Mindful Monday - Week 11

Melissa Bowling, Mental Health counselor for Citrus County Schools, presents Mindful Mondays!

Transcript:

Hi! This is Melissa Bowling and welcome to Week 11 of Mindful Mondays; our final Mindful Monday of the school year.

Last week we began putting together all the skills and concepts we discussed this year.

This week we will finish wrapping it all up 😊

With week 1 self-care, we focused on the importance of taking care of our needs so that we may better serve ourselves and others.

Call to mind the week we discussed gratitude. Did you know that it is impossible for the human mind to feel both gratitude and anger at the exact same time? When we practice gratitude regularly, we actually change our brain through neuroplasticity. Thus, our brains will begin to automatically look for reasons to feel more gratitude. It changes our entire outlook on our experiences.

Remember the week we talked about having a lion’s mind? Each time we take a moment to breathe and give ourselves space to respond rather than react, we are acting with a lion’s mind.

Mindfulness practices come in all different forms, and can be tailored to meet anyone’s needs. Whether you use one of the acronyms mentioned last week (TAP, RAIN, or SIFT), or you choose to formally meditate, you are improving your quality of life. You are actively changing your brain and lessening your suffering.

Through acceptance we are able to see things for what they are. We label thoughts, feelings, and sensations. We accept that we feel and think what we will. We are kind and compassionate to ourselves and our experiences. We live with loving kindness.

This summer I challenge you to adopt as many or as few mindful and self-care practices as possible to fit your needs. Put yourself first, respond to whatever rises within you, and remember this: “As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than wrong with you.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

If there are any resources you would like for me to send you for the summer, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Thank you for listening. Have an amazing summer and I’ll see you next school year 😊