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Author Archives: Admin

Posts by 'admin' on the Engage Mental-Health News and Events Blog are shared on behalf of third parties to help make information about mental-health news and events easier to find and do not necessarily reflect the views of Engage Aotearoa or Community Mental-Health Resources Trust. News and events posted with the tag 'Engage Updates' are written by and/or about Engage Aotearoa.

No. 8 – Supportive Self-Talk

August 18, 2010 8:53 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week in order to attain, maintain or regain wellness… Coping Kete I will practice giving myself encouragement when I notice shifts in my mood or energy level, as I would encourage a dearly loved friend, who I truly believed in, “it’ll be okay, you can handle this.” By speaking to myself with respect, support and reassurance, I will practice valuing and nurturing myself. In the moment, I will be providing myself with the possibility that things could turn out as I would like and reminding myself of the probability that whatever happens, I will be able to get through it. Once I am comfortable with encouraging myself through smaller moments of pressure, I will add ‘Supportive Self-Talk’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a self-soothing strategy in times of stress and distress as a reminder to talk myself through the tough stuff too.
Posted in: Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged:

No. 7 – Letting My Surroundings In

August 12, 2010 12:16 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing… Coping Kete I will practice using mindful awareness to silently observe and describe my surroundings to myself in neutral and accepting terms. I will start out by describing the elements of the situation or my thoughts that I find distressing. Then I will observe and describe other elements of my immediate environment to yourself. I will try to ensure my body posture and eye gaze allow for me to take in my surroundings – I will sit/stand up straight and open my posture, look around me and widen my focus. We so often turn ourselves into closed systems when we are distressed. I will simply observe and describe, but try not to make judgements about my observations. When I notice that I have made a judgement, I will observe and describe it to myself and then turn my attention back to something around me. When I am comfortable observing my surroundings and bringing my thoughts back to that task, I will add ‘Mindfully Observing my Surroundings’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a distraction strategy for moments of distress.
Posted in: Expression & Support, Mindful Distraction, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

No. 6 – Practicing Proper Belly Breathing

August 4, 2010 8:04 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness I will …

Spend 1 minute doing diaphragmatic breathing every morning.

Diaphragmatic breathing is a standard relaxation/breathing exercise where you:

  • Place one hand flat on your stomach and one on your chest.
  • Breathe in slowly through your nose (or pursed lips). With each in-breath, push your belly out and imagine pulling the air into the bottom of your belly.
  • As you breathe in watch your hands; the hand on your belly should rise more than the hand on your chest.
  • Pause briefly.
  • Breathe out slowly through pursed lips (as if silently whistling).
    • Your out-breath should be 2 times longer than your in-breath – though that is something to aim for over time.
  • Pause briefly.
  • Breathe in again and continue with the pattern of slow deep breaths in and slow, relaxed breaths out for 3-5 minutes. It might help you to do a count for each breath in and out (e.g. 2 seconds in and 4 seconds out).
  • You can do this without the hands if you wish, but it can help to ground things and focus on the out breath.

This exercise takes practice before it is useful. If I get hungry for air, I can try yawning or opening my mouth wide to relieve the sensation; it happens because the body is used to another breathing pattern and this is new.

Breathing is a way to control heart-rate and racing thoughts, reducing anxiety and panic and getting some space between feeling and responding.

Once I have become comfortable doing the breathing exercise every day, I will add ‘Standard Belly Breathing Relaxation’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a self-soothing or distraction strategy in times of stress or distress.

Posted in: Mindful Distraction, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

No. 5 – Regular Self-Checks

July 28, 2010 2:54 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

This week, to attain, maintain or retain my sense of wellness …

I will practice being mindful of what I am feeling and what I need. Once every hour or two, I will check in by mentally asking myself ‘what do I feel right now?’ and then ‘what do I need to do for myself right now?’

I will give myself those things that I am capable of giving (or getting). Do I need food? Sleep? A breath or two? Reassurance? A kind thought? A glass of water? A chat? A distraction? Assistance? By creating small moments in my day, I will become practiced in the art of responding to my needs as well as privately connecting with and expressing my feelings.

Once I am comfortable with creating moments in my days, I will add ‘Do a Self-Check’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a strategy for moments of stress and distress.

