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COLLEGE REFORMS & TRAININGS, HED, PUNJAB
Introduction
Introduction
Wellness is the pursuit of continued growth and balance in the seven dimensions of wellness. Many people think about "wellness" in terms of physical health only. The word invokes thoughts of nutrition, exercise, weight management, blood pressure, etc. Wellness, however, is much more than physical health. Wellness is a full integration of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It is a complex interaction that leads to quality of life.
Wellness is commonly viewed as having seven dimensions. Each dimension contributes to our own sense of wellness or quality of life, and each affects and overlaps the others. At times, one may be more prominent than others may but neglecting any one of the dimensions for any length of time has adverse effects on overall health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated to the world that there is nothing more important than mental and physical fitness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you might have experienced stress, anxiety, fear, sadness and loneliness along with the worsening of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. You must have noticed that people from across the globe brought many changes to how their life, and with all the uncertainty, altered daily routines, financial pressures and social isolation. We were all worried about getting sick, how long the pandemic will last, whether our parents will lose their jobs, when the college will resume and what the future will bring. Information overload, rumors, and misinformation disturbed our life and we felt out of control.
This section will facilitate educators to enlighten students on keeping a well and balancing body, will and mind through three sub – themes:
Mental Health
Stress Management
Mindfulness
Dimensions of Wellness
Dimensions of Wellness
1. Physical Dimension
Physical wellness encompasses a variety of healthy behaviors including adequate exercise and proper nutrition. It means learning about and identifying symptoms of disease, getting regular medical checkups, and protecting yourself from injuries and harm. Developing such healthy habits today will not only add years to your life but also will enhance the enjoyment and quality of those years.
Tips for Optimal Physical Wellness:
Exercise daily
Get adequate rest
Use seat belts, helmets, and other protective equipment
Learn to recognize early signs of illness
Eat a variety of healthy foods
Control your meal portions
2. Emotional Dimension
Emotional wellness is a dynamic state that fluctuates frequently with your other six dimensions of wellness. Being emotionally well is typically defined as possessing the ability to feel and express human emotions such as happiness, sadness and anger. It means having the ability to love and be loved and achieving a sense of fulfillment in life. Emotional wellness encompasses optimism, self-esteem, self-acceptance and the ability to share feelings.
Tips for optimal emotional wellness:
Tune-in to your thoughts and feelings
Cultivate an optimistic attitude
Seek and provide support
Learn time management skills
Practice stress management techniques
Accept and forgive yourself
3. Occupational Dimension
Occupational/Vocational wellness involves preparing and making use of your gifts, skills, and talents in order to gain purpose, happiness, and enrichment in your life. The development of occupational satisfaction and wellness is related to your attitude about your work. Achieving optimal occupational wellness allows you to maintain a positive attitude and experience satisfaction/pleasure in your employment. Occupational wellness means successfully integrating a commitment to your occupation into a total lifestyle that is satisfying and rewarding.
Tips and suggestions for optimal occupational wellness include:
Explore a variety of career options
Create a vision for your future
Choose a career that suits your personality, interests and talents
Be open to change and learn new skills
Mental Health
Mental Health
https://www.slideshare.net/teenmentalhealth/school-mental-health
Disappointed in life?
Feeling stressed out?
Not having any fun?
Feeling worn out?
If your answer is YES, you are not alone.
No one experiences perfect mental health or well-being all of the time. We all have to learn how to balance the different aspects of our lives. When things in our life change, we have to re-establish the balance. However, ongoing mental health problems can take a real toll on your well-being.
Your mental health can affect many areas of your life
Work, college, or home life
Relationships with others
Sleep
Appetite
Energy levels
Ability to think clearly or make decisions
Physical health
Life satisfaction and more...
