Weekly Mental Fitness Workouts
December 10th - December 17th
Welcome back and welcome in,
As we head deeper into the last month of 2023, we also come to a close with our 3rd mesocycle (6-week cycle of mental fitness workouts) at the mind gym.
Some highlights from this mesocycle:
Periodized Focus Training based on meditation: We went from 3 days x 3 minutes in week one to 5 days x 5 minutes this week.
Combined psychological flexibility and positive psychology to create new exercises that enhance mental well-being.
Several new members of the community joined in on making their mental health a priority by investing time in these workouts
Moving forward, the next mesocycle will start in the new year. From now until then, you can expect some mental push-up exercises to pop up in your inboxes!
I invite you to welcome friends, family, and colleagues to our community in the next few weeks by sharing the newsletter here:
Optimism: Perspective Audit
At times, being optimistic involves taking a step back and recognizing how far you have come. Doing this exercise can allow you to create distance from your current experience and acknowledge your power in getting you where you are today.
Optimism Perspective Audit:
Reflect on where you were at this time last year (December 2022) and all of the things that you have accomplished to get to where you are today (December 2023)
I encourage you to check in with your character strengths and see how your top 5 may have carried you to this moment.
If you do not know your character strengths, find them here
Don’t stop there, take a moment to look into the future and visualize the person that you want to be a year from now in December 2024
This extra step has been proven to boost your optimism by several studies
Stress Training: Shorter inhale, Longer exhale
Practice 3 days x 5 minutes
breathe slowly in through your nose (3-4 seconds)
breathe out through your mouth like you are breathing through a straw (5-6 seconds)
repeat for 5 minutes
Reflect: what changes are you noticing after you complete this exercise?
Committed Action: Self-Care Plan
We all know the importance of self-care. It’s the intentional act of making time to do activities that fuels our ability to deal with the unavoidable stressors of life. However, just because self-care is important does not make it an easy thing to do.
Taking committed action aligns what is important with our behaviors. Your exercise for this week is to make a self-care plan and then follow through with your plan.
Complete the following:
This week for self-care I will ____________ (Self-Care Activity) for ____________ ( x amount of time) on ____________ (specific day).
Focus Training: Meditation
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: 5 days x 5 minutes
The Practice: Meditation
You will 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
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 & Happy Holidays,
Ryan
Just finished my audit. Great exercise :)