Posted in: Engagement, Expression & Support ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

No. 4 – Open Posture

July 21, 2010 12:49 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing … Coping Kete I will practice being aware of my body and making sure my posture is straight and comfortable, allowing for easy breathing and a stance of strength. Keeping the lungs open and my breathing regular will help to balance out my mood. Once I am familiar with changing my posture and observing its effects on my mood, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete for times of stress and distress.
Posted in: Mindful Distraction, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged:

No. 3 – Space to Make Considered Responses

July 15, 2010 12:55 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, in order to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness… Coping Kete I will practice giving myself the opportunity to respond consciously with awareness, rather than automatically, based on emotion. Each day I will take 5 minutes out, to think about a time of minor stress during the day and write down in a notebook\r

    \r

  • what just happened

    • \r

  • what it made me think of at the time

    • \r

  • what I would like to do next

    • \r

  • and what I will do next

    • \r

\r Sometimes we get distressed because things seem overwhelming and out of our control. If we take some time out of the situation and work through it, we are able to access a wider perspective of our environment, why it’s affecting us and what to do next. Writing helps to focus the mind on the task at hand & flick us over into a more methodical frame of mind. Once I have gotten comfortable with thinking about my experiences in this way, I will add ‘Write Myself Through a Considered Response’ to my Personal Coping Kete for use in times of stress and distress.

Posted in: Engagement, Expression & Support ⋅ Tagged: , ,

No. 2 – Small Moments of Expression

July 7, 2010 8:22 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain your sense of wellbeing… Coping Kete …Try practicing small moments of expression by naming what you are feeling in the moment out loud to the people around you. Using small moments of expression helps other people understand and be supportive at times of stress and distress. You can practice expression by having a conversation, but expression can also be in our simple, throw-away comments. Not all expression needs to be in-depth and serious, even if what we are communicating is serious. Small moments of expression can be really useful if we are in the habit of keeping everything to ourselves. Start small by replying honestly when someone asks how your day is or naming the everyday moments of stress and distress out loud to the people around you. Of course we need to choose suitable times and adjust to the situation we are in but it’ s usually possible to acknowledge in some way when stress is present for you. For example, saying ‘ Man, this is full on!‘ Or ‘ this is stressful!’ Or letting someone know ‘ I’ ve been better’ when they ask how you are. Sometimes, just saying it out loud and having it heard is all we need. Who knows, someone might relate, a moment of stress could become a moment of connection. When we have to hide our experiences they tend to intensify inside us. So it is important to be able to name what we are feeling sometimes. You might use small moments of expression with a friend, family member, teacher, colleague, boss, class-mate, online friend, the person in the supermarket, whoever is present at the time. If no one else is around, try naming it privately to yourself or call someone or get in touch with a helpline.
Once you are comfortable with your small moments of expression, add ‘ Name It in the Moment’ to your Personal Coping Kete for use during times of stress and distress. Once you have practiced small moments of expression, you will be better able to give yourself the chance to be supported when you are distressed.
Posted in: Expression & Support ⋅ Tagged:

No. 1 – A Mindful Moment Outside

June 30, 2010 10:39 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain your sense of wellness… Coping Kete Make a practice of taking a short 2-5 minute break from what you are doing to give yourself space to settle by going outside and being present with what is around you. Focus on any plant life around you, the various movements, the sky, the way the light is falling, the layers of sound around you, and the different sensations you feel. Notice what is close and what is in the distance. Slowly describe to yourself everything you see and sense. When you get distracted by thinking, notice that too, remind yourself that you are here in this place, in this moment and shift your awareness back to what is around you. After a few minutes, like this, simply return to whatever you were doing.
Once you are comfortable doing this, add ‘ A Mindful Moment Outside’ to your Personal Coping Kete to tune into your physical surroundings to self-soothe during times of stress and distress. You can politely excuse yourself from most situations to create a mindful moment and return to that moment in your mind later to visualise a bit of calm. Taking a break to self-soothe before we respond to difficult situations can allow us to choose our responses instead of acting on impulse.
This is the first of many, weekly coping strategies for people to experiment with in their journey to build their own personal coping tool kit for surviving the tough times and change the unhelpful patterns that keep them stuck. Find out more about The Coping Kete and how to use it here. Come back in a week for a new strategy.
Posted in: Mindful Distraction, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,