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Tag Archives: Relaxation

No. 20 – Fly Away

November 10, 2010 9:10 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, in order to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellbeing… Coping Kete I will practice moving my attention away from current problems for a moment by visualising that I can fly. Once a day, I will practice visualising that my body has a sense of lightness about it, as if I can free myself from the constraints of gravity whenever I want. I will imagine that I ‘take off’ from where I stand. I will visualise what my surroundings look like from above. I will soar higher up through the clouds and imagine what they feel like as I fly through them. My clothes might get damp from the moisture held in the clouds but just before I get cold, I will break through to the sunshine above. I will let the warm sun soak into my skin as the light flows over my upturned face. There is no noise up there except for the sound of a soft wind. I know am completely safe and there is no way I can fall. I am in control of where I go and how I move. I fly around for a little while looking at things and then I gently float down to the ground. I will bring this sense of freedom and lightness with me as I return to the current moment. Throughout this exercise, I will keep my breathing deep and slow, as in the diaphragmatic breathing exercise. Once I am familiar with using this visualisation to relax, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete as a strategy to try soothing or distracting myself from distressing emotions. By turning my attention elsewhere for a moment, I will reduce the intensity of my emotional reaction and give myself space to make a considered response to whatever it is that I am dealing with or reinterpret things.
Posted in: Mindful Distraction ⋅ Tagged: , ,

No. 15 – The Mini Self-Hug

October 7, 2010 3:22 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain a sense of wellbeing … Coping Kete I will practice using sensation to self-soothe and slow things down. I will place my right palm on the front of my left shoulder, with my arm across the front of my body. I will feel the warmth of my hand soaking into my skin and muscles. I will notice the solidity of my arm cradling my body. I will focus my thoughts on the sensations in my hand and shoulder and my arm across my chest. I might gently stroke my shoulder to give myself comfort or press my palm into my shoulder. I will take a few deep, relaxing breaths and let myself know that everything will be okay in the end. This exercise is kind of like giving yourself a little nuturing mini-hug and it can be done anywhere, relatively inconspicuously. Once I’m used to doing this regularly, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete to try during moments of stress and distress.
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No. 13 – Building a Room for Possibility

September 22, 2010 1:38 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness… Coping Kete I will practice focusing my thoughts on the inevitability of change to help shift bad moods. To start with, I will practice this strategy for minor mood changes. When I notice a slight shift in mood or a bit of stress, I will take a breath and say things to myself like, “everything changes and so will this,” or “this too shall pass.” I will leave space in my thoughts for the possibility of things being different. I will remind myself that nothing stays the same forever. In this way, I will make sure that my thoughts are not promoting a hopeless way of looking at my situation or experiences. I will then turn my attention to something else altogether in order to shift the moment. Sometimes it is a sense that we will feel this way or be dealing with the same problems forever that makes things so unbearable or overwhelming. Once I am comfortable thinking this way to get through the smaller moments, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete as a self-soothing strategy for moments of heightened distress, when perspective might be lost. I will be able to remind myself of all the smaller instances in which I told myself it would pass, and it did.
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No. 12 – Power Ballads

September 16, 2010 3:25 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week in order attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness… Coping Kete I will spend 5 minutes every day singing along to music. If I can’t find a CD or set of songs to play, I will sing old songs I know off by heart. If I have time on my hands and am feeling anxious or stressed, I will pass some of the time by singing. I can do this alone or with others. Singing has real physical effects which you can use to your advantage. Singing changes the way we are breathing and this alters the level of CO2 in our bloodstreams, which triggers the release of neurotransmitters and creates a sense of elation. Depending on the song you are singing, it can also be a powerful form of self-expression and sense of connection. Singing is a very good way of changing the moment for ourselves. Once I’ve gotten used to spending some time singing, I will add ‘Power Ballads’ to my Personal Coping Kete as a strategy to shift my mood when I am feeling distressed.
Posted in: Mindful Distraction, Self-Soothing ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

No. 11 – Float for a Moment

September 8, 2010 6:40 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅
This week, in order to attain, maintain or regain my sense of wellness… Coping Kete I will practice using visualisations to shift my moment. Each day I will take a minute to pay attention to taking deep, slow breaths while I briefly visualise myself floating on my back down a calm river. The sun is shining, but not too hotly. I am mindful of the way the sun feels on my closed eyelids and how the buoyant water feels flowing beneath me. I allow the river to take me where it will, sometimes moving faster and other times meandering slowly; I cannot push the water. I will spend just a minute holding this image, and the sensations it brings, in my mind. If my attention drifts onto other things, I will mentally drop the worries in the river and watch them flow away. I will then return to the situation at hand, with my centred and more accepting state of awareness. I will observe how I feel afterwards. Once I am familiar with doing this visualisation to shift my attention, I will add it to my Personal Coping Kete as a way of soothing or distracting myself from anxiety, anger or low moods.
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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. 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: , , , ,