Self Care and Mindfulness

In the business of our every day lives we forget to take time to rest and repair. You don't have to dedicate much time each day to bring mindfulness into your life. Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness promotes stress reduction and has overall health and wellness benefits. Postive Psychology (www.positivepsychology.com) provides basic steps including tools and resources on how to practice mindfulness (https://tools.positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-exercises-pack). Many apps such as CALM offer guided meditation and relaxation support. (https://www.calm.com/).

Headspace (https://www.headspace.com/) and Healthy Minds (https://hminnovations.org/meditation-app) also provide many relaxation and stress reduction support tools.

Some other strategies that promote stress reduction include:

*Yoga (some great short videos on YouTube so you don't even need to leave your home)

*Going for a walk

*Utilizing Box Breathing technique (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/box-breathing-benefits)

*Taking a bath or shower (water is healing and relaxing)

*Calling a friend

*Daily gratitude journal (https://www.happierhuman.com/gratitude-app/)

It is never too early or too late to get started with making your mental health a priority. Mindfulness does not need to take much of your time but can help you to reset, relax and destress.