Mindset
Explain the difference between a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset.
Growth - failures/mistakes are learning opportunities and provide information on what to change/improve next time, anything can improve with practice, it is about the process not the product (what you learned along the way, not the final outcome)
Fixed - people are born with/have an inherent ability to do things and/or be successful, failure means that is not "your thing" and you need to find something else
"When do you feel happiest in your skin?"
This is an example of a __________ writing prompt.
Reflective Writing Prompt
What is mindfulness?
Being in the present moment, being aware of your current feelings/state and what is around you, giving all your attention to one thing at a time.
When practicing gratitude, it is important to be able to acknowledge the _______ things before the ______ things because....
small.... big....
big are hardest to get, hardest to sustain, easiest to lose (which leaves you with the challenges of being able to find something you are grateful for when they are gone)
When calming yourself with breathing, it is best to breathe in through your ______ for _______ time than you breathe out through your _______.
nose
shorter/less
mouth
These thinking styles were originally created by CBT and, it has been found that when people change them, they increase their mental health and overall happiness. Together, they are known as...
Thinking Traps / Unhelpful Thinking Styles
What is a "Brain Dump"?
Writing down everything on your mind in any way possible.
What is a Body Scan meditation?
Paying attention to each part of your body, one at a time, and all the sensations you are feeling there.
Original research believed that, positive emotions need to be experienced and acknowledged in a 3:1 ratio to negative emotions. However, newer theories believe that, when compared to negative emotions, positive emotions should be experienced...
Any greater amount of positive emotions to negative is beneficial. There is no exact ratio for every person.
Carol Dweck did an experiment where she gave children puzzles that were easy or challenging. What did she find was the difference between children with a Growth and Fixed mindset when doing these puzzles?
Growth - wanted the challenging puzzles/more challenging each time they completed one
Fixed - were more focused on being able to master the puzzles/complete them, so wanted to keep doing the easy ones over and over again
Change these fixed mindset thoughts into growth mindset thoughts:
"I'm awesome at this."
"I'm not good at this."
Awesome - "I'm on the right track."
Not good - "What am I missing?" "How can I get better?"
Give an example of a reflective writing prompt and explain why it is one.
A question that provides an opportunity to self-reflect, honestly.
How can you use mindfulness to ground you (thinking grounding activity/worksheet) in a stressful situation?
Focusing intensely on one thing, looking for details you hadn't noticed before, and only focusing on that until you feel your body calm down.
Becomes a more automatic process (like practicing a fire drill when there isn't a fire) due to the way neurons learn to communicate in the brain.
Why are "Should Statements" an example of unhelpful thinking?
When you have ironclad rules for how you, or others, should and shouldn’t behave and our expectations fall short, we feel disappointed, frustrated, anxious, even angry with ourselves. You might think that these shoulds and shouldn’ts ‘rules’ are helping to motivate you but in reality they end up preventing you from taking meaningful steps towards improving your life.
Name and give examples/explain 3 common Unhelpful Thinking Styles
All or Nothing Thinking
Mental Filter
Overgeneralizing
Disqualifying the Positive
Jumping to Conclusions (Mind Reading, Fortune Telling)
Magnification (Catastrophizing)/Minimization
Emotional Reasoning
Using Critical Words (should, must, ought)
Labeling
Personalization
What is reflective meditation?
Letting your thoughts float by you. Sitting with hard thoughts and distancing yourself from them to just observe them and the emotions that come with them.
Give an example of 2 calming breathing techniques we practiced/discussed (if you do not know the proper name but can provide an example you still get credit).
4-square
7-11
hand trace
4-7-8
Gratitude is one of 10 positive emotions that, when experienced and acknowledged, were found to be associated with feelings of happiness. Name 3 others.
Love, Interest, Pride, Inspiration, Joy, Serenity, Hope, Amusement, Awe
The "Color Changing Card Trick" (YouTube video we watched) is an example of which stage of Situational Control?
Attention - what you paid attention to changed how you saw the experience/experienced the trick
Situational Control is a mindset that allows you to control 4 different aspects of any situation (situation, attention, appraisal, response). Give an example of a situation and how you would control it at each step.
Situation - changing the physical setting/environment
Attention - what you choose to pay attention to in a setting
Appraisal - how you choose to think about something you are trying to avoid in a setting
Response - how you respond to the thing you are trying to avoid
We read how the reflection process allows you to travel through four architypes/levels of consciousness: The Drone, The Artist, The Alchemist, The Wizard/Magician. Explain the characteristics of 2 of these architypes.
Drone - accepts everything, doesn't realize consequences of their own actions because everything happens TO them, suppresses feelings
Artist - Expresses feelings, but not healing/improving, just able to express/acknowledge
Alchemist - attempting to make the best out of the worst on the inside, taking control of the emotions, realizing what you want/making changes in yourself to move toward it
Wizard/Magician - having realized what you want/need, using the changes you made in yourself to make them happen, getting the resources you need, able to switch back to alchemist if necessary/reevaluate your needs
Give an example of how you can practice mindfulness for 3 senses (taste, smell, touch, sound, sight).
Taste - slow down eating
Smell - smelling things you usually don't (shampoo)
Touch - paying attention to how something feels
Sound - listening to one sound only
Sight - noticing things around you that you haven't noticed before
Name 2 ways practicing gratitude can benefit your health.
- Boosting immunity
- Improving ability to cope with stress
- Reducing inflammation in the body
- Making you feel good
Name 3 things discussed when talking about caring for your mind that you would like to learn more about. (Or things you would like to learn about that were not discussed.)
.....