Mental Health and Mindfulness day 6

 Angelica 

1-13-26



We first started off the day with a wonderful meditation class with Ms. Novak, where we did multiple different yoga positions such as downward dog, mountain, childs pose, tree pose, etc. After that, a guest speaker came and spoke about symbols and dreams and taught us that different types of objects have different  symbolic meanings depending on the person and how they interpret the object. We did a small exercise where we grabbed an object and tried to connect it to our own selves. We then learned more about dreams and what they symbolize, such as, different dreams are images of our thoughts. This can also be applied when having nightmares, meaning something you are battling in the real world, shows up in dreams also. 



After learning about dreams and symbols, we then started presenting our findings about different mental health issues and medications that help with those. A presentation that really stood out to me was when a student spoke about Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD, because this disorder is very common in children and adults causing many complications in the future. Another presentation that I found intriguing was learning about Derealization which is when a person does not feel a part of their own body, like looking through a lens pointing at themselves.



After all the presentations were done, we began to learn more about sand mandalas and learning how to create one through videos and help from other peers. We grabbed some cardboard, little bottles with colored sand in them, spoons and brushes to be extra precise and reach our goal. We started off with a simple circular design and then moved our way up with using different tools to make creative designs. After a little while of doing this, we grabbed our brush and destroyed the mandalas in a circular motion starting from the outside moving towards the inner area to symbolize the Buddhist principles of impermanance. We repeated the making of mandalas multple times. 



To end off this wonderful day, we did some meditation practices with Ms. Shibani. We pratciced Box Breathing which is where we inhale for 4 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds and hold it for 4 seconds then repeat. We also did Belly Breathing which is inhaling slowly through the nose, feeling your belly expand; exhale slowly through the mouth, feeling it contract. Lastly, we did Alternate Nostril Breathing where we use our fingers to alternate closing nostrils while inhaling and exhaling. All of these practices help with reducing stress, anxiety and deppression while at the same time improving focus, emotional regulation, sleep, and overall mental and pysical well being. 



Today was very educational because of all the new things I was able to learn about medication, mandalas, breathing exercises, symbols and dreams, and mental illnesses that can impact our everyday lives.


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