Page 7 - Snoozer Guide to Mental Health and Wellness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness

We should gift ourselves the time The first step in any mindfulness practice is
and compassion to adjust to this noticing these thoughts, triggers, and how we
new landscape. Everyone respond. Mindfulness is a mindset; meditation
experiences stress and anxiety in is the training to achieve it.
different ways. What is stress and
anxiety? Meditation is a practice that trains the mind to

be more aware and engaged; it builds
Stress: the physiological mindfulness and brings compassion to your
response to an external threat, internal experience. Meditation builds new
real or perceived.
connections in your prefrontal cortex (rational,

Anxiety: your reaction to that decision-making, focus, higher-level cognition)
stress; closely related to fear, and and reduces activity in your Amygdala (source
can cause muscle tension, of fear, stress, anxiety).
restlessness, poor sleep,
overwhelmed thoughts about a Just as exercise keeps our body and muscles

potential future threat. Anxiety strong and healthy, MEDITATION is like
shows up in our thoughts and exercise for your brain. With practice, we
behaviors, so when it starts to
impact your ability to function, become less ruled by moment-to-moment
professionals encourage adopting emotions and have a greater ability to choose
new tools that can help interrupt how we show up!
the anxiety cycle.

Recommendations:

• Try to catch anxious thoughts/behaviors early on, identify the trigger and limit
your exposure to it.
• Take breaks from excessive news and social media, be OK with not always being

fully informed, let yourself feel comfortable --in small doses-- with uncertainty.
• Take care of yourself - breathe deeply, move your body, take steps to improve
your sleep, eat well-balanced meals when you can, and most importantly, have

compassion for yourself!