Tending to Plants for Better Mental Health

Have you ever considered the benefit of taking care of something else as part of your own self care process? 

It may sound counterintuitive, but it’s true: creating routines where you tend to something else (a pet, a garden, a community project) benefits not just what you’re tending to, but your own mental wellness. Today we’re going to look at tending to plants specifically, but many of the benefits can come from making space to tend to other things (pets, community spaces, etc.) as well. 

So, how do indoor plants help our mental health? Here are 4 ways that caring for houseplants can help you care for your mental health: 

It helps promote mindfulness:

When you’re taking care of your plants, you have a chance to focus your attention on the nurturing that is taking place. Instead of your mind wandering around in a thousand different directions, you’re focused on the task at hand: which plants need care today? What do they need? Sunlight? Water? Do any need to be repotted or trimmed back? When you let your mind stay in the present moment, you reduce the opportunity for negative thoughts to land and stick in your mind. Taking care of your houseplants gets you into a regular mindfulness practice, which you can then bring to other areas of your life. It allows you to take the opportunity to slow down. We live in a hustle dominated culture, but that hustle isn’t always what is best for us! Tending to your plants requires care and attention so you have to slow down. . 

They give you reminders for your own care

Your plants need regular things like water and sunlight to survive; what are the things you need daily? You need things like food, water, and sunlight too, but what else? You need joyful movement, supportive relationships, opportunities for creativity and fun. Are your needs being met?

And sometimes your plant will need a change and you won’t know exactly what it will need. You might have to try a few different things to find the best way to take care of your plants; did you give it too much water? Not enough sunlight? A combination of both? It can be tricky to figure out what your plant needs and if you wind up giving it the wrong thing, just remember it’s all part of the learning process. This is also true for you. 

Easy companionship

Plants are living things! They have needs you have to get to know them to meet, they contribute to the well being and beauty of your space, and it’s important for the relationship between you and your houseplants that what each of you bring to the home is valued. 

But they aren’t like pets who require constant care and attention. Houseplants need us–we’ve taken them out of their natural habitat so it’s our responsibility to take care of them, but unlike a dog who might need multiple walks a day, someone to clean up after them, someone to devote a good portion of their day to petting and playing with the dog, etc. plants just need a good space to be in and someone to check in on them to make sure they’re getting enough water and sun. That makes them a good option for people who want something to take care of but don’t have the time or money to commit to a pet.  

They remind you small steps matter

Your plant isn’t going to fully grow overnight; it needs regular care. Watering it once and putting it in the window isn’t enough. This is a helpful reminder to us about our own wellness and growth: it’s a constant, daily practice. And each time we tend to our plants (or ourselves) matters and aids in the growth. 

Tending to houseplants has many mental health benefits, and it’s a coping skill you can keep in your mental health toolbox for when you need it. If you’re looking for other skills and tools to help support your mental health, working with a therapist can help you find what works for you. 

Mindfulness Tips for When You’re Having a Bad Day

We all have those not so good days. Whether it’s because of something that happened at work, a fight with your partner, an uncomfortable family situation, or something else entirely, bad days happen. There is no way to avoid the occasional bad day - we can only control our reaction to it. When we're caught up in the idea that we're having a ‘bad day’ it can become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. We suddenly notice that every red light takes too long to change or that people are misunderstanding us more than usual. When we’re already agitated, it takes very little to push us the rest of the way over the edge. That’s where mindfulness can come in handy on a bad day.

When you’re in the middle of a bad day, you might feel like there’s nothing you can do to feel better in the moment. Depending on the situation, that might be true. However, mindfulness can be a helpful tool to have in your mental toolbox for when tough stuff comes up. Relying on mindfulness can help you make the most of your bad day and gain a sense of peace. 

What is mindfulness? 

Mindfulness can be a transformative practice that helps you learn to sit with your thoughts and focus fully on the here and now. Instead of worrying about the future or overanalyzing things that already happened, mindfulness is focused on what is happening now. The most important part of mindfulness is remembering not to judge yourself. When you’re actively trying to focus on the present, you will notice a million different thoughts trying to get your attention. It’s okay if they do. Mindfulness is a practice, and it takes time to learn how to let your thoughts move past without engaging them. If you notice your focus slipping, gently remind yourself that you’re focused on the present moment. It can help to have an affirmation to repeat to yourself when this happens to gently redirect your attention. Try something like “I’m focusing on the present moment now,” or paying attention to your breathing to help you stay present. 

How can mindfulness help with a bad day? 

Mindfulness teaches us to notice without judgment. When you’re having a bad day, you might have a hard time admitting that it’s a bad day, because that sounds like giving up or giving in. However, we can’t change anything if we don’t recognize it first. Admitting it’s a bad day won’t make it any worse, it just means you can acknowledge it and try to move on from there. 

Do a body scan

Where are these bad day feelings living in your body? Do you feel a heaviness in your chest or gut? Do you feel tension in your neck? Close your eyes and scan your whole body, from the top of your head down to your toes and see where the discomfort is hanging out for you. When you recognize that your feelings can be felt in your body, you can have a little more compassion for yourself. After all, if you have an ache or pain, it’s okay to treat that! It’s the same with emotional or mental pain. 

