Mental Health and Mindfulness Day 2 (Veronica Pascucci)

     We started off our second day of the mindfulness and mental health J-term in the most fitting way possible; a relaxing coloring session. All of us were allowed to choose 12 different markers, a pencil case, and a mandala coloring book that we would get to keep for ourselves. Mandalas represent the universe, and are made to aid in maintaining our focus as well as acting asa a reflection to connect with our inner spirit; all of us took the time and concentration to color in our mandalas in a way which let us not only connect with ourselves, but also relaxed our minds for the day coming up. 

    Once students had gotten the chance to relax their minds a bit as a morning stimulus, our wonderful guest speaker Ms Jill came in to teach us all about mental health and stress, with a heavy focus on stress management techniques. All of us got to learn new things about stress and the way it works, such as the spike in cortisol affecting our dopamine levels and ability to feel happy, as well as the two different types of stress - eustress and distress - and how they affect our minds. Although I can't speak for my classmates, I did not know either of these things, and it allowed me and my classmates to reflect on how stress affects us in our own lives. Ms Jill then led us through multiple de-stressing techniques to use in our daily lives when we may feel overwhelmed and anxious. She taught us box breathing, which took what we already know about deep breaths and their effects on the body and made it into an easy-to-follow cyclical process, and led us through "chair yoga" (titled as is since we did not have our mats out). These yoga movements helped loosen and stretch our arm and shoulder muscles, which left many of us (myself included) feeling far more relaxed and loose than before. Ms Jill's excellent lesson and yoga session allowed for us to reflect on how we each perceive and feel stress differently, and how to best manage it. 

    The rest of the morning was dedicated to working on individual oral presentations which would be presented either today or tomorrow, depending on progress. We all got to choose our own disorders/phenomenons to research and talk about for 5-8 minutes and teach the rest of the class about something new. 

    Post-lunch, two students (myself included) got to present about OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating disorder). After this, students were allocated more time to zen out and relax, either working on coloring mandalas or on finalising presentations. Towards the end of the day, we set up the room with ur mats on the floor and did some group journaling - reflecting on different prompts such as 'what am I grateful for?' and 'what is my daily affirmation?' 

    Once we got to share and reflect with each other, Mrs. Bhatia came in to guide us through different breathing techniques and meditation to unwind for the day; we learned the origins of and practiced the Bhramari technique, learning how it helps recharge as well as enhance sleep; something which we can all take into account and use from now on for better, more regenerating sleep.

        Today was equally relaxing as it was informative; students ended the day off feeling relaxed and refreshed, while still leaving a lot more knowledgeable about stress management and how established management and breathing techniques can lead to a far calmer, more fulfilling everyday life.