Resources
So nice to have tools
Tool #1
Mindfulness Meditation
There are so many precious moments to experience in this life. Not only is it important to have time to create them but it is also important to take time out to appreciate them, reflect, smell the roses, meditate on your values and things that keep you happy and healthy.
The harsh health and social effects of COVID-19, busier lifestyles, fears, and stresses that you allow to consume you, highlights the need for your self-care which includes meditation. Mindfulness meditation provides techniques that allow you to take advantage of and give awareness to the moment. It helps you deal with an unwanted situation in which you find yourself by finding a space where you can get away and attempt to manage your response to the clutter and maladaptive thoughts demanding your attention. Distractions and rumination of unhealthy thoughts can be decreased (Khandelwal, 2020). As you manage this space, you are better able to rest in moments of peace & calm and perhaps better cope with situations that you face (Khandelwal, 2020).
This mental exercise of awareness, seizing the moment, and achieving internal peace can begin as instructed below:
First find a quiet place and make yourself comfortable (i.e. sitting on the floor, a chair, or laying down if that’s best for you).
Closing your eyes is better for focus.
Breathe in a controlled manner comfortable for you.
As you are breathing, visualize your breath moving through your body and then exiting.
Still breathing and visualizing, choose a word (mantra) to enhance your focus and the feeling that you are trying to achieve (i.e. healing, peace, love, calm, light)
Attach your mantra to your breath and watch your breathe and your mantra move through your body. Exhale, and then watch your breath and your mantra move through your body again.
Do this for 1 minute (or less as comfortable). As you become comfortable you can increase the time.
To further your experience inside of your mindful meditation state, imagine a place related to your mantra. Exist there in a way that brings you peace and joy. Consider:
Is there a breeze.
What sounds do you hear?
What scents do you smell?
What would you like to do there? Or do you prefer to do nothing which is absolutely fine?
Are you alone or would you like to invite someone? If inviting someone, how are they enhancing your peace and joy?
When you are ready to return, give thanks to this space and any living thing or object that you appreciate during your encounter. Say so long.
Then focus on your breathing and your mantra again for a few seconds, open your eyes if they were closed, and return to where you were when you started.
Ref.
Khandelwal, S. (2020). Efficacy of mindfulness meditation on mental health during the times of COVID’19- A mixed-method study. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(4), 281–287.
Exercise created by Pamela Modeste
Tool #2
Imagination Take Me Away!
Can’t take a mental health day off but you need a change in scenery and space to let your mind relax or play? Well, if can’t take a mental health day maybe you can take a metal health minute or two.
Where would you like to go? What would you like to do? Imagine a scene or a picture that you would like to step into. Here are two options.
1. You can close your eyes and imagine that you are at your preferred destination doing whatever it is that you would like to do. Or
2. You can find a picture in a magazine that you like or use a favorite photo of a scene. Study the photo to capture the feel and the things that attract you to the scene. Grab a prop or two if you like, imagine that you are in the scene and play. Yes, adults can play also.
When you are ready to take that mental health break, say, “Imagination take me away! And when you are ready to return, say, “Thank you imagination but I must return now”. Take one to three deep breaths as you transition and take in the new energy. Now, you are good to go.
NOTE: If you like, feel free to use one of my pictures below for your “Imagination Take Me Away!”
Exercise created by Pamela Modeste
Name the scene what you like
Name the scene what you like
Name the scene what you like
Tool #3
Becoming!
~ lao tzu
What we think, we become. We think all day long. Those thoughts from the same subconscious program that we react to, day in and day out become our behavior. This can make it difficult to become the person one wants to be if the thoughts are focused on what is not wanted. Also, if the thoughts are focused on troubles of the past, one’s destiny can be limited to the energy and emotions of past events.
Good News! You have the power to change your thoughts. You have the power to form new neuropathways in your brain (neuroplasticity) that lead to new insights, behavior, and realities. Make a conscious effort to change negative and limiting thoughts to positive and empowering thoughts that support what you desire to become. Practice the new thinking and create a new reality.
A few helpful hints
Focus on what you want – not what you don’t want
Obtain a vision of a desired future/behavior. Then obtain a positive affirmation that supports the vision/behavior. Attach the vision and affirmation to an action that you do often every day. Ex: If you drink water often during the day, say and believe your positive affirmation & see your vision every time you drink water. When the day has ended, you will be a little closer to what you want to become. You are creating a new program of thoughts that work toward what you want.
Try something new – something out of your normal routine and related to your vision.
Exercise created by Pamela Modeste
Tool #4
Know You Belong
This online workshop is for those seeking personal growth and self-care or those seeking a healthy way to manage struggles with identity. Self-acceptance, resilience, and personal agency in the face of conflicting identities and social pain are essential as we stand firm that we belong. Watch this virtual workshop to receive some healing and helpful information about our identities and how they are related to social cohesion, the absence of social cohesion, and social pain. While learning, explore and celebrate your identity through mask making and other techniques.