Mindfull Walking

Walking Mindfully after work  can help you let go of the stress of the day and help you clear your thoughts

Any activity can be done in a Mindful manner, but I found Mindful Walking is another simple enjoyable tool for our toolbox, and it will get you out in thr fresh air and nature which is a known mood booster!

As you walk pay attention to how your body feels, feel your feet on the ground.

With every step notice your foot rise and step

Notice any thoughts that arise and let them go, don’t interact with them, bring focus back to your steps

Is it clear, are there clouds?

Is there water, is it moving or still?

Do you hear wind or sound of cars?

What do you smell?

Look for flowers or birds in trees, by focusing your attention on a particular subject you will begin to notice them more mindfully and are less likely to be distracted.

Walking Mindfully after work can help you let go of the stress of the day and help clear your thoughts. But I don’t want you to take your phone, unless your on call the world can wait until you have nurtured your soul.

Music is great, but try walking without your iPod.  Notice your environment and immerse yourself in that.

I want you to get outside beautiful souls and give this a try, off you go . Have a lovely day.

-Nicki-

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What is Mindfulness?

“Mindfulness means paying attention

In a particular way;

On purpose,

In the present moment,

And non-judgementally”

                                                                                    Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

There is no one definition of what mindfulness is but I prefer this one from Jon Kabat-Zinn.

If you have never heard of him I recommend you look him up.

Put simply mindfulness helps you tune into yourself, catch ourselves in the moment and perhaps change how we handle a  situation next time, perhaps be less reactive. Not so much on automatic pilot, non- judgemental and more understanding.

Mindfulness increases our awareness of how we feel, think and act by focusing our attention on what we are doing right now.  This leaves little room for worry about the past or the future or getting caught up in our own thoughts.

Let’s put that into a work situation, nursing because it is what I know. A co-worker is late to work, this co-worker is often late to work, meaning other people often have to get the theatre prepared so the list can start on time and patients are not delayed.  You can spend the whole day being frustrated by this, as you always at work early, you can join the gossip when other staff members discuss it. Trust me this will ruin your day!  Or you can run an IV for her, check her machine and leave it at that.  And don’t anticipate her lateness tomorrow. Instead of replaying past negative thoughts, mindfulness forces you to shift your thoughts back to the present! 

Nurses are using Mindfulness to offset the daily pressures of our jobs, this works for any role though. Mindfulness helps you to focus on the present moment, this can assist you to cope more effectively with stress and reduce the risk of professional burnout.  Mindfulness also helps with our communication with others by bringing greater awareness of how and what others are communicating.   You might notice the tone you are using and how that may inflame a situation.  You might notice that you’re not really listening to the other persons as your thinking too much about what you’re going to say in response.  Listening and speaking with greater attention can lead to much better communication, particularly in challenging conversations.  You might learn to be simpler and more direct so that people really listen to you.  Being more mindful and more receptive to others will deepen your understanding of your relationships with your colleagues, family and ultimately yourself.

How can you live more Mindfully today?

 If you would like to learn more about Mindfulness have a look at our Workshop & Retreat options.

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How is your self-care bank balance?

Dr John M. Gottman coined the idea of an emotional bank account. 

Similar to our financial bank accounts where our goal is to have a positive balance and to build our savings, the same principle applies for an emotional bank account. I think using money and bank accounts, which are very tangible, can really help people make sense of what can be a vague idea, and help to ground people.

Let’s imagine you only have $300 emotional energy dollars to spend on any given day, you must be considerate of how you distribute them.

To begin with, you are encouraged to spend at least $100 on self-care.

The remaining $200 must be distributed amongst the rest of your day’s activities. Let’s say you have organised to meet an old friend from high school, you could allocate $100 into this activity. If the lunch goes exceptionally well, and you leave feeling rejuvenated, you might make a profit to go into savings, however, if your friend spends the entire time whinging and whining, you might end up spending $200 on your friend instead of $100. Was that a good investment of your precious time?

The idea is that if you let self-care fall by the wayside, everything else might begin to seem a whole lot more difficult! How are you spending your time….. maybe you need some boundaries in place?

Think of burnout as a consistently $0 balance bank account and nobody wants that.

How are you spending your time & self-care dollars this week?

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