Discovering Resiliency in Times of Change

Below are three accompanying learning opportunities to promote resiliency in times of change.

Activity One: Guided Meditation

The questions, What am I feeling? What can I learn? And How can I help? require you first to pause in your day and be still enough in your thoughts and in your body to let feelings and new ideas surface. Pausing and quieting your mind can occur if you sit still in a quiet place, as you listen to music, or if you are walking or running. You can also listen to guided meditations.

Activity Instructions:

Step 1.) Take a moment to find a comfortable place to sit quietly.

Step 2.) Follow these links to relax and enjoy the guided meditations.

Step 3.) Journal about what that was like for you, or what emotions came to the surface for you.

Go With the Flow

https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/go-with-the-flow?s=category&t=Manage%20Stress&sid=22

Weather the Storm

https://app.gonoodle.com/activities/weather-the-storm?s=category&t=Manage%20Stress&sid=22

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

https://lifecare.org/news-events/guided-meditation/

Activity Two: Color the Feelings of Your Heart

All the different feelings humans experience are valuable in some way. In the moment we are experiencing them they can tell us what we are doing that is helpful and what we are doing that is stressful. Being aware of feelings can teach us empathy, how to care about others. A simple activity follows that encourages the expression of your feelings. There are also links to online resources that might encourage you to think about your feelings in a fun way. Clicking on the links before you color your heart might inspire you and help you consider how your feelings can be helpful to you and others.

Guessing the Feelings Game

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkyKyVFnSs

Read Aloud: In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by author Jo Witek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIfLgHBwYx4

Activity Instructions:

How you color the feelings in your heart:

Step 1.) Write a list of all the different feelings you experience in your life.

Step 2.) Match each of them with a different color. You get to choose which color goes with which feeling. Remember there is no right or wrong color and no right or wrong feeling.

Step 3.)Draw a large heart outline on a piece of paper.

Step 4.) Take your time filling in the inside of the heart with all the colors, thinking about how each color represents that feeling inside of you.  

What it might look like if you Color the Feelings in Your Heart:

Adapted from creativesocialworker.tumblr.com/post/73898243068/color-your-feelings-intervention-by-kevin

Image credit – retrieved from creativesocialworker.tumblr.com/post/73898243068/color-your-feelings-intervention-by-kevin

Activity Three: Thinking About the Control Room of Your Mind

In a movie review of Inside Out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sqk_EnI01w) you are prompted to think how your feelings operate the “control room of your mind.” Imagine your mind is a control room run by the feelings inside of you. This metaphor and the questions below can help you to become more aware of your feelings and to cope with change.

Activity Instructions:

Step 1.) Contemplate these prompts to learn about yourself:

What feeling(s) show up in the control room of your mind when:

•  You are told you have to do something you do not want to do.
•  You do something kind for someone else.
•  Your feelings are hurt.
•  You come up with a great new idea!

Imagine feelings that are pleasant in the control room of your mind. They might be Happiness, Joy, Calmness, Love, Hopefulness.

•  What were times in your life when those feelings were hanging out in the control room?
•  What is some small thing you can do in your day right now that allows one of those pleasant feelings to show up for a moment?
•  What is something you can do that might keep those kinds of feelings at the controls for a longer period of time?

Imagine Anger is taking over in the control room.

•  What is Anger trying to tell you? What could you do or say that will help the feeling of Calmness step in beside Anger?

Imagine Fear is taking over.

•  What could you do or say to yourself that reminds you Bravery can show up to hold Fear’s hand? Together they can face hard things.

What feelings do you notice are showing up in the control rooms of those around you?

•  You cannot make anyone else feel a certain way, but you can say something kind to them and know you have been able to make a wise choice with your own feelings, thoughts and actions.

Step 2.) In a journal take a few minutes to write at least one sentence for each question. You can share your answers with someone else or keep them to yourself. If you put into action some of the answers to the questions, notice if it is helpful to you or to someone else.