Remind yourself of the facts

Mindfulness can also help us realize that our feelings aren’t facts. We might feel like our world is ending on a bad day, but what do the facts say? Take a deep breath and separate your feelings from what’s actually going on. Remind yourself that you’ve had bad days before and you’ve gotten through every single one. If it helps, remind yourself that all days end and this one will too. 

Get it out on paper

Sometimes no matter how hard we try to focus on the present, our thoughts continue to jumble up in our heads and make us feel worse. When that happens, it can be helpful to talk or write out what you’re feeling. Grab a journal or make a voice memo in your phone and let yourself write or talk for a few minutes. Try setting a timer and give yourself that amount of time to write about it, and when you’re done, imagine closing the cover of your journal or pushing the stop button on your phone as letting go of those thoughts. It might take some practice to help you get used to dumping your thoughts and worries this way, but it can be freeing to get them all out of your head so you can focus on feeling better. 

Distract yourself

When you’re in the middle of a distressing day, a distraction might be helpful to take your mind off things. Not all distractions are bad - if it helps you to stop ruminating on what’s wrong with your day, it can be a game changer. Try distracting yourself with joyful movement, cooking, making art, cleaning, or something else that is fun but also challenging. 

Use your senses to self-soothe

If you’re feeling extremely distressed, soothing yourself can be essential. Try using your senses to soothe yourself. Pick 5 things you can see, 4 things you can hear, 3 things you can feel, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Keep going through these until you feel less agitated. You can also do breathing exercises like box breathing to help calm yourself down. 

Having a bad day is no fun, but it’s the reality from time to time. Instead of being stuck when those days come up, adding in mindfulness skills to your mental health toolbox can help support you so you can get back to feeling like yourself in no time. If you’re looking for support starting a mindfulness practice, our therapists can help find what works best for you. Contact us today to book a session. 

4 Ways Mindful Breathing Can Help You Feel Better

4 Ways Mindful Breathing Can Help You Feel Better

Are you holding your breath right now?

It might seem surprising, since breathing is the one thing we’ve all been able to do since birth, but many folks have a tendency to hold their breath when they’re stressed or distracted. We breathe automatically for lots of reasons, and one of those reasons is so that we don’t have to waste our mental energy forcing ourselves to breathe to stay alive. While that is certainly handy, one consequence is that it’s easy to tune out your breathing to the point where you don’t notice it. Getting in touch with your breath through mindful breathing can help you feel better during times when you are stressed or upset.  

The first step to practice mindful breathing is to start noticing your breath regularly. You might not even notice when you start holding your breath or breathing shallowly. Shallow breathing often comes up in moments of stress or discomfort, when our bodies are preparing us to fight or flee. Try to notice the times when you’re naturally holding your breath or when your breathing gets shallow. Notice what it feels like in your body when your breathing isn’t as deep. Maybe put a sticky note on your desk to remind you to take deep breaths whenever you notice it. 

What is mindful breathing?

Mindful breathing is pretty much what it sounds like - focusing your attention on your breathing instead of letting it happen without you noticing. Practices like yoga or breath work focus heavily on the breath as a way to connect to the body and can help you to build the habit of tuning in to your breath. These practices can help you incorporate mindful breathing into your life regularly so you have a built in reminder to focus on your breath. 

Mindful breathing doesn’t have to be a whole production, either if that makes it hard to start. It really can be as simple as noticing “Oh hey, I’m holding my breath a lot right now.” and then deciding to take some slow, deep breaths. 

Why mindful breathing is helpful 

Has anyone ever told you to take a deep breath when you’re really upset? It can be frustrating advice because it might not seem like it will actually help, but deep breathing actually has a lot of benefits. Some of the benefits of deep breathing include: 

• Lowered stress levels

• Improved immunity

• Lower blood pressure

• Increased energy

• Better digestion

Here are 4 other ways that mindful breathing can help you feel better in moments of distress: 

Mindful breathing oxygenates the blood

When you take nice deep breaths, you not only give yourself something else to focus on besides your distress, but you take in more oxygen. The oxygen you breathe in is transported around the body from your lungs, which helps your body function more efficiently. This is part of why taking slow deep breaths can boost your energy - you’re properly oxygenating your cells, so they’re ready to be used. 

Mindful breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system

Another reason that mindful breathing helps you feel better is that it activates your parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system, or PNS is the part of your nervous system that comes online in times of calm. Your sympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, is what is activated in times of stress, and it controls your fight or flight response. When your body is stressed and ready for a fight (or flight), your body shuts down certain processes, like digestion, to conserve energy to defend yourself and stay alive. Deep breathing helps your PNS come back online, which restores your body to a state of calm. 

Mindful breathing you become aware of the present moment

In our increasingly distracted world, it’s a powerful skill to be present in the current moment. Mindfulness is a valuable tool that helps you learn how to direct your attention and encourages you not to judge yourself. 

