MINDFULNESS MONDAY
For this week’s activity, we are going to look at establishing safety to improve our personal willpower. In order to optimize our mental and emotional capacity, we must feel safe.
Take caution with not overdoing this- if you are truly unsafe where a threat is putting you at risk of real harm, listen to that fear and seek refuge with a more permanent means. This activity today is addressing situations that are fearful to the self- for example being confronted with death, or fearing a financial inability to provide for yourself or family, etcetera. These thoughts and feelings take our focus away from our inner well-being by mentally trying to fend off these outside threats.
A suggestion for the week: The following activities help us to relax, meditate and continually affirm our safety.
· Practice diaphragmatic breathing- concentrate on the ebb and flow of your breath and your body’s response to it.
· Relax the body- begin at the top of your head and work your way down muscle group by muscle group contracting then consciously relaxing them allowing increased blood flow throughout the body.
· Use a mantra or statement that helps you to feel safe and peaceful, possibly ‘this too shall pass’, in times where you are distracted by external situations, or you can note feeling unsafe.
· Meditate in a safe place or in a place where you feel in control or able to let your guard down. Treat your space as a sanctuary. You can focus on your breath or on physical relaxation as you meditate.
· Seek refuge in others. It doesn’t matter if it is a professional therapist or a trusted and understanding friend. We can’t live without expressing our fears and no person is or should feel alone. If you are feeling ashamed of your fear, you might want to begin by journaling it and then using that insight to begin your conversation.
As we work on establishing safety we will hopefully notice less resistance to other improvements and overall feel better in our life.
Have a great week!
