No. 82: Valuing My Values

February 2, 2012 11:18 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ admin

This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness… Coping Kete

…I will practice using self-talk to remind myself of the things I value and care about. In this way I will give myself regular reassurance that despite how things might sometimes turn out, I ultimately have positive intentions. I can relax and let my values guide me. To prepare myself to self-soothe like this when I am distressed by negative thoughts about myself, I will first spend some time, maybe with a pen and paper, to think about what my values are. I will ask myself, “what is it that I think is most important in life?” I will then practice regularly reminding myself “I am the kind of person who values…xyz… so no matter what happens out there, I am all right in here.” If I find that my distress stems from my doing things that don’ t sit well with what I value, then I will be able to move on to a more problem-solving based strategy to discover what I could change or how I could respond. This week, I will practice seeing the evidence of my self-worth in the values that I hold, the things I believe in and strive for. Once I am comfortable being aware of my values and trusting them to guide me, I will add this strategy to my Personal Coping Kete as a way of soothing feelings of distress.

Posted in: Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: Coping, creative expression, Mindfulness, physical activity, positive thinking

No. 81: Remembering Their Positives

January 26, 2012 8:07 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ admin

This week to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing…

…I will practice balancing my reactions to other people, however valid they may be, by listing to myself at least two good things that they have done or said in the past, before I respond to them. By making sure I acknowledge the positive intentions or past actions of people, I can help balance the way I feel about their less pleasant actions. Making myself aware of these balancing factors won’ t necessarily make my other thoughts go away – they could actually be realistic! But it will make sure that they exist as part of a more complete picture of the situation. Sometimes, the things we don’ t like, are a bit more bearable when we can see the good that exists around them. This week, when I notice negative reactions to the people around me, I will practice thinking of two positive things to balance it. It can sometimes help to think of things by sitting down with a pen and paper. The positives don’ t have to be significant things to ‘ count’ either, it could be something like ‘ they always offer me a cup of coffee when they’ re making one.’ This week, I am practicing taking account of all of the information to get a balanced view of the people around me and be better prepared to respond well. Once I am familiar with reminding myself of people’ s positives, I will add this to my Personal Coping Kete as a self-soothing and distraction strategy for times when I find myself irritated, annoyed or upset with something a friend, colleague or family member has done or said. If it turns out that, after trying this for a while, I notice the positive things really do not seem to balance the negative things about being around a person, I will seek support to figure out what I can do about it and turn to a different kind of coping strategy that will help me get through my feelings of hurt.

Posted in: Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: Coping, Mindfulness, physical activity, social connection

New Talking About Suicide Resource

January 24, 2012 6:38 am ⋅ admin

If you haven’t seen this resource and do take a moment to read through it. Although the title is about reporting suicide for the media, the information provided will help anyone to think about how to talk about suicide and share information when it is necessary. Please, do not hesitate to share this to your colleagues or other people.

More information can be found here.

Reporting Suicide: A resource for the media

A new resource for the media reporting of suicide has been adopted by New Zealand print and broadcast media agencies.

Published online: 22 December 2011

Summary

The resource is designed for quick access by busy journalists. It describes issues relating to suicide reporting, suggests areas that journalists should think carefully about, and identifies sources of information that journalists may find useful.

The media resource was developed in 2011 by a roundtable of key stakeholders, convened by Hon Peter Dunne, as minister responsible for suicide prevention. Roundtable members included representatives of the news media (including the Media Freedom Committee, Fairfax, TVNZ and Radio NZ), and mental health professionals. Officials from the Ministries of Health, Justice and Education attended roundtable meetings in an advisory and secretariat capacity.

The final version has been adopted by the Newspaper Publishers’ Association and the Media Freedom Committee.

Posted in: Asian Communities, Families/Whanau, Maori Communities, Older People and Aging, Online Resources, Parents and Parenting, Pasifika Communities ⋅ Tagged: Reporting Suicide: A resource for the media

Free Mammograms

January 24, 2012 5:56 am ⋅ admin

Start 2012 with a free mammogram

Waitemata women are being encouraged to start the year with a free mammogram.

