Happiness Isn’t Brain Surgery: Mindfulness and Relaxation For the Family
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
Executive Director, AllCEUs
Continuing Education (CE) credits can be earned for this presentation at https://allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/576/c/
Objectives
~ Review the function of mindfulness and a variety of mindfulness techniques
~ Explore the concept of relaxation
~ Identify different methods of relaxation
Mindfulness
~ Being aware of your current state
~ Emotionally
~ Mentally
~ Physically
~ Spiritually
~ MindLESSness allows people to ignore “minor” stress until it adds up to a meltdown
~ What discriminative stimuli can you put in the environment to remind you to do a mindfulness scan?
Mindfulness Activities
~ Body scan
~ Mindful Breathing
~ Mindful Observation
~ Specific object
~ Environmental awareness
~ Mindful awareness – Think before you act
~ Mindful appreciation: Notice 5 things in your day that usually go unappreciated.
More Mindfulness Activities
~ 4+4
~ 4 Senses plus 4 stimuli: Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell
~ What are 4 things that I see
~ What are 4 things I am hearing
~ What are 4 things I am feeling
~ What are 4 things I can smell
~ Tactile Mindfulness
~ Pinch or ice cube
~ Helps tune in to how you deal with pain and what emotions rise
More Mindfulness Activities
~ “I” and “You” Exercise
~ Pay attention to how often you use the word I in a sentence
~ I feel
~ I am
~ I will etc…
~ Pay attention to how often you use the word “you”
~ In a blaming, directing or accusatory fashion
~ In an inquiring, compassionate fashion
More Mindfulness Activities
~ Cause and effect
~ Play out the story for everything that you do for a given period of time
~ I got out of bed because…. The effect of this is…
~ Devil’s Advocate
~ Act as if you believe the opposite of what you believe about something. Make a note of how you feel and new perspectives you gain.
Relaxation
~ Relieving the mind and body of stress, tension, anxiety and restoring equilibrium
~ Emotional
~ Increase pleasant cues in your environment
~ Sound: Music, birds, silence, waterfall,
~ Sights: Pictures, colors, organization, safety
~ Feel: Temperature, texture
~ Smell: Crisp air, aromatherapy
Relaxation
~ Cognitive
~ Don’t think…just be (meditation)
~ Guided Imagery
~ Reading something enjoyable/nonstressful
~ Learning a new hobby is often not relaxation in it’s truest sense because it takes a fair amount of energy, however, it does distract from other stressors
Relaxation
~ Physical—Relieve pain and muscular imbalances and regulate bloodflow
~ Stretching
~ Massage
~ Hottub
~ Progressive muscular relaxation
~ Breath work
Relaxation
~ Social
~ Social environments that promote calm, tranquility and happiness
~ Laughter is an excellent relaxation technique.
~ Extroverts may be more comfortable around a group of people, interruptions are welcomed
~ Introverts may find a gathering of one or two others without interruptions is optimal
~ “Judgers” do not like surprises and need to plan for the event (the unknown or unpredictable is stressful)
~ “Perceivers” love surprises and prefer not to exert the mental energy of planning everything out
Relaxation
~ Environmental
~ What makes an environment relaxing for you?
~ Colors
~ Sights
~ Light level
~ Temperature
~ Location
~ Sounds
~ Organization
Summary
~ Mindfulness involves increasing awareness of our emotional, mental and physical selves
~ Mindfulness helps us develop an understanding of external stimuli that influence ourselves
~ Relaxation is a technique used to restore equilibrium after a period of stress
~ As clients increase self-awareness, they will be able to
~ Identify signs of distress earlier
~ Implement relaxation strategies to prevent upheaval
~ Learn their own stress triggers and effective interventions
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