⌛ 10-15 minutes
🧳 stones/rocks, marker, place by the water
🧘 to let go of the negative thoughts, free yourself from unnecessary worries
Instructions:
It would be helpful to be somewhere in nature for this exercise, close to the waters - the sea, the lake or a river with not many people around for safety reasons.
Collect some stones or rocks around you. Think of something that you want to let go - it can be some experience from your past, some unwanted pressure or thoughts, maybe hard feelings or situations in your life. Try not to force these things, let them come to you, and if it makes sense to you - try to see how your body reacts to your choice.
For each situation/feeling/thought choose one rock and write your situation/feeling/thought on it using words or perhaps symbolic pictures. It is okay to have only one or two rocks, it is also okay to have five or more.
When your rocks are ready, find a place near the water with no people around you, and when you feel ready, let the rocks go - throw them in the water, imagining how your experiences/feelings/thoughts are flying away from you with these rocks, becoming a part of the water flow. Feel how it gives you the lightness and a space for new experiences, leaving all the unnecessary worries behind.
⌛ 15 minutes or more
🧳 notebook and a pen
🧘 to pay attention to the good things in life, become more attuned to the everyday sources of pleasure around you, enhance mental wellness and possibly promote a lasting change in perspective
Instructions:
Find a safe space for yourself. Take a deep breath in, and a long breath out. If you feel safe enough, close your eyes. Think of everything that has happened to you today (or you can set up your own time frame: this week, last month or even a year - for each frame it can take more time to work on your journal). Put your focus on the things that made you feel happy, made you smile, gave you pleasure or for which you feel grateful. It can be something big and important like an event, a happening or great news, or it can be something small like good tasting coffee, a view of the sun from your window, the bus that came on time or a lovely note from your friend or a stranger.
In your notebook write these things down, creating a list of at least 3 to 5 things you are grateful for.
Say thanks to yourself and celebrate this moment.
Continue this journaling for at least 6 weeks, writing at least 3 things every day, that can help you see long lasting changes in your life.