March 1st

Daily Self Care Inspiration

Please accept this self-care resource from James Fitzgerald Therapy and Strengthening Your Conscious Self Health & Wellness Program. You are invited to consume as much or as little of the content as you feel comfortable with. You don’t have to do all of the activities every day. This feature of the website is a tool in your toolbox, to be used as you need. Thank you for using this feature, I appreciate your support.

Daily Meditation:

One Complete Cycle of Breath

MINDFULNESS-EXERCISES.COM

Recommended Reading Article:

5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life

VERY-WELL-MIND.COM

Book Recommendation:

A Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Workbook

PURCHASE BOOK

Suggested Video:

How to Reduce Stress with the 2:1 Breathing Technique

TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER

Thinking Errors & Logic

Why do we focus more on some things than others?

ATTENTIONAL BIAS 

Atlas of Emotion & Emotional Intelligence

Attachment @ Psych Central

EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY

Inspirational Quote

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

— Anne Lamott

Character Strength: Creativity

A positive character trait exemplified by the healthy integrated self (managing unburdened, unblended, uncomplicated, and unpolarized parts). As an individual difference, creativity entails two essential components. A creative person produces ideas or behaviors that are recognizably original. Creative energy generates ideas or behaviors that are novel, surprising, or unusual. The creative self’s behaviors or ideas are not only original but also make a positive contribution to that person’s life or to the lives of others.

The Science of Creativity & How to Enhance Creative Innovation

ANDREW HUBERMAN EPISODE 103

In this episode, he explains how the brain engages in creative thinking and, based on that mechanistic understanding, the tools to improve one’s ability to think creatively and innovate in any area. He discusses how convergent and divergent thinking are essential for generating creative ideas and provide three types of meditation tools (open monitoring meditation, focused attention meditation & non-sleep deep rest; NSDR), which improve our ability to engage in these creative thinking patterns in specific and powerful ways. He also discusses how dopamine and mood contribute to the creative process and describe behavioral, nutritional and supplementation-based approaches for increasing dopamine to engage in creative thought and implementation. I explain how movement and storytelling (narrative) approaches can generate novel creative ideas and how substances like alcohol, cannabis, and psilocybin impact our creative ability. Excitingly, creativity is a skill that can be cultivated and enhanced; this episode outlines many tools to help anyone access creativity and apply creative patterns of thought to different domains of life.

Self Care Practice Suggestion:

Practice the breathing techniques from the meditation and the video at least 10 more times today, for just 1 to 2 minutes each time. Send me a text over the phone or a chat through Quenza to let me know that you opened this page and completed the exercises.

Reflection & Journal Prompts:

How does it feel to put your full attention on your breath?

How does today’s daily practice impact your state of mind?