Mental health is just as important to our lives as our physical health. It is not the same thing as the absence of a mental illness. Mental health includes emotional, psychological and social well-being. It can influence:
How you feel about yourself, the world and your life
Your ability to solve problems and overcome challenges
Your ability to build relationships with others and contribute to your communities
Your ability to achieve your goals
Many people take care of their physical health before they feel sick. They may eat well, exercise and try to get enough sleep to help maintain wellness. You can take the same approach to mental health. Just as you may work to keep your body healthy, you can also work to keep your mind healthy.
4 Basic Dimensions of Mental Health and Well-being
THOUGHTS
The way you think about something has a big impact on your mental health. Changes in your thoughts often go along with changes in your mental health. When you feel well, it is easier to see life in a more balanced and constructive way. When you are not well, it is easy to be stuck on negative things and ignore positive things.
Examples of helpful thoughts:
I know I can cope and get through these rough times
There are things in my life that I feel excited about!
I know my friends really care about me
I feel good about the way my life is going these days
I have some really cool talents and interests
I want to do something that makes a positive difference
I'm a good person even though I have some flaws
I feel grateful for the good things in my life
Examples of negative thoughts:
It feels like something really bad is going to happen
Nothing good ever seems to happen to me
I'm never going to get through this
My flaws are too big to overcome
I feel like I’m losing my mind
I'm ugly and stupid
They think I’m a loser
Life sucks!
BODY REACTIONS
Body reactions are changes in your body functions such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, brain chemicals, hormones and more. Changes in your body reactions often go along with changes in your mental health.
Examples of body reactions:
Muscle tension, muscle aches or headaches
Dry mouth
Upset stomach or nausea
Upset bowels or diarrhea
Lack of appetite or increased appetite
Sweating, hot flushes or cold chills
Chest pain, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Pounding, racing or abnormal heartbeat
Feeling dizzy or light-headed
Tingling in hands and/or feet
Feeling that you're separated from things around you
Aggravation of an existing health problem (e.g., acne, digestive disorders, migraines, chronic pain, etc.)
EMOTIONS
A big part of emotions is the way you feel. Emotions can be pleasant, unpleasant or blended, such as when you have two emotions at the same time. Changes in emotions often accompany changes in mental health.
Examples of emotions/feelings:
Happiness or joy
Contentment
Calmness
Excitement
Feeling love or affection
Confusion
Boredom
Relief
Irritability or anger
Frustration
Anxiety or fear
Sadness or feeling down
Embarrassment
Hopelessness
Disgust
BEHAVIORS
Behaviors are the ways you act and respond to your environment. Some behaviors are helpful, and some can be harmful. Changes in behavior often go along with changes in mental health.
Examples of helpful behaviors:
Working on a solution to a problem one step at a time
Reaching out to a friend or family member for support and understanding
Practicing your spiritual activities
Doing something relaxing like taking a bath or practicing yoga
Exercising
Engaging in hobbies or leisure activities
Examples of harmful behaviors:
Isolating yourself and pulling away from friends and family
Avoiding the things that upset you
Overeating, not eating enough, or purging food (such as vomiting, over-exercising)
Lashing out at other people (verbally or physically)
Excessively depending on loved ones or clinging to loved ones
Mental health is determined by our overall patterns of thoughts, emotions, behaviors and body reactions.
Each of the four mental health dimensions can influence all of the others. Here is an example.
Thoughts
I did a good job
I hate being stuck in traffic
Body reactions
My muscles feel relaxed
My heart is racing
Behaviors
I rewarded myself with a movie
I pound my fists
Emotions
I feel happy
I feel angry
Test: What is your Wellness Level?
Read each statement and record the score of the response that best reflects how you have been feeling during the past month. Add up your selected responses to find out your Total Wellness Score.
Debrief
Your wellness score out of 125 = 0
Your score reflects the degree of balance you have across the different areas in your life, how well you are coping, and how good you feel about things. These are all important aspects of wellness and mental health. There is no magic score that guarantees perfect wellness, so we have not included any guidelines on “high” or “low” scores and what they mean. Instead, we recommend using this self-test to track your own wellness status over time.
