Eat, Sleep, Study, Repeat

Oftentimes when we are approaching exams our lives fall into a cycle of four steps: Eat, Sleep, Study, Repeat.

Eat: 
Food is essentially to our wellbeing both physical and mental. Before and during exams we burn a lot of energy and need to ensure that we are eating well.
The BBC Goodfood page has some excellent tips on eating for exam success:

Eating and Exams

Sleep:
Sleep is essential. When we sleep our brains file away all the information that we've absorbed during the day. However, as exams approach and stress levels inevitably begin to rise, the duration and quality of sleep can fall. We need between 8 and 9 hours a night to allow of body and mind refresh itself. Good sleep hygiene is all important.

This excellent presentation take us through the value and importance of good sleep and rest periods as we prepare for exams:

Take Time Out: Sleep & Rest Guide

Study:
Eating and sleeping alone won't help us get the exam results we want, we also need to study. Each of us have our own way of approaching exams and study, some of us prepare well in advance and some of us cram right up to the moment the exam hall door opens. Whatever we do, it's important that we do it. Study is most effective when we break it up into smaller chunks. Like our muscles, our brain needs space and time to recover when it has been exercised. Take breathers, get some air, stand up away from your desk, walk around, talk to someone and then get back to it.

Repeat: 
Repeat is not a word we like to associate with exams or exam preparation. However, that is exactly what we do everyday as we prepare for the exam, we repeat our good lifestyle and study behaviours. We take time for study, take time to take a breath when we need it (7 / 11 breathing fires off our soothing system claiming our minds), we take time to eat, to sleep and to keep hydrated. We take some time to keep connected with our friends. We take time with our pets, they're often the best stress busters. This is the kind of repeating I'm talking about. The repetition of positive and healthy approaches to study that can and do make the difference.

Remember to stay positive. We can give ourselves a hard time when it comes to exams and convince ourselves that we're not capable. This isn't true. You are capable. When we study our minds can easily become overloaded as we try to process and hold on to all the information we're taking in, this is natural. If, and when, this happens your brain is telling you that you need to allow it some time to rest.

Rescue breaths:
Feelings of acute (sudden) anxiety and panic result from the stimulation of our threat system in our brain. The good news is that our brain has the perfect mechanism to deal with this; the soothing system. The soothing system is launched into action by our breath, or by music, or by nature or by any healthy and positive thing that brings us a sense of security and comfort. It doesn't take much to get it going.

The practice of 7 / 11 breathing (breathing in for a count of 7 and out for a count of 11) works as an emergency leaver if we suddenly feel a wall of pressure, or stress or panic. If we do:

STOP what you are doing
GROUND  your feet on the floor
IN breath for 7 counts
OUT breath for 11 counts
REPEAT this until you feel calm.

Exam Stress? Lust for Life has the solution

A Lust for Life Exam Management Course Click Here

With the Leaving and Junior cert exams approaching, and stress levels rising, take steps to get a handle on them before they become overwhelming.

Dr. Malie Coyne has created a free online exam stress management course for A Lust For Life, and it's well worth a look: http://bit.ly/LFLExams

This programme takes you through how stress works and how we can work with stress. This is a great initiative supported by Pieta House. It includes very practice tips as well as interviews with Bressie and other well know mental health advocates. 

Take the 5 day mindfulness challenge and change the shape of things

Mindfulness is a practice that allows us to become aware of what's going on for us in a non judgemental and non confrontational way. The benefits of regular mindfulness practice are widely known and include:

• Better concentration
• Better ability to deal with mood and emotions
• Better ability to cope with life's ups and downs
• Better appreciation of the good in our lives

as well as many physical benefits such as reduced blood pressure, stress and risk of major health problems. So if it has all these benefits and more, why isn't everyone practicing mindfulness everyday? 

Well as we all know its can be hard to break old habits especially if we've spent a lot of time forming these habits. We get into a cycle of doing things in a certain way, saying things a certain way and reacting to situations in a certain way. These become our default coping strategies. Our brains have built complex neural pathways to support these because, through repetition of these habits, we've told our brains that these things are important to us. However, we can also tell our brains that there is another way. 

Neuroplasticity is the technical term giving to the ability the brain has to alter itself and create new connections. Our brains are not fixed machines that only run a certain way. They are living organs that change over time in response to how we interact with the world around us. The daily practice of mindfulness can help create new positive pathways that will lead to a more productive, aware and grounded approach to life. 

The people at the Austin Mindfulness Centre offer the opportunity to take part in a five day mindfulness challenge, all you have do to is sign up and practice. With all the benefits that regular mindfulness practice offers, it really is a no brainer. Why not give it a try and see what difference you notice after just five days? 

http://austinmindfulness.org/five-day-challenge.html

Breathing and Stress Reduction

Photo Credit: http://www.robinskey.com/10-benefits-of-deep-breathing/

Everybody experiences stress. We need a certain amount of it to motivate us to get out of bed in the morning and roll into our day. Stress becomes a problem when we experience the world as a series of potential threats. This is when stress transforms into distress, anxiety and panic.

