Welcome to Week 3 of Brain Power: Empowering Kids to have Healthy Minds with Ms. Abbey Warren!
Last week we talked about ways you can help support a child’s mental well-being. You can view those resources from Week 2 HERE.
Hello Northlake Families! One of the best ways to promote positive mental health for your child is to model positive mental health in your own life, so this week we’ll be talking about caring for ourselves. Many of you may already have self-care and relaxation routines, but I’ll be giving you some different resources to explore if you’re interested! Take some time this week to share your self-care routines with your child and talk about how you take care of your mind.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is bringing awareness to your present situation: your outside surroundings or inner state of mind. Practicing mindfulness has been shown to improve wellbeing and reduce stress and depressive symptoms. This resource has guided meditations to help you practice mindfulness. There are various recordings, so whether you have a minute or an hour, I hope you find sometime to practice mindfulness today!
Chair Yoga
Yoga has a multitude of benefits from improving muscular strength and flexibility to reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. It can be difficult to set aside time to regularly practice yoga, but hopefully these chair yoga poses will help you incorporate this stress-reducing activity into your everyday routines. These are some of the poses we will be doing with our kids this week, but they are also perfect for adults!
Counseling resources
Sometimes we help! Many people talk with counselors and therapists as a part of their self-care routines, and it can be beneficial to speak with a mental health professional if you feel you need to develop healthier coping strategies. I know from personal experience how difficult it can be in finding a therapist or counselor. Here are some resources to help you get started, if this is something you are interested in.
Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
American Psychological Association: https://locator.apa.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjwiaX8BRBZEiwAQQxGx0WyqOOR8vhFcW5aF14PQM8oAvi9HzamAFJw49qhean9rqmTQ3XFlRoC6UYQAvD_BwE
