Mindfulness

Resources for Perspective
When it's Challenging to See the Big Picture

"In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers."

~Fred Rogers

• Three Good Things – This PDF is an evidence-based practice to “turn up the volume” on positive thinking when stressors are overwhelming.
  Created by MidMichigan Health: www.midmichigan.org/3goodthings.
• FACE COVID – How to Respond Effectively to the Corona Crisis – written and shared by Dr. Russ Harris. This booklet outlines a set of practical steps for managing difficult emotions related to COVID-19.

Mindful Presence and Breathing

• Mindfulness Meditation to Help Relieve Anxiety and Stress – This video is a very basic mindfulness exercise focusing on breathing.
• Mindfulness & Meditation - COVID-19 - Meditation Example – This guided meditation by Kristin Lothman from Mayo Clinic’s Dept of Integrative Medicine, helps us breathe in/out worry and anxiety.
• Headspace – The Headspace Meditation App is offering FREE installation for healthcare workers through the end of the calendar year.  Have your NPI handy. Headspace is a tremendous resource for mindfulness, sleep aids, and short “courses” to help you learn how to breathe fully and deeply.
• Breathe exercise GIPHY – A great visual tool for your phone or homescreen!

Mindfulness in Media Consumption

With information about COVID-19 being released in real time via multiple news and social media outlets, we may find ourselves engaging more frequently with media, particularly during our personal “downtime.” Consider ways in which you and your family can more mindfully consume media.

• Create Tech-free Time – Schedule a time each day that is off-limits to technology. Dinner is a good place to start. You can enlist your family’s help in making a creative space to place devices during that time. Begin your “tech-free time” with a quick moment of gratitude for focused time together, or alone!
• Substitute Other Activities – Take 10-15 fewer minutes scanning email and social media and spend those minutes doing something else you love, like cooking, gardening, exercising, or calling a friend. Keep track of your “substitute time” activities in a journal and reflect on how that small substitution makes you feel!