The key with the mindful aspect of mindful breathing is to try to keep yourself focused on your breath. Notice each inhale and exhale and the space in between. Notice how the deep breaths make your body feel. Any other thoughts that come up can be gently pushed away. When you notice your thoughts wandering to other things, just calmly shift your attention back to your breath. 

Mindful breathing directs your focus away from distress

Not only does mindful breathing help to literally calm your body down, but it can be a great distraction. When something is stressing you out or making you uncomfortable, turning your focus onto your breath can help you feel less distress. Paying attention to your breathing and taking deep breaths gives you something else to focus on other than what’s upsetting you, which can help you calm down in the moment. 

The calming effects of breath work that we discussed above help your body calm down in a few different ways, and the space it takes up in your brain to control your breath forces you to shift your focus, which can be helpful in uncomfortable moments. Deep breathing has even been shown to reduce pain! 

It’s powerful to notice how what’s going on in your body influences your mental health. We often think of mental health as being just in the brain, but your whole body has an impact on how you’re feeling, and you can engage your whole body in your healing process. Working with a therapist who approaches healing through a holistic perspective can give you new insight into how to connect what's going on in your mind and body and how to use both to feel like your best self. Get in touch with our office today to get started. 

Spending Time with Your Inner Child this Autumn

What’s your inner child?

Your inner child is all of the younger versions of yourself that still live inside of your mind. Imagine yourself like a tree–as the tree grows, it creates rings on the inside of it, marking how many growth cycles it’s been through. Your inner child is like that, the rings of your growth. You don’t abandon each version of yourself as you get older, you simply build upon it. 

Their hopes, their needs, their dreams, their fears, and their wounds all live within you, making you responsible for them. We call this sort of responsibility the reparenting of your inner child because it allows for you, now grown, to provide the care and support your younger self needed to that younger version of you inside of yourself. You are parent and child at once. 

Why is connecting to them important?

Taking time to connect with your inner child allows you to tap into those needs and fears and wounds. Wounds left untended from our childhood don’t just go away, they seep into our adult lives & relationships. Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re trying to tend to those wounds through our behaviors! That’s why taking intentional time to get to know your inner child, and explore where they might be hurting is so important. 

What does it mean to care for your inner child?

Taking time to care for your inner child is about taking intentional time with yourself. Notice your emotional reactions to things, and make an effort to investigate where those instincts come from. Often at the root of an emotional reaction is a childhood wound–one we may or may not be aware of. And remember as you take this time: what you find may seem insignificant to an adult but can be a major moment for a child. When we’re children, experiences are all new. That means we’re not able to apply the logic of context to a situation, and may draw the wrong conclusions. Be kind to your inner child and remember that their feelings are real and huge to them. It’s not your job to logic those feelings away, but to offer a safe space to name them, sit with them, and explore what those feelings say about your emotional needs. 

Use the changing of the seasons as an excuse to make plans with your inner child. 

As the weather cools, it’s finally starting to feel like autumn! There are many ways you can connect to your inner child throughout the year, but why not have a little seasonal fun with it? Here are just a few ideas on how you can use the changing of the seasons as an opportunity to connect with your inner child: 

Visit a corn maze: 

This is both a fun group activity (get all your friend’s inner children to come along to!) or an opportunity for some one on one, mindful time with your inner child. Walk through the maze as they would, what choices would they make? How would they have fun? Indulge their playful spirit! 

Pick out & decorate pumpkins:

Getting creative with your inner child is a great way to allow them to express themselves, and seasonal decorating is just one way to do it! You can let them get their hands messy and carve a pumpkin, or you could keep it whole and have some fun painting it. Let your inner child guide the creative process, and see what they come up with! 

Make your own Halloween costume: 

Just one more creative way to connect to your inner child’s playfulness and creativity. Who would your inner child want to be for Halloween? Did they have a hero or a favorite character? How would they like to dress up as them? Would they have fun piecing the costume together, DIY style? 

Go apple picking: 

Spending time in nature is great both for you and your inner child! Go for an autumn hike or go to an apple orchard to spend an afternoon walking around, smelling the crisp air, stepping on crunchy leaves, and picking delicious apples to bring home with you. Maybe you and your inner child can bake them into an apple pie for a sweet treat later! 

If you’re looking to go deeper into your inner child work, our therapists can help support you. Get in touch with us today to schedule an appointment!

Mindfulness To Help Anxiety

Do you ever feel like you are overwhelmed by all of the thoughts and feelings taking up space in your head? Most of us have days where we feel like our brains won’t knock it off, but for folks living with anxiety, this can be a constant battle. Your thoughts, feelings, worries, judgments, and decisions take up a lot of space in your brain, and it can be hard to focus on anything else sometimes. One way to give yourself a buffer between you and the noise in your head is to develop a mindfulness practice. 

You’ve probably heard of mindfulness before - we’ve talked about it on the blog a few times before, and mindfulness is kind of a buzzword right now, especially in mental health and wellness spaces. Mindfulness is a practice designed to teach us how to be in the present moment.  According to PsychCentral, the act of mindfulness is “paying attention in the present moment, on purpose, nonjudgmentally.” The two big things to remember when practicing mindfulness are awareness and acceptance. Mindfulness gives us an awareness of what’s going on in our own inner world. When practicing mindfulness, it’s also important to accept yourself. Do your best to shut down any judgment or negative self-talk when they come up, and just remember to focus on the present moment. 