If you are actively working on ways to improve your health, your score will probably go up over time. Increases usually mean that you are feeling better about things and feeling like you can cope with life’s challenges while still finding time for fun. If you are experiencing stress or changes in your overall health, your score may go down for a period of time. Decreases usually mean that it is harder to feel good about things and that you are struggling to find a sense of balance. Decreases in scores can be an important sign that you need to take action to make things better for yourself. Most people have trouble in their wellness scores over time. To track your own wellness and general mental health over time, we recommend taking this test once a month.
Adapted from Massé, R., Poulin, C., Lambert, J., & Dassa, C. (1998). Élaboration et validation d’un outil de mesure du bien-être psychologique au Québec. Revue canadienne de santé publique, 89(5), 352-357.
Stress Management
Stress Management
Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. A small amount of stress can be good, motivating you to perform well. However, multiple challenges daily, such as sitting in traffic, meeting deadlines and paying attention in class, can push you beyond your ability to cope.
Stress management gives you a range of tools to reset your alarm system. It can help your mind and body adapt (resilience). Without it, your body might always be on high alert. Over time, chronic stress can lead to serious health problems.
Do not wait until stress damages your health, relationships or quality of life. Start practicing stress management techniques today.
Stress Relief
The pace and challenges of modern life make stress management necessary for everyone. To monitor your stress, first identify your triggers. What makes you feel angry, tense, worried or irritable? Do you often get headaches or an upset stomach with no medical cause?
Some stressors, such as job pressures, relationship problems or financial concerns, are easy to identify. However, daily hassles and demands, such as waiting in a long line or being late to a meeting, also contribute to your stress level. Even essentially positive events, such as exams, entry test, buying a bike, changing college or shifting house can be stressful. Any change to your life can cause stress.
Once you have identified your stress triggers, think about strategies for dealing with them. Identifying what you can control is a good starting point. For example, if stress keeps you up at night, the solution may be as easy as removing the TV and computer from your bedroom and letting your mind wind down before bed. Other times, such as when stress is based on high demands at work or a loved one's illness, you might be able to change only your reaction.
Do not feel like you have to figure it out on your own. Seek help and support from family and friends, whether you need someone to listen to you, volunteer for social work or a take a bus to college if van did not arrive or car was not available. Many people benefit from practices such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation, being in nature and praying. Set aside time for yourself. Get a massage, go for a walk, and listen to the Holy Quran, watch a movie— whatever helps you relax. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help you manage stress. Eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Make a conscious effort to spend less time in front of a screen — television, tablet, computer and phone — and more time relaxing.
Stress will not disappear from your life. Moreover, stress management needs to be ongoing. However, by paying attention to what causes your stress and practicing ways to relax, you can counter some of the bad effects of stress and increase your ability to cope with challenges.
Activity: BOX BREATHING
Purpose:
To help students differentiate positive from negative activities that they can do to lessen the intensity of the stress response.
To review the Box Breathing technique of stress response modulation.
How-to:
1. Hand out the Box Breathing cards to each student. Remind them that this is a technique that they have been doing at the start of each class in this course and encourage them to keep using this technique to help modulate their own stress response.
2. Have the Coping with Stress cards available in an easily accessible location in the classroom.
3. Have flip chart papers titled Positive Coping and Negative Coping hung on different sides of the classroom. Have tape available for posting the cards on the flip charts.
4. Ask students to pick up two coping with Stress cards each and to post them on the flip chart paper categories in which they best fit – Positive Coping or Negative Coping.
5. Keep the posted lists up in the classroom for one week following the end of this activity.
Decrease Stress by Using Your Breath
Focusing on your breath is a powerful tool. Learn breathing techniques that ease anxiety, depression and other stress-related issues.
Breath practices are a great way to become more in touch with your mind, body and spirit.