BreastScreen Waitemata is part of the national BreastScreen Aotearoa programme, which checks women for early breast cancer. Women aged 45 to 69 years, who have never had a mammogram before or who have not had one for more than two years, are being encouraged to take advantage of the free breast screening appointments.

Having a mammogram can save your life – and all it takes is 15 minutes. It can detect a cancerous growth as small as 2mm, which is about the size of a grain of rice.

By comparison when a breast cancer is big enough to feel, it is on average 2-3cm – the size of a walnut.

Appointments are available Monday to Saturday, including early mornings and late nights.

Call now tomake your appointment on
0800 270 200, text the word “breastscreen” to 4040 or email enrolments@bswn.govt.nz

Posted in: Physical Health, Women ⋅ Tagged: BreastScreen Waitemata, Free Mammogram

No. 80: Observing Myself as Part of Nature

January 19, 2012 8:43 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ admin

This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing… Coping Kete

…I will practice mindful distraction by going outside and observing myself as part of nature. This week, the first thing I will do once I have woken up in the morning and gotten dressed, is to take a moment to go outside where I can see at least some aspect of the natural world. For the next few minutes I will let whatever concerns I might have for the coming day fade into the distance where I can catch them up later if I still need to. I will focus my awareness on the way the clouds and air move, the way the plant-life grows, the way water flows or settles – everything falling into its shape. As I make myself aware of these elements of nature, I will notice myself standing or sitting there, as part of this environment. Here I am, connected to the world. Doing this regularly, when I am not distressed, will help me make strong associations with the strategy so it is easier to do it when I need it. It’ s also just a pretty nice way to start the day. In preparation for when I need to distract myself from unnecessary distress, once a day, I will…\r

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence….You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” [From The Desiderata, Max Ehrmann, 1927]

Once I am comfortable doing this task as part of a regular day, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete as a strategy for mindfully distracting myself from distressing emotions and unwanted thoughts.

Posted in: Engagement, Mindful Distraction ⋅ Tagged: emotional regulation, mindfulness practice, physical activity, relaxation, Stress Management, time-out

No. 79: Using the Pause to Explore

January 12, 2012 9:53 am ⋅ admin

This week, to attain, maintain, or regain my sense of wellbeing...

...I will practice using the pause points from strategy No. 78 to reflect on what my automatic tendency is at the moment and brainstorm alternative responses. This week is about building and tapping into my awareness of the many response options that are really available to me from moment to moment.

When I notice shifts in my thoughts or mood, I will pause myself to breathe as I did with strategy 78 and then ask myself two questions:

What is my instinctive response in this moment? i.e. Right now I want to...(argue, scream, run away, hide, drink, hurt myself)
What are the available alternatives? i.e. Think of a kind of expression, support, distraction, engagement/problem-solving or self-soothing.

This week, I am going to become aware of the unhelpful responses I want to change and the kinds of alternatives I could possibly learn. As I do this, I will be strengthening the habit of pausing as a first response to distressing emotion as well as learning the practice of considering a wide range of strategies. Often it is the sense that we do not have many or any options available to us that causes distress. So this week, I will be practicing the art of expanding my perception of the options available to me.

It will probably help to use a notebook to record my reflections in, because after some time I will be able to look back on what my consistent instinctive responses have been, get a really good picture of what it is that I am working to change and expand my perspective of how many options are available to me in each moment.

If I am finding it difficult to think of alternative response options on my own, I will practice referring to The Coping Kete or my own Personal Coping Kete to reflect on different options.

If ever I find my self-talk becoming critical about my way of being in the world, I will be able to soothe myself by reminding myself of how I am evolving myself and feel satisfied that I am taking positive steps in my life.

Once I am used to pausing to explore my thoughts, I will add this to my Personal Coping Kete as something to do during moments of distress.