Mindfulness helps to take us out of the mindset where we do things automatically or out of habit.

When you’re living with anxiety, you might feel like you don’t have enough time or emotional energy to change up your routines, but when you make time regularly to notice your surroundings, both internally and externally, you will start to notice patterns that you might not have seen before. Taking note of the patterns that come up for you in your daily life can help you make better decisions in the future, plan for tricky situations, and remind yourself that you are capable of doing difficult things. 

If you’re looking for some ways to practice mindfulness that can help you manage your anxiety, here are some tips: 

Make your space more mindful

When you have a set space to practice mindfulness, you will signal to your body and brain that it’s mindfulness time every time you sit there. You don’t need to use a whole room in your house for this, but if you have a cozy spot that you can dedicate to mindfulness, even the habit of sitting in that spot can help you get in the headspace to be present and aware of your surroundings, internally and externally. Try sitting in your favorite chair, or by a sunny window, or even in a corner of your bedroom. You can personalize the space so that it is ideal for your exact needs - have soft things to touch, smells that make you feel calm or grounded, play calming or happy music. 

Don’t go it alone

Anxiety is something we largely have to deal with on our own, but mindfulness doesn’t need to be a big secret! Try involving someone else in your mindfulness practice. This doesn’t necessarily have to be someone you sit down to practice mindfulness with, but it can be someone who holds you accountable to your goal of practicing mindfulness more often. When someone else knows that you’re working toward a goal of being more mindful, it can be really motivating. 

Morning journaling

Mindfulness isn’t just about sitting still with your eyes closed. Mindfulness can be anything that makes you feel connected to the present moment, whether that’s sitting quietly on a cushion, taking a walk through the woods, or even washing your dishes. One way to help combat the overflow of thoughts that comes with anxiety is to spend some time each morning journaling. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind, without judgment. You can set a timer and just free write until you feel more focused on the present, or you can find journal prompts to help you get there if you need a little guidance. 

Notice your breathing 

Getting out of your own head can be really tricky. Try starting with your breath. Focusing your thoughts to the present takes lots of practice, so if you can’t stop your thoughts that is okay. Do your best to move on from each thought when you notice it pop up. Try to slow down your breath and really focus on each inhale and exhale. Close your eyes if it helps! 

Mindfulness is a great tool because you can practice it anywhere- all you need is your mind. When you have anxiety, you take it with you everywhere you go, so it’s extremely valuable to have tools you can use in the moment to soothe yourself. With practice, mindfulness will become easier and you can use it anytime you need a reset to focus on the current moment. If you’re trying to figure out how mindfulness can help you manage your anxiety, our clinicians can help you come up with a mindfulness practice that works for you. 

4 Ways to Add Mindfulness to Your Daily Routine

What does it mean to cultivate a mindfulness practice? 

We’ve touched on mindfulness on our blog before, specifically how mindfulness can help with stress relief. But how does one go about cultivating their own daily mindfulness practice?

If you’re totally new to mindfulness and don’t want to branch out on your own yet, a good place to start is with a mindfulness app. We’ve got a list of ten right here that can help guide you through developing your own mindfulness routine. 

But you might not want to use an app. Part of the reason people love mindfulness so much, is that it helps them to be in the present moment without extraneous distractions. And if you find yourself clicking back and forth between different apps mindlessly every time you pick up your phone, a mindfulness app might not be the best way to go about creating your mindfulness practice! 

So how can you get started on your own mindfulness?

There is no one right way to be mindful, or to practice mindfulness. You don’t need a specially designated mindfulness or meditation space. The most important thing in mindfulness is the switch from your doing mode to you being mode, whatever that looks like in your life. 

Switching over to your being mode is all about tuning into your different senses and engaging with the present moment. To do this, ask yourself questions like: 

• What sounds am I hearing? Where are they coming from?

• What can I smell? Where is that smell coming from? What does that smell make me think of?

• What is around me? How is my body interacting with my environment? 

• What can I see around me? What have I been overlooking?

• How does my body feel? Am I sore, tired, aching? Do my limbs feel heavy? In noticing this, do I now want to stretch?

• Where is my attention going? Am I staying in the present moment, or are my thoughts wandering? Why might I be having trouble keeping my attention at the present?

You can use these questions to get you started at any point in your day. If you’re looking for more structure in your mindfulness routine consider: 

Setting your alarm for five minutes earlier than you normally wake up: 

You don’t need to spend a lot of time on mindfulness. Like most self care, mindfulness is more about the quality of your practice than the quantity. Giving yourself five extra minutes at the beginning of the day is a perfect way to ease into mindfulness. You don’t even need to get out of bed to do it! Take those five minutes to lay awake in bed, engaging with your senses, asking yourself those mindfulness questions. 

