How are you feeling right now? As we continue to deal with the reverberations of the pandemic, it’s easy to be overtaken by feelings of stress and uncertainty. BUT the good news is there are EASY things you can do right now to feel better – and we have three quick exercises you can practice in the next 10 minutes.
1. PRACTICE MINDFUL WALKING
Mindfulness can be described as making yourself fully present in the moment – being aware of your body, thoughts and surroundings. If you are new to mindfulness, try a ‘Walking Meditation’.
Find a quiet place at least 5m in length and slowly walk. Draw your attention to the sensations of movement and your body acting to keep you balanced. When you reach the end of the space, turn, and walk again – keeping yourself aware of the sensations.
2. BE GRATEFUL
Practising gratitude can help us appreciate the small things in life and help our brains choose joy over stress. A simple gratitude practice you can follow is every day, making a list of 3 things (big or small) that you are grateful for – you will be surprised by the end of the week how many wonderful things are happening in your day!
3. PRACTICE MINDFUL OBSERVATION
Help yourself take a minute to pause and ground yourself in the moment – this exercise can be helpful if you feel that the world around you is moving too fast or there is simply too much going on. Start by choosing a natural object nearby that you can direct your focus toward. For the next two minutes, focus solely on the object, exploring every aspect of its form – appreciating its features and place in your surroundings.
Additional resources to explore:
- How to Make Joy a Habit | 3 min read
This article explores how you can retrain your brain to focus on the positive things to help your increase your resilience, performance and mental wellbeing. Read on >> - You Cannot Think Your Way out of Anxiety | 4 min read
Learn a bit more about anxiety and how you can use ‘grounding techniques to make an immediate impact on your levels of stress and anxiety when you feeling overwhelmed. Read on >>
Upcoming Events to explore:
- Post Covid Mental Health Recovery Webinar Series – This mental health recovery series seeks to meet the current moment with its continued uncertainty, exhaustion and other ongoing reverberations of the COVID19 pandemic. The webinar content has been designed in response to issues raised by staff in a variety of organisations over the past six months to provide evidence-based strategies and tools that support ongoing wellbeing and resilience. Learn more >>
Past Events to watch:
- Into the Unknown: Dealing with Change and Uncertainty | 1.5 hr watch
- COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series | 43 min watch
- Shaping Positive Mental Health in Your Workplace | 1.5 hr watch
- Coping During COVID-19 Tips and Advice | 38 min watch
- COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series – with Luke Broomhall | 33 min watch
- COVID-19 Mental Wellbeing Interview Series – With Dr John Brayley | 35 min watch
Also in: Education