Mental Hygiene Practices, Demonstration Videos, and Worksheets

Sit up straight with your feet flat on the ground and hands resting on your stomach. Close your eyes and breathe in deeply through your nose, concentrating on the feeling of the air moving through your nostrils. Take two or three slow, deep breaths, focusing as you inhale and exhale, which can help pause mental chatter. Repeat this exercise once every hour during waking hours.

Find a comfortable and quiet spot to sit and write down three things you appreciate about your life and for which you are grateful. When you’re done, re-read them, slowly pausing between each one to truly feel gratitude and elicit a sense of appreciation. This can be done at any time of day that works for you.

Download a worksheet to help with this exercise.

This exercise combines sounds with finger movements, which can help induce relaxation of the brain. Sit up straight in a comfortable position. Breathe in gently, and on the exhale say Ta, Sa, Na, Ma. Time the sound with finger motions: Ta – touch your thumb and index finger together lightly; Sa – thumb and middle finger; Na – thumb and ring finger; Ma – thumb and pinky. Repeat with a gentle voice. Try to visualize an energizing light – like the warm rays of the sun – gently enveloping you. Do your best! If you are not comfortable with visualization, simply focus on the sounds and finger motions.

Find a comfortable and quiet spot to sit and spend five minutes writing down whatever is on your mind. Write your thoughts without judgment. Don’t worry about style or grammar, just let the words flow freely from your mind. Consider wrapping up the writing session by highlighting positive attributes you appreciate about yourself and others.

Join The Royal's 'Journaling as a Wellness Tool' group, starting April 10!

Go for a stroll in a forest, park, field, or any place with plant and/or animal life. Spending time around a few trees, a small garden, and even indoor plants can be beneficial too. Use your senses. As you walk, look up at the trees and watch the leaves rustling in the wind. Listen to the birds singing. Observe the squirrels moving from tree to tree. Notice the amazing detail and variations in your houseplants. Try and connect with the natural world around you. Each tree has trillions of cells, and each cell has trillions of atoms interacting in infinitely complex ways. Open yourself to the wonder of nature. Can you elicit a sense of awe?

This practice helps you become aware of what you sense and feel in the moment, while purposely avoiding judging or interpreting these sensations. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed and focus on your breathing. Notice your belly and chest as the air moves in and out of your lungs, or in and out of your nostrils. As a general rule, gently push your belly out on inspiration, letting it contract on its own during expiration.

Also, mindfulness can also be applied when engaging in various hobbies and activities (e.g. knitting, wood working, bread making). Spend some time focussing on the physical aspects of that hobby: Notice how the dough feels on your fingers, observe the details of the texture of the fabric, etc. Try practicing mindfulness while completing one of these colouring pages!

During mindfulness practice, your mind will wander, but this is normal. When this happens, gently and kindly bring yourself back to your original focus.

This technique helps ‘think through’ what is on your mind, rather than thinking about it. Sit comfortably and write down a problem or challenge that’s on your mind and take some time to think through it. How can you approach this challenge? What are the possible solutions, the benefits, and negatives of each possible solution? How can you execute the solution and what are the near-term action items? Jot down the answers. Remember, don’t just think about your challenges, really think through them.

Download a worksheet to help with this exercise.

This exercise is about nurturing a kind-hearted attitude towards life and wellbeing, rather than prayer specific to any one belief system. Focus your thoughts on well wishes for others. For example: “I pray with sincerity and earnestness for the well-being of others including loved ones, friends, and those I may not have a positive connection with or might find challenging. I pray for courage and compassion to be of service to the greater good. I pray in thanks for the many blessings that have been bestowed upon me.” Consider your own variations.

This practice can be done anywhere, even when walking short distances like in parking lots and office hallways. Coordinate each breath with your steps. Inhale as you take three steps, exhale while taking four steps, repeating for as long as it feels comfortable. (Ideally, take one more step on the exhale.) Try to make the breathing smooth while matching it with your steps. This type of walking meditation can be done for any time interval and helps reduce the mental chatter in our minds.

Positive psychology is a strength-based approach focussing on the positive aspects of a person to promote happiness, and we've included two ways to practice this below.

1. Find ten minutes of time, write down on pen and paper, or on a computer or even your phone to write a biography of your future self, with the assumption you lead the life you wanted to lead (while being realistic!). Focus on the strength of character that led you to that “best” life. It could be years in the future, months, or even weeks from now. Then ask yourself how you spend your time in everyday life and how you might change your routine to achieve to your “best life.”
   
2. Think of a difficult time or event in your life and write down the positives that came out of that event. Make it a story of resilience and describe how that event added meaning to your life. You can choose a few different situations or think deeply about one. This helps build up our ability to see the positive in any situation, which supports our overall mental well-being.

Download a worksheet to help with this exercise.

In this type of meditation, experts provide the focal point and gentle instruction. There are many types of guided meditations online, including ones that are free of charge. You can find many guided meditations on YouTube, including five that were developed by The Royal (see links below). Find two or three that you enjoy and give yourself time to feel the calming effects. Meditation takes practice, so be kind and patient with yourself.

Check out these guided meditation videos from The Royal.

There are many types of breathing techniques to help create a sense of calm and support mental well-being. The one we are going to review today is easy to learn and is used widely. It is called box breathing. You can use this approach while sitting comfortably during the day, or while lying in bed to help you fall asleep. The box signifies that each stage of breathing is equal in time. That is, we breathe in for four seconds, then hold for four seconds with our lungs full, then exhale for four seconds, then hold with our lungs empty for four seconds.

See if you can repeat this breathing pattern for about 10 breaths in a row. Do it longer if you really enjoy it. Take your time and be gentle with your breathing. If you find the four-second interval to be too difficult, try box breathing with three seconds instead. Try taking time to box breathe during the day or in bed at nighttime to help you fall asleep.

The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word Yuj, meaning ‘to yoke’, as in yoking a pair of animals together. The goal here is to ‘yoke’ our mind, so to speak, to find better control over our chattering minds, or that hamster wheel of ours that is constantly in motion. Essentially, yoga is about calming the mind to support mental well-being. You don’t need to be super fit or flexible to benefit from this kind of movement.

This simple sequence – called sun salutation – can help calm that chatter. In a standing position, arms at your side, gently reach out with your hands, first out towards the side, then continuing up above your head, stretching gently. Bring your hands together above your head. This part of the sequence should occur while inhaling. On the exhale, gently bring your hands down, following the midline of your body until they reach your chest. Keep your hands together in a prayer position. Then, again while inhaling, gently sweep your hands down and to the side, repeating the same movements: hands out, moving upwards, ending together above your head. Exhale again, slowly bringing your hands down to your chest.

Be intentional about the movement and breath. Inhale in positivity and exhale tension and negativity. Doing this simple sequence 10 times should take about two minutes. Notice how you feel afterwards.