Add mindfulness into mindless tasks: 

What do you normally think about when brushing your teeth? Or washing your dishes? We do these things on autopilot, so your mind probably wanders out of habit. Find these small mindless moments throughout the day, and see if you can refocus. Use them as opportunities in your regular routine to add a bit of mindfulness. What does your toothpaste smell like? How do the bristles feel on your teeth? How does your arm feel brushing? What do you hear while brushing your teeth? Or how does the soap and water feel on your skin while you wash your dishes? 

Enriching an activity you already enjoy:

What’s something you like to do every day? Do you love cooking? Going for a walk after work? Pick one of these things you enjoy, and try to do them mindfully. Put your phone away or turn it off so you aren’t tempted to get distracted. When your mind wanders, be gentle with yourself, and redirect your attention back to what you’re doing. If you’re cooking: what are you smelling? What are you hearing? What do the smells, tastes, sounds, sights, make you feel? If you’re on a walk: what’s happening around you? Is it windy? Can you hear neighborhood pets or kids playing? Is the traffic loud?  What colors are you seeing? 

Adding mindfulness to your bedtime routine: 

Just as with your morning routine, adding in a few minutes of mindfulness can be a great way to end your day. When you’re all ready for bed, find a comfortable position and sit for a few minutes. How are you feeling? What feelings has the day left in you? Focus on your breath, breathing in and out slowly. Not only can this help you focus on mindfulness, but it can also help you relax, which is perfect to help you ease into restful sleep. 

If you're looking for support as you develop a mindfulness practice, or if you're not sure where to begin, contact us today for help!

---

counseling in falls church, mclean, tysons corner, merrifield, arlington and vienna, va

Hope+Wellness is a therapy practice serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. We provide compassionate care to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice is in-network with BCBS and provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!

Well Rounded Wellness: Exploring the Health Benefits of Spirituality

What is well-rounded wellness?

We’ve talked a bit before about the link between physical and mental wellness. And research is now showing that there is a significant mind-body connection; meaning our mental health can influence our physical health, and vice versa. 

So we know that health isn’t just one or the other. It’s not physical or mental, it’s a combination of caring for all of the different aspects of ourselves. But within this mind body connection, there’s another aspect often left out of the conversation: spiritual wellness. 

This aspect of wellness asks us to address our beliefs, our values, and our connection to the world we live in. It is often linked very directly with our mental health; spirituality can help with feelings of anxiety, depression, stress, listlessness, lack of purpose, etc. And in being so linked with our mental health, we see that a well rounded sense of wellness has to include the whole picture: mind, body, and soul. 

What is Spirituality?

For some, spirituality might be religion. Whether Judaism, Catholicsm, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sihkism, etc, religion, no matter the denomination, is an expression of spirituality. 

But spirituality doesn’t have to be expressed through an organized religion. 

At its core, spirituality is about connecting with your world. It’s about finding your values, and finding ways to live your life with them in mind. It’s about finding your purpose, your connection to others, your connection to the world around you. Spirituality, whatever form it shows up in, is how we make sense of the time we’re given in this world. 

What is spiritual wellness?

Spiritual wellness is just like any other type of wellness: recognizing and meeting needs. The variance lies in what those needs are. You might need a structured religion, a holy text. Or you might need something more fluid, a spiritual connection to the earth or your own intuition. 

Spiritual wellness just means that you are asking yourself the question “What does it mean for me to be spiritually fulfilled?” and then doing your best to incorporate practices that help you achieve that fulfilment. Those practices might include things like: 

• Meditation

• Prayer

• Yoga 

• Community gatherings

• Volunteer work

• Journaling

When finding what feels right for you, please remember to be culturally sensitive. While mental & physical health do benefit greatly from spiritual exploration, it’s important to remember that while some spiritual practices are meant to be shared, others are intended as a sacred part of a closed culture. Please do your research if you are exploring spirituality or religion outside of what you are familiar with. 

How does spirituality improve our overall wellness?

There are many ways spirituality helps our overall wellness. A few include: 

Improved Sleep

Because most religions have some sort of mindfulness practice (prayer, meditation, yoga), the health benefits of mindfulness are also true of the health benefits of spirituality! And research has found that those with a steady mindfulness practice get better, more restful sleep than those without. 

Boosted Physical Health 

Spiritual practices not only help our mental and emotional health, but our physical health as well. Having those steady practices helps give us a regular mindfulness routine which not only improves the quality of our sleep, but has also been shown to lower blood pressure, and strengthen our immune system. 

Improved relationships

Spirituality often centers on the idea of connection, and often requires (or benefits from) some sort of community involvement. And when we are committed to a community, that means we are attuning ourselves to be mindful of others wants and needs, as well as strengthening our own skills in communication–simply through practice! And these skills aren’t restricted just to your own spiritual community. They become habit, and make it easier for you to handle conflict and communication with other people in your life. 

Decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression

When you explore and commit to your own spirituality, you feel a stronger sense of connection. To yourself, your friends and loved ones, your community, your environment, etc. This feeling of connection helps to lower the risk of depression. And spiritual practices like meditation, prayer, and yoga help to increase our mindfulness, and in doing so decrease our stress and anxiety levels. 

