you can learn more about mental health and wellbeing.

Another excellent site is eMHprac who have compiled a list of “Australian online and teleweb programs, all of which have been developed by credible sources, such as the Australian Government, universities, and national non-government organisations. This includes apps, online programs, online forums, and phone services, as well as a range of digital information resources. Check out the directory.

The Good Vibes Experiment vision:

That all members of the Flinders University community have the knowledge and tools to make meaningful improvements to their mental health and wellbeing.
That people don’t feel alone in their attempts to make these improvements, but rather feel part of a community trying to make these changes en masse.
To de-stigmatise the conversation about mental health in the Flinders Community.
That people know how to use the power of positive emotions to bring balance during difficult times.
That all students know about the range of mental health focused services available to them at Flinders, but also in the community and online.

Access to Good Vibes Experiment materials

Flinders University have waived copyright over the Good Vibes Experiment materials to ensure they are freely available to all universities and other organisations across Australia and internationally. To access the digital and physical assets, including the files for the activity book, posters, enamel pins, t-shirts and other promotional items, please click here.

Read the media release.

More information?

The Good Vibes Experiment (GVE) is a campaign developed by Flinders University students, Flinders University Student Association (FUSA), Health, Counselling and Disability Services, Oasis, and Student Experience. If you’d like to reach out to the GVE team, please email using the address below.

goodvibes@flinders.edu.au