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Tips #1-#9: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/wellness/takecareofyoutips
#10 Practice the Pause
Throughout the day, practice the the pause. Notice your breathing pattern and your heart rate. Move your tongue away from the roof of your mouth. Drop your shoulders away from your ears. Stretch your neck. Take a deep breath and sigh as you exhale. Repeat as many times as necessary. ~Yoga Learning Adventures FB post, 8/26/2020
#11 Culture of Gratitude -- One Habit at a Time
I started a Masters in Yoga Therapy program last week with Maryland University of Integrative Health! Each Tuesday, they send an email about the benefits of having an attitude of gratitude. We have a great PAWsitive culture at PHES, and I thought y'all might appreciate these thoughts:
The many cited benefits of practicing gratitude include an increase in prosocial behaviors, offering mutual benefits to the receiver (beneficiary), and the giver (benefactor) of gratitude. This prosociality supports and sustains positive relationships and positive cultures. A culture of gratitude influences how people speak to each other, increases positive emotions and reciprocates positive interactions such as kindness, generosity, and respect, to name a few. Neuroimaging research, including a study done by the Department of Psychology, Brain and Creativity Institute, at the University of Southern California, indicates multiple regions of the brain activated by gratitude. These regions involve connecting with others, taking their perspective into consideration, fairness, even your own psychological well-being. These findings, from a neurological perspective, are important and, as a result, allows for a greater willingness to support others, promotes an openness to finding solutions to complex problems, and increases collaboration.
Gratitude Action Step
Are you part of a culture where the influence of gratitude would strengthen and support relationships? Consider introducing one new “gratitude habit” and practice it 3 to 5 times a week for two months. Ask at least one or two other people to join you in selecting the gratitude habit and practicing with you. Example: start a mealtime conversation about three good things that you are grateful for; begin a business meeting recognizing someone the team is grateful for and describe specifically how the team has benefited. Remember to keep it frequent, but genuine – gratitude is contagious. Continue to add gratitude habits regularly.
February 16, 2021
Gratitude: A Safe Haven During Stormy Seas
Gratitude: A Safe Haven During Stormy Seas
Many people face uncertainty, volatility, and challenges in their life including challenges related to COVID-19. The novel coronavirus has shone an almost blinding light and further fueled many of the preexisting inequities which have been present for years in most aspects of our lives at home, work, and even play.
Relationships have been stressed (and sometimes even ended) among family members and friends in a highly emotionally charged and divided nation. Healthcare providers, first responders, and front-line workers are physically exhausted and mentally drained, subject to infectious disease warfare which puts their lives at risk on a daily basis. And few of us are immune to the emotional distress and fatigue stemming from a drastic and ongoing disruption to daily routines and human connection.
The need for unity and healing is greater than it has ever been. Fear of and resistance to diversity of thought, values, and beliefs threaten our ability to forgive, to build bridges, to give others the benefit of the doubt, and to comfort with compassion those who have lost friends, colleagues, and family members to COVID-19. And, unfortunately, divisive-ness has accelerated and emboldened the hate that all too often ends in loss of life and a terrorized psyche.
Gratitude can be a balm to soothe both shattered nerves and hurt feelings. It can make it easier to see each other as human beings with more in common than the differences which often take center stage. Being thankful can help us step back and widen the aperture of our perspective sufficiently enough to see more clearly a possible way forward. Practicing gratitude provides a safe haven and the space to develop the grit and resilience needed to navigate the stormy seas ahead.
When all is said and done, the only real way for us to emerge from the devastation of COVID-19, with our humanity intact and empathy strengthened rather than undermined, is for each of us to value the lives of everyone else as much as our own.
“I've come to believe that in everyone's life, there's one undeniable moment of change, a set of circumstances that suddenly alters everything.”
~ Nicholas Sparks
Breathing Practices:
3/1/2021 -- There are three things you can do to create more calm in your body, brains, and heart! Breathe, MOVE, and Sit Still and Quiet. During March I thought I would share with you and the folks in your Circle of Influence different ways to take a deep breath. In April, we could explore moving, and in May, ways to sit still and quiet. All three of these strategies are IN your Circle of Control (I'm in charge of what I think, where I look, what I say, how I feel, and what I do)!
For today, here's a review of the breathing pattern we practiced on Friday, Bellows Breathing: https://youtu.be/xOpP5s4g6-0 (0:25)
Why take a deep breath? Because:
It doesn’t cost anything.
You don’t need a lot of space to do it.
You don’t need anyone’s help.
You don’t need any special equipment.
You can do it any time, anywhere.
Deep breathing does so many great things:
Calms the nervous system
Improves respiratory system
Releases muscle tension
Benefits the digestive system
Take an extra deep breath today!
3/2/2021
What did you learn during the first part of quarantine, Mrs. Broam??! I learned how . . .
Breathe Out Your Horsey Lips: https://youtu.be/zsWWRXt11zY (0:03)Here's another one I needed to hear . . .
Cultivating Gratitude During Challenges
Cultivating Gratitude During Challenges
“I am thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.” – Alexandra Elle
As humans, we generally don’t like struggling. It doesn’t feel good and it may even challenge some of our core beliefs about ourselves: that we are strong enough to handle anything that comes our way with a smile, that we don’t need help, or that we must always be happy to be successful.
Unfortunately, all three of these common beliefs are woefully inaccurate. We may be strong enough to handle everything that comes our way, but nobody does it with a smile 24/7. None among us have ever gotten by without help from others. And we certainly don’t need to be happy to be successful, and we can be happy without being “successful” in the traditional understanding of the word.
The good news is that, while the struggle is inevitable, we can still benefit from it and be grateful for it. Our struggles are some of the most impactful experiences we have, and they have a significant influence in shaping who we are and who we become. Those who never struggle, never grow.
Cultivate gratitude for the challenges you have already overcome and the ones you are currently facing, because you know you will come out stronger and wiser than before.
Gratitude Action Step
Create a timeline of challenges in your life. Grab a piece of paper and draw a long line, with the beginning representing your birth and the end representing this moment. Think about the 3 to 5 biggest challenges you’ve faced so far, and jot them down on the timeline.
Look over these challenges and think about what you have taken away from them. Write down at least one lesson or skill you gained from each of your struggles. Be grateful for what your struggles have given you.
3/3/2021
https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing/choochoo
Here's a breathing pattern that sounds like a train coming down the track! It makes me think of the spring SmileTrain day, pre-pandemic, when we'd meet on the track after raising money for cleft palate surgeries and our school. Good memories of good times!
The district counseling supervisor sent this article that totally hit home for me: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/01/health/kids-pandemic-wall-wellness/index.html "Why Kids are Hitting the Pandemic Wall". . . Friday's announcement had me not only hit the wall, but kinda make a messy splatter on contact . . . It is what is, but it will be what we make it, huh? Thank you to the related arts folks who are willing to make one more change in a year of so many. I am thankful for the opportunity to breathe with you all and make more memories together as we navigate this year one breath at a time
3/4/2021
https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing/breathingwings
I completed the form in the email last night and was able to schedule my vaccine for this morning!! Moving my arms today to keep from getting sore.
Breathing wings or umbrella breath is great for facilitating a deep breath.
3/5/2021
Make Fridays COUNT! Counting Breath for Friday's Breathing Strategy: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing/countingbreath
I find it helpful to touch the tip of my fingers with the opposite hand to stay focused and count the breath in and out!
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