Breath work has other benefits, too. It can increase alertness and oxygen flow and allow your body to release toxins more readily. Although breathing is something your body naturally does, it is also a skill that can be sharpened.
The two basic types of breath are:
Chest breathing, which uses secondary muscles in your upper chest. Chest breathing is designed to be used in situations of great exertion, such as a sprint or race. During stressful situations, you may inadvertently resort to chest breathing. This can lead to tight shoulder and neck muscles and sometimes even headaches. Chronic stress can magnify these symptoms.
Diaphragmatic breathing, which comes from the body's dominant breathing muscle — the diaphragm. This type of breathing is more effective and efficient. It can lead to feelings of relaxation instead of tightness. Diaphragmatic breathing is a great way to reduce stress. To get started, try the exercise below:
Get into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and bring your attention to your body and breath.
Inhale deeply through your nose, allowing your abdomen to fill with air, gently expanding out. Exhale by relaxing and releasing all of the air through your nose.
Place one hand on your abdomen, right below your navel, and the other hand on your upper chest. Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your nose. Feel the coolness of the air as it enters in and the warmth as it flows out.
As you breathe in and out through your nose, focus on shifting your breath so that you can feel the rise and fall of your breathing in your abdomen more than in your chest. In other words, make the hand that rests on your abdomen move more than the hand on your chest. Take a deep breath in through your nose, sending it through the back of your throat and down to your belly. Let your abdomen slowly deflate as you exhale through your nose.
Take three slower, deep breaths with conscious focus on the rise and fall of your abdomen. Continue to breathe fully and deeply, allowing and trusting the body as the breath slows and becomes more relaxed.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques are an essential part of stress management. Because of your busy life, relaxation might be low on your priority list. Do not shortchange yourself. Everyone needs to relax and recharge to repair the toll stress takes on your mind and body.
Almost everyone can benefit from relaxation techniques, which can help slow your breathing and focus your attention. Common relaxation techniques include meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and yoga. More-active ways of achieving relaxation include walking outdoors or participating in sports.
It does not matter which relaxation technique you choose. Select a technique that works for you and practice it regularly.
Self-care strategies
Self-care strategies are good for your mental and physical health and can help you take charge of your life. Take care of your body and your mind and connect with others to benefit your mental health.
Take care of your body
Be mindful about your physical health:
Get enough sleep. Go to bed and get up at the same times each day. Stick close to your typical schedule, even if you are staying at home.
Participate in regular physical activity. Regular physical activity and exercise can help reduce anxiety and improve mood. Allow your body to move through praying, exercising, etc. Get outside in an area that makes it easy to maintain distance from people, such as a nature trail or your own backyard.
Eat healthy. Choose a well-balanced diet. Avoid loading up on junk food and refined sugar. Limit caffeine as it can aggravate stress and anxiety.
Limit screen time. Turn off electronic devices for some time each day, including 30 minutes before bedtime. Make a conscious effort to spend less time in front of a screen — television, tablet, computer and phone.
Relax and recharge. Set aside time for yourself. Even a few minutes of quiet time can be refreshing and help to quiet your mind and reduce anxiety. Many people benefit from practices such as deep breathing, yoga or meditation. Soak in a bubble bath, listen to the Holy Quran, or read a book — whatever helps you relax. Select a technique that works for you and practice it regularly.
Take care of your mind
Reduce stress triggers:
Keep your regular routine. Maintaining a regular schedule is important to your mental health. In addition to sticking to a regular bedtime routine, keep consistent times for meals, bathing and getting dressed, work or study schedules, and exercise. Also set aside time for activities you enjoy. This predictability can make you feel more in control.
Limit exposure to news media. Constant news about COVID-19 from all types of media can heighten fears about the disease. Limit social media that may expose you to rumors and false information. Also limit reading, hearing or watching other news, but keep up to date on national and local recommendations. Look for reliable sources, PTV News and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Stay busy. A distraction can get you away from the cycle of negative thoughts that feed anxiety and depression. Enjoy hobbies that you can do at home, identify a new project or clean out that closet you promised you would get to. Doing something positive to manage anxiety is a healthy coping strategy.
