Beyond Medication Community Group
In this group we will be looking at alternative or supplementary methods of dealing with every day stressors and anxiety. This is for people who do not want to feel as though they do not want to be tied to the medicine cabinet. We will be using such techniques as mindfulness, meditation, grounding, guided imagery, Yoga and other behavioral and self-discipline techniques...
Here are some mindfulness exercises that you can practice that will help you in gaining control over your thoughts they involve observing your thoughts, which is extremely helpful in increasing your awareness of your thoughts and emotions.
In the clouds:
this in your mind eye, visualize yourself standing in the forest, enjoying the what the sites and sounds of nature. As you stand there, you see the leaves start to fall from the trees. Whenever a thought enters your mind, imagine that it rests on the leaf that's drifting down. As you watch each leaf fall and as a thought becomes visible, see if you can pick up the leaf and place it in the pile according to what the thought is about. For example, when the thought "I'm not having a any thoughts" dress down on its leaf, you might put this in the "Lori thought" or "observing thought" pile. When the thought "this is a stupid exercise" appears on a leaf, you might label it and put it in the "anger thought" or "judgment thought" pile and so on. As best you can, don't judge yourself for how you are labeling certain thoughts. Just continue placing the leaves and pile. There is no right or wrong answer!
This is just one of many new mindfulness exercises I will be offering in the future, I hope the people find them helpful.
The Wolf.
In the clouds:
this in your mind eye, visualize yourself standing in the forest, enjoying the what the sites and sounds of nature. As you stand there, you see the leaves start to fall from the trees. Whenever a thought enters your mind, imagine that it rests on the leaf that's drifting down. As you watch each leaf fall and as a thought becomes visible, see if you can pick up the leaf and place it in the pile according to what the thought is about. For example, when the thought "I'm not having a any thoughts" dress down on its leaf, you might put this in the "Lori thought" or "observing thought" pile. When the thought "this is a stupid exercise" appears on a leaf, you might label it and put it in the "anger thought" or "judgment thought" pile and so on. As best you can, don't judge yourself for how you are labeling certain thoughts. Just continue placing the leaves and pile. There is no right or wrong answer!
This is just one of many new mindfulness exercises I will be offering in the future, I hope the people find them helpful.
The Wolf.
The Wolf.
I'm more interested in your experiences... how has this worked for you? Do you use it often? Daily? What thoughts have it helped you with?
I have 12 months of DBT under my belt, plus an additional three months as a DBT peer educator.
I try to practice these principles each day in my life, some days work better than others, but that's the way things go in life anyway.
It is between the mindfulness and other DBT skills that I have learned and meditation combined with my Wiccan practice that keeps me stable on a daily basis.
The Wolf
I have 12 months of DBT under my belt, plus an additional three months as a DBT peer educator.
I try to practice these principles each day in my life, some days work better than others, but that's the way things go in life anyway.
It is between the mindfulness and other DBT skills that I have learned and meditation combined with my Wiccan practice that keeps me stable on a daily basis.
The Wolf