Improved coping skills

When difficult life events occur (sudden illness, relationship trouble, death of a loved one, etc.) spirituality helps to give us a guidebook on how to manage what seems unmanagable. Take, for example, the death of a loved one. While traditions vary across religions and spirituality, the thing that links them all is that there is some sort of tradition or ritual that accompanies grief and loss. This can help facilitate the grieving process. Rather than pushing those difficult emotions to the side and ignoring them, spiritual or religious traditions help us to face them. And the traditions or rituals that go along with those occurrences helps us to feel like we are in control of our own grieving, or emotional journey. Without these traditions it would be much more difficult to grapple with uncomfortable emotions (like grief) and the feeling of being untethered and out of control would just make things worse. 

Incorporating spirituality into your life is a great way to round out your wellness practice. Keeping a holistic view of wellness (mind, body and soul) reminds you to take stock of your needs, and find enjoyable ways for you to fill them, without sacrificing your health in other areas.  And, in fact, can help you to improve both your mental and physical health! 

---

therapist in falls church, mclean, tysons corner, merrifield, arlington and vienna, va

Hope+Wellness is a psychotherapy practice serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. We provide compassionatecare to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice is in-network with BCBS and provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!

Mindfulness for Stress Relief

What is Mindfulness? 

What does it mean to cultivate a mindfulness practice? Is mindfulness the same as meditation? There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the idea of mindfulness–but it’s actually quite straightforward. Being mindful is the simple act of being aware of the moment you are in, while you are in it. 

When you’re mindful, you take notice of things like: 

• What sounds are you hearing?

• What smells are around you? Where are they coming from?

• What is it that you’re doing? Is your attention focused on that act, or is your mind wandering?

Most of us are so used to being stretched in a hundred different directions, that we rarely take time to be fully present. Practicing mindfulness helps you refocus on where you are, how you’re feeling, and the elements of the environment around you. Instead of trying to multitask to get many things done in a short period of time, a mindfulness practice asks that you center yourself in one experience at a time. By doing this, you are able to commit stronger energy and mental focus to what you’re doing, accomplish it to the best of your ability, and not feel so worn out that you can’t accomplish something else. 

The good news is: we all have the ability to cultivate a mindfulness practice. The multitasking, and stretching your mental energy across too many things is a practice we learn as we grow up, and just as we learned it, we can unlearn it! With focus and intention, mindfulness can become part of our routine, and help us increase our productivity, improve our quality of work, and reduce our stress!

How does mindfulness aid with stress relief?

There are four core components to mindfulness. These work as the pillars holding up your mindfulness practice, allowing it to function. They are: 

• Awareness: simply, what is happening around you? Call your attention to your senses: what do you see, feel, hear, smell, taste? A core part of mindfulness is being aware of the immediate world around you.

• Focus: if you are doing something, such as a project or activity, where is your focus? Is it split between two, three, or more things? In order for mindfulness to be truly effective, keeping your focus on the thing you are doing at the time, dismissing wandering thoughts as they come, is necessary. 

• Acceptance: this one can be tricky for many of us, but part of mindfulness is accepting the way you are feeling, or the thoughts you are thinking without passing judgment on them. Remember: feelings are not facts. They give us valuable information about ourselves, but they do not necessarily reflect reality. Accept your thoughts & feelings without judging them, and remind yourself that there is nothing wrong with your natural reactions. 

• Observation: when you do feel these negative or unpleasant thoughts and feelings, don’t try to block them or push them aside. Observe what you’re feeling, and explore why you’re feeling it. Learn what you can, and then allow yourself to let them go, and observe what comes next. 

So, what does this mean for stress relief? 

Mindfulness helps you to switch gears from your “doing” mode to your “being” mode, which in turn helps you to reduce your stress responses.  With a strong mindfulness practice, you are able to observe a situation without immediately reacting to it. You give yourself a moment to gather your thoughts and find the best solution. And when you are more aware of yourself, your body, and your environment, you are more aware of your needs. This awareness helps you to spot problems early on before they get so bad that you’re burned out or unable to function as usual. 

And, one of the key “selling points” of cultivating a mindfulness practice, is that your sleep & focus improve. This means that your energy is much better restored each day, and when you are working, you are able to commit yourself to whatever it is you’re working on without a million tiny distractions that take up your attention and contribute to your stress. 

Practicing mindfulness for stress relief:

So how can you get started? 

1. Start with guided meditations: When you’re new to mindfulness, it can feel daunting to just jump in on your own. So don’t! There are apps that will curate a feed of guided meditations for you. If you don’t want to commit to an app, search YouTube for guided stress relief mindfulness videos! As you practice with guided meditations and find what works for you, you may be able to create your own, unique practice. 

2. Do a body scan: do you feel yourself fidgeting throughout the day? Are you distracted by the tension you hold in your body? When your mind starts to wander and it gets hard to focus don’t just try to power through. Instead, take a few minutes to figure out what it is you need. Start with your toes and work your way up; are there aches in any part of your body? Do you need to stretch? Does your head hurt? Are you thirsty? Paying attention to the physical symptoms that your stress may present in your body will help you to stay on top of them, and reduce their effects. 