Focus on positive thoughts. Choose to focus on the positive things in your life, instead of dwelling on how bad you feel. Consider starting each day by listing things you are thankful for. Maintain a sense of hope, work to accept changes as they occur and try to keep problems in perspective.
Use your moral compass or spiritual life for support. If you draw strength from a belief system, it can bring you comfort during difficult times. We as Muslims must offer prayers on time and seek guidance from the Holy Quran.
Set priorities. Do not become overwhelmed by creating a life-changing list of things to achieve while you are home. Set reasonable goals each day and outline steps you can take to reach those goals. Give yourself credit for every step in the right direction, no matter how small. Moreover, recognize that some days will be better than others will.
Connect with others
Build support and strengthen relationships:
Make connections. If you need to stay at home and distance yourself from others, avoid social isolation. Find time each day to make virtual connections by email, texts, phone, or FaceTime or similar apps. If you are working remotely from home, ask your co-workers how they are doing and share coping tips. Enjoy virtual socializing and talking to those in your home.
Do something for others. Find purpose in helping the people around you. For example, email, text or call to check on your friends, family members and neighbors — especially those who are elderly. If you know someone who cannot get out, ask if there is something needed, such as groceries or a prescription picked up, for instance. Nevertheless, be sure to follow COVID protocols.
Support a family member or friend. If a family member or friend needs to be isolated for safety reasons or gets sick and needs to be quarantined at home or in the hospital, come up with ways to stay in contact. This could be through electronic devices or the telephone or by sending a note to brighten the day, for example.
Recognizing what is typical and what is not.
Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the demands of life. Everyone reacts differently to difficult situations, and it is normal to feel stress and worry during a crisis. However, multiple challenges daily, such as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, can push you beyond your ability to cope.
Many people may have mental health concerns, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression during this time. In addition, feelings may change over time. Despite your best efforts, you may find yourself feeling helpless, sad, angry, irritable, hopeless, anxious or afraid. You may have trouble concentrating on typical tasks, changes in appetite, body aches and pains, or difficulty sleeping or you may struggle to face routine chores. When these signs and symptoms last for several days in a row, make you miserable and cause problems in your daily life so that you find it hard to carry out normal responsibilities, it's time to ask for help.
Continue your self-care strategies.
You can expect your current strong feelings to fade when the pandemic is over, but stress will not disappear from your life when the health crisis of COVID-19 ends. Continue these self-care practices to take care of your mental health and increase your ability to cope with life's ongoing challenges.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness
Do you want to slow down?
Accept and better manage challenging emotions?
Spend more time living in the present moment?
Mindfulness can help! Mindfulness is a tool that anyone can use at any time. It encourages us to slow down, accept things as they are, cope well with problems or difficulties, and simply appreciate what is in our life right now.
Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you are sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.
Mindfulness is not:
Emptying the mind of thoughts or feelings
Ignoring thoughts, feelings, or experiences
Forcing yourself to relax or feel or certain way. Mindfulness is about recognizing and accepting what you feel, whether good or bad
Practicing mindfulness exercises can help you direct your attention away from this kind of thinking and engage with the world around you.
Here is an example of mindfulness.
Pretend that you have a very important deadline coming up at college or at work:
Someone who is just starting to learn about mindfulness might say, “I started to think about that deadline. What if I can’t get everything done? I wish this thought would just go away. I can’t handle this!” They will likely notice many different reactions to these thoughts, too. They might feel tense, upset and maybe even a little hopeless. They might find it difficult to concentrate or sleep that night.
