As part of our prevention work at YWCA Glendale and Pasadena, we provide afterschool programs for girls in grades 5–9 across Los Angeles County. Our curriculum includes a variety of enrichment activities designed to empower youth, build confidence, and create a safe, supportive environment where participants can share openly and feel seen and supported by their peers.
As we wrapped up our afterschool programming for the 2025 year, we centered one of our final sessions around body image and healthy living. This topic felt especially important because our students are growing up in the digital age, where unrealistic body expectations and constant comparisons are present across social media, TV, and pop culture.
We began with journaling using guiding questions such as: Is healthy living only about our physical health, or does it also include mental and emotional well-being? Does it involve only how we eat, or does it also include how we rest, move, cope, and take care of ourselves day-to-day? The girls shared thoughtful insights as we discussed examples from shows and movies that portray harmful or unrealistic lifestyles. This reflection set the foundation for our AWBW activity.
I then introduced the AWBW activity for the day titled “Goals.” While the original version was designed to help participants identify financial goals, I adapted it to focus on setting meaningful and realistic goals for healthy living. Each student received an outline of a mountain with a flag at the top, a silhouette of a hiker, and icons representing a variety of healthy habits. Before we began, I reminded the group that this workshop was a Window of Time where we can slow down and pay close attention to their thoughts and feelings. I emphasized that they were free to participate in whatever way felt right to them and that there was no right or wrong way of participating.
Once the outlines were passed out, I asked each student to label the flag at the top of the mountain as “Healthy Living.” Each participant was to identify 3–4 goals they could take in the new year to move toward healthier habits. The girls took their time choosing which healthy habit icons to glue onto their mountains and where to place their hiker silhouette. Some selected habits like “use my phone less” while others chose “drink more water,” “get better sleep,” or “speak kindly to myself.” The room became quiet and focused as they worked, showing how meaningful the reflection felt to them.
Once everyone finished, the girls shared the healthy living goals they selected for their mountains. One student said, “I want my first step to be to fix my sleeping schedule because I didn’t realize how much my sleep affects everything.” Another shared, “My goal is to speak nicer to myself because that’s something I don’t do enough.” Their reflections showed how deeply they were thinking about what healthy living means for them beyond appearance or pressure from the media. The workshop helped them reframe healthy living as something achievable and personal.