3. Try deep breathing: When you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, give yourself a few minutes to focus on your breathing. Close your eyes and feel your body expand as you breathe in. Hold your breath for a moment before letting go, and then imagine yourself as a deflating balloon as you release your breath. How do you feel as you breathe deeply? This sort of exercise can help not only to calm you down in the movement, but bring yourself back to the present, refocus, and carry on without intrusive distractions.

If you're looking for support as you develop a mindfulness practice, or if you're not sure where to begin, contact us today for help!

---

therapist in falls church, mclean, tysons corner, merrifield, arlington and vienna, va

Hope+Wellness is a psychotherapy practice serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. We provide individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!

10 Mindfulness Apps to Improve Your Life Right Now

When was the last time you felt fully immersed in the present moment? If you are having trouble pinpointing a time, you’re not alone. Mindfulness can be a transformative practice that helps you learn to sit with your thoughts and focus fully on the here and now. Mindfulness has become such a popular practice that there are even dozens of mindfulness apps available to help you get started. But what is mindfulness, anyway? 

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Mindfulness is the act of being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling at every moment — without interpretation or judgment.”

Mindfulness is a practice, not a one-off event, so it’s important to actually put in the time to practice this skill. However, you don’t have to practice mindfulness for a long time before you can see the effects. In one recent study, people who had practiced mindfulness for just 100 minutes reported feeling more positive emotions and less troubled by the responsibilities of their lives. Even a little bit at a time can help you feel more present and grounded. 

If you’re a mindfulness novice, jumping in without a little guidance may seem way above your head. After all, it’s not easy to go from interpreting and judging our thoughts to simply noticing them and letting them pass by. But there’s no need to give up completely! No matter what level you’re at there are mindfulness apps & tools that can help you on your journey to become more mindful.

It might seem counter intuitive to suggest seeking mindfulness through your phone, a device that is typically labeled a distraction. However, let’s be real: your phone is probably with you the majority of the time. Mindfulness support can be literally in your pocket at all times! 

Not all mindfulness apps were created equal. The boom in the wellness industry in the last few years has given rise to practices like meditation, mindfulness, self-care becoming mainstream. This means that there are tons of apps to sift through, even if you don’t know what you’re looking for or what will be helpful to you. 

Here are 10 mindfulness apps to try in your wellness practice: 

Insight Timer

Insight Timer is a free mindfulness app that’s available on both iOS and Android. It bills itself as the world’s largest free library of guided meditations, and there are over 28,000 options for you to choose from. They have meditations for everything under the sun, as well as music tracks and ambient sounds that can be used for focus or help with sleep. There’s a timer so you can customize a mindfulness session that fits in your schedule. Insight Timer also offers a free course for beginners to teach you how to meditate in just 7 days. You can track your progress with charts in the app, and the meditations are available in over 30 languages. Another feature of Insight Timer is the community - there are discussion groups and you can see how many people in the world are using the app with you. 

Calm

The Calm mindfulness app seeks to live up to its name right from when you open it up! You’ll be greeted with nature sounds to help get you in the mindset of mindfulness. They offer a variety of guided meditations, breathing exercises, and sleep stories, which you can listen to as you fall asleep. They even have a section specifically dedicated to teaching kids mindfulness. You can access some of the content with the free plan, but for newly added content, there is a subscription fee of $60 per year. They do have the option for a lifetime membership at $400. You can download Calm on iOS or Android. 

Headspace

Headspace is another popular mindfulness app that is available on iOS and Android. They compare their app to a gym membership, but for your mind. With just a few minutes a day on their app, you can learn how to meditate. They offer meditations of various lengths to fit whatever time frame you have available, and they have what they call “SOS” meditations to help during a crisis. Plus, the animation style of the app is very cute! This app is not free, but they do have a 7 day free trial period if you want to try it out first. After 7 days, it costs $12.99 a month or you can pay for the full year for $95.88. 

Buddhify

Buddhify is the app for meditation on the go. In their catalog they have over 200 guided meditations to choose from that vary in their focus! Whether you’re trying to manage anxiety, stress, improve your sleep, deal with pain or difficult emotions, Buddify has a guided meditation for you. And because they’re all about working mindfulness into your unique life, you can find exercises for whatever situation you’re in–whether you’re at work, traveling, browsing online, eating lunch, etc. And no need to stick with just one guide! Buddhify offers a variety of experienced teachers so you can choose the one that’s right for you. The basic app costs $4.99, and there is an option to enroll in a membership to deepen your practice. Buddhify is available for iOS as well as Android.

Aura

Available on iOS and Android, Aura has a ton of wellness content. They offer meditations in varying lengths (including a lot of 3 minute ‘micro-meditations’ for people who don’t like sitting still!), nature sounds you can play as white noise, recorded short stories, life coaching, music, and a gratitude journal. You can advance to different levels as you meditate more, which gives the app a game-like quality. There is also a premium version with more features available. 