Someone who regularly practices mindfulness might use their attention skills to recognize the same thought: “What if I can’t get everything done?” They might respond by saying, “Oh look, it’s that thought. I notice how the thought is making me feel: I can sense my shoulders tensing up and my breath changing. This thought makes me feel a bit overwhelmed at this moment, and that’s okay.”
Of course, the situation has importance—both people need to meet the same deadline. The difference is in the way our two examples dealt with the situation. The second person was more aware of the thought and how it was making them feel and could likely use different tools or strategies to help them manage the feeling of being overwhelmed.
There are a few general features of mindfulness. A mindfulness practice usually includes:
Observation and description of things inside and outside of us—without judgement
Full participation—we focus all of our attention on the task
Focusing—such as focusing on one particular sensation, like the sensation of the breath
Compassion—for ourselves and others
Staying in the present moment, and experiencing the present moment fully
What are the benefits of meditation?
Meditation has been studied in many clinical trials. The overall evidence supports the effectiveness of meditation for various conditions, including:
Stress
Anxiety
Pain
Depression
Insomnia
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Meditation can help you experience thoughts and emotions with greater balance and acceptance. Meditation also has been shown to:
Improve attention
Decrease job burnout
Improve sleep
Improve diabetes control
Activity: HOW TO PRACTICE MINDFULNESS
Are you ready to try mindfulness?
A Simple Mindfulness Practice: Close your eyes and identify five sounds you hear in this moment. There are many simple ways to practice mindfulness. Some examples include:
Pay attention. It is hard to slow down and notice things in a busy world. Try to take the time to experience your environment with all of your senses — touch, sound, sight, smell and taste. For example, when you eat a favorite food, take the time to smell, taste and truly enjoy it. Instead of eating in front of the TV or computer, really focus on what you are eating and enjoy each bite.
Live in the moment. Try to intentionally bring an open, accepting and discerning attention to everything you do. Find joy in simple pleasures.
Accept yourself. Treat yourself the way you would treat a good friend.
Focus on your breathing. When you have negative thoughts, try to sit down, take a deep breath and close your eyes. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your body. Sitting and breathing for even just a minute can help.
Bring mindfulness to your meals. Instead of eating in front of the TV or computer, really focus on what you are eating and enjoy each bite.
Bring mindfulness while you are getting around. Try to turn off distractions and stay in the present moment sometimes on your commute to college or work, or while walking the dog.
Bring mindfulness into chores. Purposefully focus your attention on what you are doing. Watch for the different physical sensations and thoughts that come up. What does the soap smell like, feel like, look like? Washing dishes might not seem so dull!
Bring mindfulness to work or college. Check in with yourself a few times throughout the day. What are your thoughts like? How does your body feel?
Bring mindfulness into your relationships. If you are talking with friends and loved ones face-to-face, put away phones or other distractions. Really, listen to what they are saying, and pay attention to how it makes you feel. Enjoy each other’s company without judgements or expectations.
Bring mindfulness to observations. Really, focus your attention on something you see or pass every day. Take note of what emotions or thoughts come up.
Bring mindfulness into sensations. Spend one full minute simply following your own breath. When you mind wanders or thoughts, come up, take note and gently guide your attention back to your breath. With practice, you can try to challenge yourself by adding more time.
Practice on a regular basis. It is by practicing regularly that we develop the skills we can use in our daily lives. Commit to a few minutes of focusing on the breath once a day for a week. Take note of how you feel at the end of the week.
You can also try more structured mindfulness exercises, such as:
Body scan meditation
Lie on your back with your legs extended and arms at your sides, palms facing up. Focus your attention slowly and deliberately on each part of your body, in order, from toe to head or head to toe. Be aware of any sensations, emotions or thoughts associated with each part of your body.
Activity: BODY SCAN
Practice being mindful of your experience while leading the exercise. Create pauses throughout the exercise to notice the spaces in between the words.
1. Sit in a comfortable position with your feet flat on the floor. Allow your back to be straight but not stiff, gently stacked like a row of coins, so you can breathe easily.
