“The power of mindfulness lies in its simplicity. Anyone can practice it, anywhere, anytime.” – Sharon Saltzberg (American meditation teacher)
Finding ways to manage and reduce stress to enhance our mental and emotional wellbeing have become increasingly important tools. Mindfulness practices help us to recognize the importance of managing stress to restore balance and improve our sense of wellbeing and overall quality of life. Moreover mindfulness equips us with the necessary tools and strategies to achieve these goals.
Simple techniques can help to lower cortisol levels and lead to a greater sense of ease and calm. Bring mindfulness into your day and help your students to reap the benefits of the following, easy to use, mindfulness technique and let’s R.A.P.P!
Recognize how you are feeling in the moment.
Accept the feeling without judgment.
Pause what you are doing and take a moment to breathe.
Proceed with intention and wisdom.
Recognize
Daily living is filled with stimuli and distractions, making it difficult to tune in to our emotions. Without the awareness of how we are feeling, we can’t manage emotions that challenge our sense of wellbeing, and we lose the ability to address the experience with focus and clarity. We often have automatic reactions to situations without consciously processing what is actually happening. For example, a student might be feeling anxious and overwhelmed when presented with a challenging assignment or an upcoming exam.
Accept
Accepting our feelings without judgment allows us to process and cope with our emotions in healthy ways. Even when our emotions are challenging and create discomfort and distress, accepting them clears the way for more effective problem solving and more positive outcomes.
Pause
When we’re stressed, our judgment and decision making ability can become impaired. Pausing and taking a moment to focus on our breathing can prevent impulsive and potentially regrettable actions. Pausing allows us to step back and assess a situation more objectively before making a decision to act one way or another. Actions driven by stress can lead to poor choices! Have you ever been tempted to devour a gallon of decadent chocolate ice cream or indulge in substances during stressful times? Actions driven by stress can lead to poor choices.
Proceed
Now that you have taken a mindful pause, you are more prepared to act with intention and wisdom, and you have an opportunity to choose healthier coping strategies. Consider your options and make decisions that align with your values and long term goals. Perhaps you’ll choose to reach out to a friend or mentor to talk about what’s stressing you.
Whether at school, work, relationships, or personal development, the benefits of practicing mindfulness are far reaching and transformative. That’s why each lesson in Autonome is aligned with a specifically curated mindfulness experience.
Let’s R.A.P.P.!