Daily Wellness Activity: Mindfulness
When you hear “mindfulness practice” do you start to think “boring,” “slow,” or “not for me”? Notice what your initial reactions are. Whatever prior experience or judgments you may carry with you to the this experience, take note of them and allow them to exist on the back-burner. Ask yourself if you can remain curious and open to today’s particular event, what occurs now (as opposed to past and future exercises). You can choose any positive simple and healthy activity– from eating a strawberry to listening to a new album or even sketching your own hand. Play to your strengths and choose your activity based on what you enjoy as well as considering if you are more of a visual or auditory person.
Then, set aside 10 minutes for yourself. Turn off your cell phone, close your laptop and email, and find somewhere comfortable and allow yourself to notice all of your senses during this time. If you have reached it this far already, you are already allowing space for mindfulness.
Next, catalog in your mind what you hear, see, taste, smell– even those outside your intended experience. If you hear your neighbor’s dog or firetruck sirens, notice those sounds and try not to allow them to form into judgments (e.g., “the neighbor is so irresponsible”). Give room for those thoughts, and let them pass. Allow yourself to be immersed in the simple present experience.
If you don’t notice a difference, try again later. The important thing is not to judge yourself or others, but to remain engaged and interested about what it means to be mindful.
Take-home: Being focused and fully aware of the present can expand and enhance our everyday experience of what is happening now.
Daily Wellness Activity: Self-compassion
Do you find yourself putting off something meaningful or enjoyable to you because of that next work project or because you are too tired at the end of the day? Try this daily exercise to help you start by showing compassion to yourself.
First, set an intention today to do something nice for yourself this week. Notice this thought and make a note to yourself of what you’d like to do or yourself (for example, 15 minutes of reading the book you enjoy, cooking a nice meal for yourself, taking a bath, or taking a walk through the park). Also notice that there may be many other thoughts telling you that you “shouldn’t” or “can’t” do the nice thing because you’re too busy, should be working on another project, or have too many obligations. Take those other thoughts and let them pass. Try not to get tangled up in those other should’s or ought to thoughts.
Now, remember that intention and find a moment to do that something generous for yourself this week. How does it change your perspective and mood? How can you integrate this into every week?
Take-home: Being kind and loving to yourself can be rewarding and lasting both for you and those around you.
Mindfulness & Positive Well-being
Mindfulness is a very important technique and way of life that can help reduce your everyday stress levels and enhance your daily sense of positive well-being. What is mindfulness? The concept has roots in Eastern and Buddhist traditions and has been defined as “the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present” or “the clear and single-minded awareness of what actually happens to us and in us at the successive moments of perception” (Thera 1972). Mindfulness is integrated in several types of therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Two aspects of mindfulness are important to note:
1. Mindfulness is nonjudgmental awareness. It is noticing what is happening both inside you and around you without judging, interpreting, controlling, or feeling like it needs to be better, change, or go away. Is there a way to be aware of your thoughts and emotions, your mind and body, without applying judgment to them?
For example, when someone important to you doesn’t call you back in a few days and you’re start to get upset or worried, do you start to go down the path of judging yourself and wonder if you are not “good enough” or that the person doesn’t like you? Is there a way to take that moment and just notice that you’re frustrated and upset, but not immediately turn that into an negative interpretation or judgment of yourself?
Try catching yourself when you are thinking these negative thoughts and take a moment to just notice whatever emotions you are experiencing. Take an inventory of what you’re feeling, name these emotions, and allow them to exist without judgment.
2. Mindfulness is about being in the present. So much of our lives are focused on planning the future (e.g., the next job, the next relationship) or taking stock of our past (lost relationships, lost jobs, past friends) which can result in emotions such as moodiness, regret, or sadness and lead to rumination. Is there a way to allow whatever present emotions exist in the present, notice them, and not judge or struggle with them?
Whether you are angry, sad, or annoyed– allow yourself to feel that feeling without struggling with it. Try to start to view emotions as a state that fluctuates and will pass.
Mindfulness takes daily practice and several exercises, such as deep breathing techniques, can be integrated on a daily basis to help reduce overall stress or anxiety.
Yoga, exercise, and meditation
Yoga, meditation, and mind-body interventions have been found to be effective complementary therapy that are non-toxic and potentially helpful for several major psychiatric diagnoses as well as for reducing general stress and anxiety.
While therapy and medications are important, useful, evidence-based strategies, complementary approaches can further enhance your well-being and overall physical and mental health. Both yoga and exercise have been found to reduce stress and improve mood, and one recent randomized controlled trial compared yoga with walking and found greater improvement in subjects participating in yoga. Yoga has even been found to help with performance anxiety and mood disturbance in musicians.
While researchers continue to work improving study design and methodology in this area, mind-body interventions remain potential complements and options to increase your overall health.
Here are some select yoga studios in the area:
Yoga Vida NYC, 99 University Pl, 6th Fl (between 11th St & 12th St) New York, NY 10012
Dharma East, 297 3rd Ave (between 22nd St & 23rd St) New York, NY 10010
You can also explore podcasts for yoga and meditation online. Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Massachusetts) has some free podcasts online through iTunes.
Welcome to Dr. Wei’s therapy practice
Welcome to Dr. Wei’s therapy practice page. Here, you will find information about Dr. Wei’s page as well as an up-to-date blog on resources for issues such as coping with work and career stress, grief and bereavement, and the role of yoga in your holistic practice.
Please contact Dr. Wei for your initial consultation today.
Pet loss and bereavement
Losing a pet as a beloved friend and companion can be very difficult and painful. Here are some resources as you are going through your loss. You may also consider brief weekly therapy to help support you during this time. People who are not familiar with this type of loss may not be able to understand what you are going through and there are often challenges and difficult decisions in the wake of the loss.
Thank you to Lisa L. Wei, MD, Washington, D.C., for insights into the challenges of pet loss.
Here are some New York resources for pet loss and bereavement, including support groups are listed here.
Support Groups in Manhattan:
Bideawee, Manhattan Learning Center, 410 East 38th St., New York, NY 10016, 212-532-4986, ManhattanLearning@bideawee.org. Meets 1st Friday of the month, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Free. Please contact Bideawee’s Learning Center by the end of business on the Thursday before the 1st Friday of the month to register.
Pet Loss Support Program, Animal Medical Center, 510 E. 62nd St., New York, NY 10021, (212) 838-8100, (212) 329-8680 (for counseling). The group meets every other Tuesday from 6:00 PM to 8:00 pm in the 5th floor seminar room of the hospital. Private pet loss counseling is available for AMC clients needing additional support.
Helpful Books
