Mindfulness Wellness Group

Be mindful of how you talk to yourself! Three thoughts below for your consideration:

• Shift Your Mindset: Positive self-talk helps reframe negative thoughts and patterns, turning self-doubt into self-belief. This shift is crucial for maintaining motivation and staying committed to your recovery journey. Instead of saying, “I’m not strong enough,” try, “I have the strength to overcome this.”

• Builds Emotional Resilience: How you speak to yourself directly impacts your emotional well-being. Positive self-talk fosters self-compassion, reduces stress, and builds emotional resilience, making it easier to navigate challenges without turning to old coping mechanisms.

• Reinforces Personal Growth: Consistently using positive self-talk creates new mental pathways, reinforcing the idea that you are capable of change and growth. It becomes a powerful tool for breaking free from self-limiting beliefs and embracing your potential.
  

How are you treating yourself today?

During our weekly Women's Way Through The 12 Steps group, the book talked about using the Serenity Prayer as an affirmation. This gave the person a sense of humility, reminding them that there's only so much they can control.

How mindful is that and something I've been doing but didn't realize it before. That's why we go to meetings, right?

We also talked about the long version of the serenity prayer. Here it is below if you don't know it. Happy affirming!

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

• Mindful Breathing: Paying attention to the sensation of your breath as it enters and leaves your body. You could place a hand on your belly to also feel the gentle rise and fall of the belly as you breath.

• Body Scan: Bring your attention for a few seconds to different parts of your body and noticing any sensations or lack thereof without judgment about it. It is what it is.

• Mindful Walking: Paying attention to the sensations of your feet as they make contact with the ground. You could also trying doing this barefoot to connect with the earth.

• Mindful Eating: Focus on the taste, texture, and smell of your food without distractions. Taking your time to slowly complete the process of eating.

If this is challenging for anyone, I'm happy to offer support!

Exercise 5: Changing your critical self-talk

This exercise should be done over several weeks and will eventually form the blueprint for changing how you relate to yourself long-term. Some people find it useful to work on their inner critic by writing in a journal. Others are more comfortable doing it via internal dialogues. If you are someone who likes to write things down and revisit them later, journaling can be an excellent tool for transformation. If you are someone (like me) who never manages to be consistent with a journal, then do whatever works for you. You can speak aloud to yourself, or think silently.

1. The first step towards changing how you treat yourself is to notice when you are being self-critical. It may be that – like many of us — your self-critical voice is so common for…