If we feel panicked one of the first things our body does is to alter our breathing rate and rhythm. We begin to gasp for air as we take short, sharp breaths. When we do this we fire off the part of our brain that tells us we are in danger and so we create a distress loop. However, we can do something about this and we have all the tools we need to do it.


By simply altering the rate and rhythm of of breath we tell our brain that everything is ok. For this to happen all we need all we need to do is to slow the rate, breath deeply and increase the length of our out breath.

I've included a breathing tool that will helps us to do this. Have a try, you'll be amazed at how effective it is.

The Body Scan Meditation

When you're feeling anger, sad or afraid where do you physically feel it in your body? Sometimes we can feel it in our stomach as a knot or nausea, or we can feel tension in our shoulders, neck or face. We all feel our emotions in different ways yet WE ALL FEEL THEM. Emotions have a physical presence and its this presence that can alert us to the fact that we might need to do something about it.

Photo credit:www.austinmindfulness.org

The body scan meditation has been used successfully to help people become aware of where they feel what they are feeling. It's a gentle meditation that allows us to scan our entire body as we notice what's going on for us in each part. When we notice, we breathe and allow it to be. The simple act of allowing something to be, just as it is, releases the pressure and tension associated with it.

The Centre for Mindfulness Research in Bangor University have an excellent website that provides FREE guided meditations. The body scan is a great way for us to unwind before bed, especially if we are having trouble sleeping. If we take some time to do it everyday, it helps us to better tune into what's going on for us and better equips us with the awareness needed to respond to tricky emotions as they arise.

So, why not take some time to check in with yourself and see how you are feeling right now...

Bangor University FREE AUDIO

Exploring Solitude, Stillness and Silence as ways to wellbeing

How many times have you looked at your phone today? No idea? Me neither. This is most likely because we check and recheck it so often that are no longer aware of how often we do it. It's become a habit maybe even an addiction and we're not alone in this.

Recently I've started thinking a lot about solitude, stillness and silence and how to find these in the midst of all the noise and distraction of modern life. Yes, even Friars are not immune to all of that. Today we are often connected to the point of distraction, disconnection and even isolation. Yet, at our very core we crave something else.

As humans we are on a life-long quest to find meaning and to find ourselves. We search, struggle and succeed in various ways. We form bonds with others, we learn from mistakes and we create so as to make our mark. We do. In all of this doing we can loose sight of our ability to just be; who we are, right now. Being with who we are can be a frightening place at times and a place we don't like to visit too often and so we keep ourselves distracted with work, tv, sports, phones, laptops...the list goes on. None of us are immune. It's a symptom of the modern world and yet it may also be something that's making us deeply unhappy and even unwell.

Stillness and silence can be scary and so I assure can now assure you that nobody has every been injured or harmed by a meditative stillness or silence. The silence that I'm talking about here is different from being quiet. When we're told to be quiet we have to stop doing something that we are doing and oftentimes this forcing down of our self-expression sparks an internal noise masked by our external quietness. Of course, removing noise or an obvious distraction is a necessary first step on the road to silence however it's not the entire journey. Silence is different because silence is always present. As we begin to still ourselves and allow the internal and external noise to settle, silence emerges.

Silence and stillness may seem like an unaffordable luxury at times, yet it is quite the opposite. We need it. Our minds need it as do our souls. We need it to allow our mind process all the information we pick up every second of the day. We need it to allow our soul express its inner most longings. We need it because its an essential part of who we are. Silence and stillness are valuable commodities in today's always-switched-on-world. Yes, we need to create space but in order for us to do that, in a sustainable way, we need to recognise our deep longing for them.

Factoring times of solitude, stillness and silence into our daily routine will benefit our well-being, relationships, ability to connect with others at a deeper level, our sleep, blood pressure, stress levels, appetite, world view and so much more. And the amazing thing is, it's already there. All we have to do, is not do...for a while. Try it. You won't be disappointed.

#FrancisFact!
Saint Francis of Assisi knew the importance of solitude, stillness and silence. He often took himself off to isolated places high in the hills to find it. Even for St Francis it was often hard to find. Even when he couldn't go to these places, Francis often covered his face with his hands or pulled his hood over his head to create a small place of solitude wherein he could allow silence emerge. He knew what was essential. He knew that silence and stillness in a place of solitude allowed him to refocus and reorientate himself so as to better respond to the needs of the brothers and those he ministered to. And it was in these places of solitude, stillness and silence that he communicate with God on a very deep and personal level. God, like silence is always present.

Welcome...

Welcome to the blog for the Positive Approaches to Health and Study Programme. On the blog you will find lots of meditations, supplementary information and links to support the programme.