Mindfulness Matters
Hello Everyone!
I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this challenging time. It has been almost a month since Mandala Massage closed our doors, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the clinic as soon as it is safe to do so!
In the meantime, I wanted to share some self-care strategies that will help you stay grounded, present, and positive. I have a list of 5’s for you guys to practice some mindfulness and stay grounded during this challenging time. What is mindfulness? It really is just paring down your scope of attention and bringing your awareness to the present moment. The benefits of mindfulness include decreased stress and anxiety, improved emotion regulation, and more.
Here are some good tools to stay mindful, present, and grounded. You can also check out this information in video format here: *link to RDBID IG once published to page
This week’s self-care strategies:
Box Breathing:
Let’s revisit this week’s Wellness Wednesday podcast – did you guys catch it? If not if is on YouTube as well as lots of other channels! Follow the Regina Downtown BID to stay in the loop with upcoming podcasts and self-care strategies.
In our last podcast we did a mini breathwork session. What we did was called box breathing – this is a great way to calm feelings of stress and anxiety when you need it! If you want to try this out sometime this weekend, it’s super simple. You take 5 deep breaths in, and 5 deep breaths out. Follow the below instructions if you’d like to try it now!
Make sure you’re seated comfortably. I’m going to ask you to close your eyes, and take a deep breath in for a count of 5, then pause for 5 seconds, and then exhale for 5 seconds. Do this at your own pace for five deep breaths.
Just Breathe:
Inhale to a count of 5
Pause for 5
Exhale to a count of 5
Did that help you to feel a bit more grounded?
Using the 5 senses:
Another way I like to stay grounded is through shifting my focus to each of my 5 senses. This is a good way to calm your nerves if you’re feeling a lot of emotion, and should be done while practicing deep, slow breaths. If you or your kids are feeling overwhelmed with panic or anxiety you can stop, recognize those feelings and take some slow, deep breaths - then count through these 5 steps to calm down.
Focus:
5 things you can see – bring your awareness to what you notice about these items.
4 things you can touch – what do they feel like? Focus on processing this sensory perception.
3 things you can hear – shift your focus to just this sense, close your eyes if you need to.
2 things you can smell – focus on each step at a time, be present.
1 thing you can taste – bring your awareness to this step, don’t overthink it.
The idea is really to tap into your five senses, one at a time, to help you overcome feelings of overwhelm in a really quick and easy way.
Practicing gratitude:
Research shows that practicing gratitude can promote happiness and improve relationships. This is a great way to quickly lift your mood during these stressful times we are all experiencing.
So on Good Friday today, let’s think of 5 GOOD things! What are 5 things you’re grateful for?
Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today! From all the staff at Mandala Massage, we wish you a Happy Easter and a great weekend. We are grateful for your support since the business started in 2016 – and we look forward to seeing you soon!
With hope & gratitude,
Mandy Bishop
Clinic Owner, Mandala Massage
Massage Therapist
RAPID NeuroFascial Reset Specialist
Resources:
-Using the 5 Senses to get grounded - 5-4-3-2-1 method