Ten Percent Happier

The aim of the Ten Percent Happier mindfulness app is to help you learn to meditate, sleep better, and build a mindfulness practice bit by bit. It has a library of 500+ guided meditations for you to choose from that vary in topic from anxiety, to parenting, to improving your focus. Plusm they release new content weekly so you don’t have to build your habit off of recycling the same old materials. In order to get access to the library of 500+ meditations, you do need to purchase a yearly subscription ($99/year)–but they do have a free version with a more limited selection you can try out to see if you like it! This app is available for both iOS and Android.

Mindfulness Daily

The creators of Mindfulness Daily developed their mindfulness app and continue to provide new content by working directly with scientists, physicians, and trainers. They offer a Mindful Daily Routine option which offers 3 meditation breaks a day to keep you on track. This app is especially helpful to those looking to reduce stress or improve their sleep. While this app is only available in iOS for now, they do have an Android beta testing program in the works. 

Smiling Mind

The Smiling Mind mindfulness app is broken down into categories based on age. They have specific mindfulness programs for adults, children, classrooms, and workspaces, and they offer their programs in multiple languages. The app was developed by psychologists and educators to help teach mindfulness techniques in just 10 minutes a day. This app is completely free to use for iOS and Android. 

Stop, Breathe, and Think

Stop, Breathe and Think is all about using meditation and mindfulness to boost your confidence and increase your emotional strength. It’s all in their name really–they want you to STOP: stop what you’re doing and check in with your surroundings + feelings; BREATHE: establish a mindful breathing practice to help you create space between your thoughts or emotions and your reactions; and THINK: broaden your perspective. Their library of guided meditations will walk you through this process no matter what topic you choose to focus on. The app is available for free for iOS and Android. 

Simple Habit

Simple Habit has an enormous library of meditations: 2,000+!! Their goal is to get you to work 5 minutes of mindfulness into your daily routine. So they have expert teachers who guide you through 5 minute mindfulness sessions, and a Mindful Minutes tracker that can help you keep a log of your progress. The basic app is free, but there is a premium subscription plans you can opt into if you want to level up your practice, which is purchased through either a yearly ($95.99) or monthly ($11.99) payment. It’s available for iOS and Android. 

Everyone has their own preferences, and luckily, there are dozens of mindfulness apps available for smartphones, so chances are you can find something that works for you. If you try an app that doesn’t make you want to practice mindfulness, there’s no harm in moving on to the next one! Eventually, you will find one that fits your lifestyle. 

If you're looking for support as you develop a mindfulness practice, or if you're not sure where to begin, contact us today for help!

---

therapist in falls church, mclean, tysons corner, merrifield, arlington and vienna, va

Hope+Wellness is a psychotherapy practice serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. We provide individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!

---

11 Mindful Quotes for Serenity and Clarity

So often we hear messages from society that we need to be fitter, prettier, more youthful, wealthier and to reach some future state of being in order to be happy but the truth is that peace and contentment are available to you in the here and now.

It takes committed insight and intention to connect with life as it is and to see reality clearly rather than your distortions of it. Mindfulness helps you cultivate an awareness and peace with life, in the present moment, as it is. It releases you from the patterns of negative thinking, feeling, and behaving that cause you pain and suffering and helps you reconnect to yourself, to become awakened to serenity and calmness that sustains you throughout life’s inevitable ups and downs.

Below are 11 Mindful Quotes for Serenity and Clarity

“Gratitude reminds us to be like plants, which turn toward, not away from the light.”

— Mary Jane Ryan

“We find out what we really value in the daily decisions that we make, so we might do well to stop occasionally and respectfully ask ourselves: What truly matters? Asked regularly and fearlessly, it is the single question that will help you get to the heart of your life.”

— James E. Ryan

“When you know who you are; when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will, no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.”

— Chief Seattle

“When we let go of the need to prove ourselves, nothing and no one can disturb the quiet and peace of our minds.”

— Iyanla Vanzant

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better than the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”

— Oprah Winfrey

“If we can dance like fire, we’d never get burned.”

— Ben Harper

“You are worthy. You are not broken; you are, in fact, beautifully whole. No matter what you’ve been through, you have the power to write a brave, new ending. It will take work. It will take courage. But healing is possible, and the gift of your trauma is that it creates resiliency and reveals your strength.”

— Liz Arch

“Mindfulness is being aware of, or bringing attention to, this moment in time, on purpose and with intention. So w hen we go for a mindful walk and really notice every little detail around us — trees, cars, little flowers growing out of small cracks, a pretty cat crossing the road — rather than creating “To Do Lists,” we may feel truly enchanted with life.”

— Patrizia Collard

“Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

---

psychologist in mclean, tysons corner, merrifield, falls church, arlington and vienna, va

Victoria Chialy Smith, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist serving the Falls Church, McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, Arlington, Alexandria, and the greater Washington DC region. She provides individual therapy to children, teens, and adults with stress, anxiety, and depression. Our practice provides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and acceptance based therapies, and other top, premier evidence-based treatments. Call, email, or schedule an appointment with us online today. We’re happy to help!