Stress Less with Mindfulness – Virtual Sessions
Mindful Living Program
Is your mind constantly wandering? Do you have a hard time concentrating? Are your thoughts and experiences clouding your judgement?
Mindfulness meditation practice may help wandering minds to focus and fully experience the present moment—all by applying nonjudgmental thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Mindfulness is a way of living and a method intended to pave the path for a complete awakening.
Mindful Mondays is a virtual attempt to share helpful tips to deal with stress of everyday life. There are 3 ways to access great information:
- Follow Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on Facebook @LibertyCountyExtension
- Visit us here for weekly tips, or
- Request for weekly Mindful Monday tips to be emailed to you by sending an email to Alexis Cordova, ancordova@ag.tamu.edu with “Request Mindful Mondays Tips”
We know that even a modest reduction in body weight has been shown to reduce risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes; so becoming more aware of our food intake as well as what motivates us to eat can help us achieve better health.
Stress can affect our bodies and minds in powerful ways; from raising our blood pressure, to causing muscle pain. Becoming mindful and being able to identify how stress is affecting our thoughts and body is the first step in learning how to cope with stress healthfully.
Practicing mindfulness could help eliminate issues or thoughts that often act as barriers to a healthier life. Being mindful for exercise means to use our awareness of our body and thoughts to have enjoyable, safe and beneficial exercise. Regular exercise or 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, has long been touted as a key factor of healthy living, especially to decrease risk of chronic diseases, like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Parent child conflict and stress is induced when parents are less available especially when they are busy, stressed, tired, overwhelmed, or preoccupied with other thoughts. Practicing these mindfulness skills will enable healthy parent-child relationship and improve psychological health and emotional well-being for parents and children.
Use of technology changed the way we approach our work and daily activities. Time spent on digital devices replaced our time spent exercising, bonding, and bring creative. A digital detox will help you unplug and disconnect from technology and to reconnect with friends and family.
Mental Health First Aid Program
Mental Health First Aid is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their impact and overviews appropriate supports. This 8-hour course uses role-playing simulations to demonstrate how to offer initial help in a mental health crisis and connect people to the appropriate professional, peer, social and self-help care. The program also teaches common risk factors and warning signs of specific illnesses like anxiety, depression, substance use, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Mental Health First Aid is included on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP).
Course Details
Mental Health First Aid teaches participants a five-step action plan, ALGEE to support someone developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or experiencing an emotional crisis:
- Assess for risk of suicide or harm
- Listen non-judgmentally
- Give reassurance and information
- Encourage appropriate professional help
- Encourage self-help and other support strategies
Like CPR, Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to interact with a person in crisis and connect the person with help. First Aiders do not diagnose or provide any counseling or therapy. Instead, the program offers concrete tools and answers key questions like, “What do I do?” and, “Where can someone find help”? Certified Mental Health First Aid instructors provide a list of community health and addictions treatment and support. All trainees receive a program manual to complement the course material.
If you or a group you are associated with are interested in becoming a Mental Health First Aider, please contact Alexis to obtain information on the next training class or to schedule a class.
