Mental Fitness Workouts

Sunday, August 13th - Sunday, August 20th

Happy Sunday Folks,

This weeks training will focus on Positive Emotion and Acceptance.

Positive Emotion is one of the key ingredients a part of human flourishing. Being intentional about cultivating positive emotions builds personal resources such as knowledge, skills, abilities, social support, and resilience that lead to enhanced health, wellbeing, and more positive emotion. Simply put, by spending more time on positive emotions unlocks positive emotions to show up more often for us.

Acceptance is the ability to make space for a negative thought, a uncomfortable experience, or a unwanted feeling and not try to control it, rather let it happen and reengage in valued action.

• Human behavior can be categorized into ‘towards’ behaviors (moving towards one’s values) and ‘away’ behavior (moving away from one’s values). Often, when we engage in away behaviors when we are hooked by and experience like the ones above. Learning to accept these experience instead of avoiding them allows us to broaden our choice point and make more valued decisions

Mental Fitness Workouts:

Stress Training: Box Breathing

• Practice 4 days x 7 minutes

Focus Training: Where do you notice your breath?

Practice at least 4 days x 5 minutes:

• Breathe normally and pay attention

• Notice where do you feel it (your nose, throat, lungs)

• Keep your focus on your breathe, when your attention slips away, direct it back towards your breathe.

• If you need to, count your inhales (odd) and exhales (even) up to 10 and then return to 1

**This practice is separate then our stress training as we are not actively controlling our breath, rather becoming an active observer of it**

Weekly Poll:

Back to the workouts:

Positive Emotion: Positive Portfolio

• A positive portfolio is a collection of things that evoke in you a particular positive emotion. For example, an individuals ‘joy’ portfolio may include taking a walk in nature, playing a board game with friends, going to a concert, trying something new, or intentionally relaxing after a long day at work.

  • Step #1: Select a Positive Emotion

    • From the list below, select a positive emotion that you would like to experience more of in your life now. This will be the focus of your positive portfolio.

      • Joy, Gratitude, Serenity, Interest, Hope, Pride, Amusement, Inspiration, Awe, Love

  • Step#2: Create your portfolio

    • During the week, begin to pull together objects and mementos that evoke in you your chosen positive emotion from step 1. Items may be verbal, visual, or auditory, for example, music, quotes, poems, photos, gifts, letters, emails, cards, and objects. Combine them in whatever format works best for you (digital, physical). Commit to spending a full week on building your portfolio to allow yourself to dive deep into that emotion

  • Step#3: Reflect and Savor

    • With your portfolio created, spend some time each day over the next week to revisit its contents and experience, and savor the positive feelings that emerge. For example, re-read love letters, examine photos, play your wedding song. Intentionally cultivating the feeling of that emotion within yourself in this way is a desirable skill for those time sin life when we need a boost.

Acceptance: Choice Point

• Step #1: Reflect on a few different common experiences in your life where you engage in an away behavior (Ex: Uncomfortable in a social setting —> pulling out your phone to avoid the feeling)

• Step #2: Identify what it is that hooks you

  • What are the difficult thoughts, feeling, and bodily sensations that show up regarding this situation

• Step #3: Consider away behaviors

  • What actions do you do to take yourself away from these difficult thoughts, feeling, and bodily sensations that show up

• Step #4: Identify Helpers

  • what skills and strengths can you use to support you in taking a valued action when this hook shows up

• You now have arrived at your choice point, and there are two directions you can take in from here: you can either move towards or away from your values. Take a moment here to STOP, that is, slow down: take note of what you are thinking and feeling in this moment: open up to whatever thoughts and feelings are present; then pursue your values

• Step #5: After reflecting on your hooks, helpers, and choice point

  • Practice

    • notice these moments during the week

    • accept the unwanted mental and inner experiences

    • make the choice to utilize your helpers

    • repeat

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or feedback. I am happy to support you along your journey towards authentic happiness.

Be Easy,

Ryan