Posted in: Engagement, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: Mindfulness, Self-Talk

No. 78: The Power of a Pause

January 5, 2012 2:02 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ admin

This week to attain, maintain or regain my sense of well-being… Coping Kete

…I will practice pausing as a first response to intense emotion. While this may not seem like it will change much, it is a vital step in my journey to being able to change the way I respond to my feelings. Each time I notice a shift in my emotion, I will pause myself by using self-talk to describe to myself what I am feeling in this moment. For example, when I notice I am feeling stressed out, I will pause and say to myself “I am feeling stressed out right now. It’ s time to pause.” I will take a couple of deep breaths and then carry on as I see fit. This week I am creating moments for myself between feeling and reacting. I can react however I wish, this week the focus is on creating the pause and giving myself encouragement to keep doing so. Each time I pause myself, I will congratulate myself for being able to take the pause. Even if all I do is say ‘ pause time’ in my head. It is not easy to pause oneself in the course of such an automatic reaction as an emotional response and it is important to acknowledge the achievement each time. This way I will reinforce the practice of pausing before responding to the way I feel and turn it into a habit. Later, I will be able to follow this strategy with other techniques that allow me to change the way I am feeling after the pause. This week though, I am going to practice the pause, which is like a platform for launching other strategies from. If this is difficult to begin with, I will practice on mild emotional experiences or I will practice pausing during times when I am not particularly feeling anything at all. Taking a week or so to do this can help us build up. Once I am comfortable with pausing and describing the situation and how I feel about it to myself, I will add this to my Personal Coping Kete as a strategy for engaging with the current moment to deal with distress.

Posted in: Engagement ⋅ Tagged: creative expression, self-care, Stress Management, time-out

Updated Community Resources Directory

December 31, 2011 1:08 am ⋅ admin

The latest updates to The Community Resources Directory are now live on the Engage Aotearoa website for general browsing or sharing.

Our Information Manager has just added 5 pages worth of community resources – and we are pleased to announce that we have begun including services from around the country. The services remain predominantly Auckland-based or National offices, but we are on our way. We have added a new nation-wide Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse help section as well.

You’ll also notice we’ve got a shiny new, colour portal button too.

Happy New Year from us here at Engage Aotearoa to everyone out there.

Wishing you metaphorical blue skies for 2012.

Posted in: Asian Communities, Community Participation, Families/Whanau, Maori Communities, News, Older People and Aging, Online Resources, Parents and Parenting, Pasifika Communities, People with Disabilities, Refugees / Migrants, Support ⋅ Tagged: Community Resources Directory

No. 77: Practicing Random Acts of Kindness

December 30, 2011 11:19 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ admin

This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing… Coping Kete

…I will focus my attention on making other people, a stranger or someone I know, smile. So often a search for better wellbeing can require us to be inwardly focused on ourselves, but this week I will live the knowledge that my wellbeing comes largely from my relationship with those I co-exist with. This week I will practice making other people smile with random acts of kindness. I will practice opening the door for my companions, giving way to fellow road-users, smiling and saying hello to the people I walk past on the street and paying compliments to the check-out operator at the supermarket. I might write a thank-you note when someone does me a favour or pick someone a bunch of flowers or offer to help someone struggling with their bags in the street or call someone’ s attention to a beautiful view. Each time I do this, I will share in a positive moment with another person. I will also be practicing the art of reaching out to others. This will be an important skill to get comfortable using, as I work to build a stronger social support network and sense of belonging. This week I will enhance my connection with those around me. For those of us who struggle with anxiety, this kind of strategy can be particularly powerful in helping us see that we can survive reaching out, but it can take some time to build up to. Start small, like the odd smile at someone on the bus, and when that is easy, move on to something a bit bigger. Once I am comfortable practicing random acts of kindness in the course of my day, I will add this to my Personal Coping Kete as a way to shift my mood when things are tough.

Posted in: Engagement ⋅ Tagged: Giving and Contributing

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