Mental Fitness Workouts
March 10th - March 17th
Welcome back & Welcome in,
I bet that for 30 seconds you will not be able to not think about this stack of cookies.
Give it a try, here is a timer. Your goal is to not think about the stack of cookies.
How did it go? Did you think about the cookies?
Check out this week’s workouts below to find out how we can use what we learn from this activity to our advantage.
Workout #1: Name it to Tame it (3 days x 5 minutes)
If you were like me, the second that timer started the first thought that popped into your head was about the cookies. It’s nearly impossible to not have thought about them. So, what does that tell us?
Simply, when we tell ourselves not to think about something . . . we think about it!
Going deeper, we do not have control over the thoughts that pop into our minds.
Rather than trying to wrestle with our thoughts for control, our goal is to continue to flex our mind muscles back to the present moment by accepting our distractions and shifting our attention to the task at hand.
Even better, the same way your muscles get stronger and better at lifting weights after physical exercise, when you do the following mental exercises your mind muscles experience the same benefit.
The Set Up:
Find a comfortable location where you will not be disturbed, open up a timer app, and set it to 5 minutes
The Exercise:
During the 2 minutes: when you experience a thought, emotion, or feeling simply name the experiences that you are having.
After, accept it. Allow the experience to finish happening and reengage back with the activity
The Goal:
By noticing and labeling our thoughts, emotions, or feelings as they’re happening, we create space from what we are experiencing and can accept it as fleeting. Using this exercise has the effect of reducing the stress and anxiety that these thoughts and emotions are causing.
I’m stoked that you are here with us. Do you know what would be a whole lot cooler though? If your friends were here too. Invite them along so they can benefit from these resources to:
Exercise #2: Positive Emotion Reflection
The Set Up:
Find a comfortable location and get out your favorite medium for keeping reflections.
The Exercise:
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
Reflect on experiences, objects, and mementos that evoke your chosen positive emotion from step 1.
Spend some time each day over the next week to revisit your reflections and notice the positive feelings that emerge.
At the end of the week, make a plan to experience this positive emotion more often.
The Goal:
Being intentional about cultivating positive emotions builds personal resources such as knowledge, skills, abilities, social support, and resilience that lead to enhanced health, well-being, and more positive emotions.
Check out Novak Djokovic talking about the skills and tools you are working on this week
Exercise #3: Mindful Breath Counting (4 minutes x 3 days)
Reps are the name of the game folks. When you exercise in the gym you often do the same thing over again. The mind is no different. It deserves the same care that we give our physical health. We will work on building this exercise over the next 4 weeks trying to become more consistent.
The Set Up:
Find a comfortable location where you will not be disturbed, open up a timer app, and set it to 4 minutes
The Task:
Count your breath on each inhale and each exhale up to ten. One on the inhale, two on the exhale, and so on.
When you reach ten go back to one.
Repeat until the time is up.
If you become distracted, start back at one.
The Goal:
Flex the mind muscle by practicing shifting your focus back to the task at hand when you become distracted and engage with the present moment.
You rock, I mean it.
If we tell ourselves not to think of something and then we think of that thing, it means we can also use this phenomenon to our advantage.
Start telling yourself what to do and what to think. You’ll get more of it.
Be easy,
Ryan