2. Close your eyes or cast your gaze low.
3. Rest your hands on your lap or desk.
4. Let us begin by taking a few deep breaths.
5. Inhale through your nose…. and exhale on your own time.
6. Inhale….and exhale on your own time. Relaxing.
7. Simply observe your breath for a few moments.
8. Bringing your attention to your feet, simply notice your feet. The tops and side…the arches of your feet. You may notice tingling or the ground under your feet…your shoes or your clothing touching your feet….
9. Noticing any sensations…
10. And turning your attention now to your ankles…your shins….calf muscles…knees…and thighs…upper legs..
11. Just noticing…
12. Coming back to this body scan if your mind wanders at any time.
13. Shifting your attention to your hips…abdomen…belly…lower back…upper back….and chest.
14. Noticing any sensations, any feelings…
15. Coming back to the exercise if your mind wanders.
16. Now noticing your shoulders…arms…wrists...hands...and fingers…
17. Breathing and exhaling any tension as we go.
18. And shifting your attention to your neck and head…your jaw…ears…face…your cheeks…nose…mouth…eyes…forehead…
19. Not judging any of it as good or bad, simply noticing…
20. Coming back to the exercise if you get distracted. Knowing it’s okay. Coming back.
21. And noticing the sensations in your whole body, at once. Your feet, legs, belly, torso, shoulders, arms, hands, head, face…
22. As we come to the end of this exercise, you can direct your attention back to any area of your body you choose – any area you would like to give more attention.
23. Take another deep breath into your belly…and let it go.
And turning your awareness now to the room and the sounds in the room…and completing this practice by noticing yourself in this present moment.
Sitting meditation
Sit comfortably with your back straight, feet flat on the floor and hands in your lap. Breathing through your nose, focus on your breath moving in and out of your body. If physical sensations or thoughts interrupt your meditation, note the experience and then return your focus to your breath.
Activity: MINDFUL BREATHING
1. Sit in a comfortable position with your feet flat on the floor. Allow your back to be straight but not stiff, gently stacked like a row of coins, so you can breathe easily.
2. Closing your eyes if it feels comfortable, or cast your gaze low.
3. Let us start by taking a few deep breaths…Inhale though your nose (breathe)….and exhale on your own time.
4. Take another deep breath in (breathe), and exhale on your own time. Allowing your breath to flow…in and out…
5. Just relaxing into your chair, feeling the floor beneath you supporting you…Noticing your body
6. Without changing your breathing, noticing your breath.
7. Noticing where your breath is most prominent for you…
*create a pause for time to notice*
8. You may feel your breath most strongly in the belly…or the lungs…or the ribs…or the tip of your nose…
9. Noticing where the breath is most present for you. This area will be your anchor spot. Focusing your attention on your anchor spot as you notice your breath.
*create a pause time to notice*
10. If your mind wanders, see if you can bring it back to your anchor spot – your belly, lungs, ribs, or the tip of your nose.
11. Just noticing your breath.
*create a pause time to notice*
12. Coming back to your breath each time your mind wanders.
*create a pause time to notice*
13. Noticing the spaces between each breath. A pause or stillness between breaths.
*create a pause time to notice*
14. As we come to the end of this exercise, take a few moments to notice your whole body. Your feet, legs, your torso, your shoulders, your arms, hands, head, and face…
15. Take another deep breath in (breathe in)…and let it go
16. Congratulate yourself, however this practice was for you.
17. Noticing the room that we are in, and the sounds in the room….
18. And turning your awareness now to the room and the sounds in the room…and completing this practice by noticing yourself in this present moment.
Walking meditation
Find a quiet place 10 to 20 feet in length, and begin to walk slowly. Focus on the experience of walking, being aware of the sensations of standing and the subtle movements that keep your balance. When you reach the end of your path, turn and continue walking, maintaining awareness of your sensations.
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