Be kind to your mind - Workshops!
We spend a lot of time as human beings practicing and learning new skills to become more successful or able at tasks or skills, to change our appearance and experiences.
How often do we focus on our emotional wellbeing and mental health?
Sometimes we neglect our minds, we forget that our minds need just us much love and care as our bodies.
To maintain healthy emotional wellbeing we need to care of our minds, we need to respect that part of us as much if not more than all the other things we hold dear.
Getting into the habit of self care and positive maintenance of our minds is paramount, our body and minds work together.
This section has different tools, techniques and ideas that you might want to try that will help you to be kind to your mind and ultimately be kind to yourself.
“The person we have the greatest power to change is ourselves.” ~ Shawn Achor
Learn to Accept Yourself Using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
By Andy King, CBT therapist a The Life Lounge.
It seems like we live in a world where confidence equals arrogance and nobody want to see an arrogant person do well. So does that mean we cannot acknowledge our strengths? Does this mean we can only acknowledge our weakness? Accepting yourself for who you are is an important aspect of self esteem and being kind yourself. In this video we will look at using Cognitive Behavioural therapy techniques to help us recognise our positive attributes and deal with our negative self talk.
All you need is a pen and a few sheets of paper and of course a cup a tea
If you think that you would benefit from engaging with CBT to help manage this and other issues such as anxiety please complete the Life Lounge registration form by following this link.
Mindfulness and Meditation can be a great way of stopping and taking time to focus on the present moment, clearing your mind of worries and thoughts.
These practices allow our minds to experience peace and calm and can be restorative when we are experiencing stress and anxiety for example.
Chaplain Gill Smart shared with us Meditations for you to try.
If you have found Mindfulness and Meditation to be helpful, you might like to view our Resource page on Mindfulness and Meditation, available here!
Chaplain Gill Smart also provides pastoral support to all students and staff (regardless of faith). Find out more about support available here.
One of things we are often guilty of is not being kind to ourselves. Our internal dialogue can be full of statements like I am not good enough, I am not healthy, my work isn't good enough. This has a negative impact on our emotional wellbeing.
Antonia Dewsbury is one of our Mental Health Advisors at the Life Lounge and has seen the positive impact Positive Affirmations can have.
Watch this video to find out more.
Mindfulness is the practice of focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. It is a proven method that can help us to manage stress and anxiety.
Here is a short interactive video introducing the idea of mindfulness and including an opportunity to engage in a fun mindful activity involving chocolate. ( Chocolate not provided ! ) :-)
If you have enjoyed this exercise why not follow this link and complete our Mindfulness LEAP module.
Here is another great video about the mindful practice of 5 things: a short mindful exercise that can be engaged in at any time to help reduce stress or simply ground us in the present moment.
Christina Morris, Mental Health Advisor, has put together a really helpful guide about self-care. It is easy to use and has ideas you may not have thought of. We talk about self-care often but we don’t always follow it through in a meaningful way. Give yourself the challenge of carrying out self-care every week without fail as an act of kindness to you.
Connecting with nature allows us to take time away from the hustle and bustle of busy life and connect with living and growing in the moment.
Learn more about the health benefits of spending time in natural environments, and have a go at crafting Lavender Sachets that can a natural way of calming your nervous system and helping you sleep. Follow the link below.
Share your pictures of your acts of kindness!
Use #UoBKindness and share your pictures with us and you could win Amazon eVouchers.
The top prize is £50!
The competition closes at 11.59 on Friday 22nd May 2020
Winners will be chosen at random!
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