Wellness Tips

because your well-being matters...

Without a doubt, our lives are busy. We are managing multiple parts in our lives: work, family, kids, relationships and more. Many times we are managing quite well... but then, there are those days where we just don't seem to have enough hours in the day, and can feel overwhelmed or stressed. Or something completely out of the blue happens - like a significant loss or a pandemic (!), and suddenly, it feels like our world has been turned completely upside down. It feels difficult to grapple with, and our normal ways of coping don't seem to be enough.

This page is designed to provide you with some wellness tips. The activities listed here are extensions of the Tools for Well-Being curriculum. They are similar to some of the exercises you have already learned if you've taken any of the Tools for Well-Being classes, but they are not the same ones.

Gratitude in the midst of chaos

There are multiple ways in which we are experiencing the impact of this pandemic. It could seem almost naïve or even crazy that we would look to gratitude practices as a way of helping us cope with the magnitude of it all.

And yet, the wisdom of such practices – especially in times of chronic stress – is supported by the research in the neuroscience and positive psychology field.

This week, we’d like to share with you a gratitude practice that you can use on-site at work, home, in an elevator, in your car while in a parking lot… wherever. The practices are meant to be brief and can be done however many times you want to do them throughout the day.

EXERCISE:

When you have a minute – take some space to do these two things:

(1) Take some deep breaths in and out… and notice what you are feeling in your body; if you’re feeling any tension in the body, notice it and give that part of your body loving kindness and gratitude for all that it is doing right there, in the present moment with you.

For Example: I am feeling tension in shoulders, I know my shoulders tend to be the one that carry stress when I’m feeling worried, anxious, stressed.

Noticing this, I can send my shoulders gratitude and loving kindness,

“Thank you shoulders for all the burdens you are trying to manage. You are so loving in that effort…may your burden be light, may you feel at ease.”

* Do this for any part of your body where you notice tension, strain or pain.

(2) Next take a few breaths and allow yourself to just be in the time and space, right where you are.

Place your hand on your heart and just rest a moment. With your hand over your heart, give statements of gratitude to YOURSELF – simply state (either silently or verbally) whatever is coming to you about how thankful you are to you for ________ (name what you are grateful for). Speak to yourself as if you were speaking to another person.

Examples:

“I am grateful for the way you handled …”

“I’m grateful for really trying to be strong for ...”

“I’m so grateful for you being who you are!”

Enjoy your day… may you all be safe and well.