Mental Fitness Workouts
November 27th - December 3rd
Welcome Back & Welcoming In to the Mind Gym by RGF Performance!
The holiday season is on the front of my mind as I reflect on the Thanksgiving holiday and look forward to December. This time of year is filled with thoughts, feelings, and emotions both productive and unproductive. It can be especially hard to prioritize oneself throughout this season which can lead to a dip in energy, motivation, and well-being.
I encourage you to be selfish in prioritizing yourself throughout this next month or so. My hope is the mind gym can be a source of support as you move through this season.
Here is a snapshot of the workouts for the week and you can find a detailed description of each below:
Values & Meaning: Valued Goals for the Holiday Season
For this exercise, you will use the worksheet below to create valued goals for the upcoming holiday season.
Access the PDF version of the worksheet here
Reflect on your core values
Unsure of your core values?
Try out this value card sort activity to gain some clarity
Or reflect on:
What do you consider most important in life?
How would you like others to describe you?
What do you want your life to stand for?
What do you feel gives your meaning and purpose?
Identify your values in action
Set valued goals for the upcoming holiday season
Examples:
Book Suggestion: Belonging: Unlock your Potential with the Ancient Code of Togetherness
Author Owen Eastwood welcomes you into high-performance environments to teach the reader valuable lessons in building a sustainable culture. I have been drawing from these ideas in my work with groups & teams. I recommend this book to those especially interested in leadership and creating a culture of success.
Stress Training: Breath Practice
Connect back with a breath practice of your choice 3 days this week.
Box Breathing (3 - 3 - 3 -3) x 5 minutes
Measured Breathing (4 - 1 - 7) x 5 minutes
Resonance Frequency Breathing (4 - 6) x 5 minutes
Focus Training
For this cycle, we are periodizing focus training similar to how one tries to increase their weight in the gym over several weeks. Our end goal is to do 5 minutes of meditation for 5 days a week.
How it will work:
The Exercise: 4 days x 4 minutes
The Practice: Meditation
You will simply sit or lie down in a comfortable position and focus on your breath for the amount of time that is prescribed.
When a thought pops into your head:
1. Recognize it: “I am thinking about ______.”
2. Release it: attempt to let it float away like a cloud in the sky
3. Refocus your attention back on the task at hand (watching your breath)
The Resource:
You can use whatever meditation app that you like best.
A free option where you can customize your timer will be the UCLA Mindfulness App
I hope that you all have a wonderful week.
Be Easy,
Ryan