Domestic Gold: About Hidden Resources - Self-development

In difficult social and personal times, resources are especially important. There are external resources, but they are transient: food, money, work, relationships with loved ones. And there are internal, personal resources that are always with us: our body, sense of humor, mind, spiritual values, useful habits. Let's talk about our hidden resources

The higher the stress, the greater the need for resources. In isolation, consider what resources you can use to take care of yourself?

There are suboptimal ways of self-regulation when resources are used, but in the wrong way. For example, there is alcohol consumption, haphazard Internet surfing with a waste of time, and instead of a heart-to-heart conversation with a loved one - conflict and scandal. It is important to develop a system of optimal self-regulation - to use resources that are truly useful.

Recommendations

1. List “10 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Through the Body.”

   These are things that are good, healthy and enjoyable for you. In isolation, it can be fitness, dancing, a bath with scented salt, tasty and healthy food, hugging with loved ones, massage and self-massage, breathing practices.

2. Another list is “10 people, communication with whom is a resource for me”.

   These can be relatives, partner, friends, colleagues. If you are not currently in the same territory, modern technologies allow you to correspond, make calls, and make both audio and video calls. So the distance is not a hindrance to pleasant communication!

3. "10 Good Habits"

   Include on this list those habits that keep you healthy and wholesome. For example, you like to drink tea on the loggia, looking out the window. Or take a relaxing bath before bed. Or maybe you call your parents every day to see how they are doing.

4. "10 ways to relax"

   Even being at home, we get tired, do things, many continue to work remotely. There is a household, caring for loved ones. In addition, anxiety itself is exhausting, interferes with relaxation and rest. Try to make your vacation conscious and optimal - what helps you to relax?

5. 10 Ways to Get

   Involved Staying at home can make it difficult to get active, as home space is associated with relaxation and relaxation for many. Meanwhile, in conditions of isolation, many work from home or do other things. How to activate yourself? Write a list to diversify your repertoire, and so that it does not include only "coffee" or "puerh".

Another recommendation is variety. The nervous system constantly needs something new. This is not easy to achieve in a permanent home mode. Think about hidden resources: how can you diversify your life? You can plan your time, think over your leisure time. Give different types of stimulation to the nervous system: listen to a variety of music, use aromatic oils, get clothes that have not been worn for a long time, dine on different plates today. Diversity in little things contributes to diversity in general.

Three bodily techniques for regulating your condition

Exercise 1. "Algae"

Goal: optimization of grounding, improvement of stability, stabilization of the psychological state, increase in psychological flexibility and adaptability, relaxation.

Required materials: recording with slow music, better - the sound of waves, sea or a combination of music with sea waves.

Instructions: Stand firmly, feet shoulder-width apart, they are soft and springy. It is better to cover your eyes. Imagine that you are an algae attached to the bottom. The waves gently sway you, you sway flexibly and slowly.

Duration: 10-20 minutes.

Comments:

• The exercise may seem simple and boring at first, but it is exciting, puts you in a state of moderate trance, and gives pleasure.
• With clients, you can “beat” the exercise a little, for example, say: “You are in the magical sea kingdom … Imagine what kind of seaweed you are …”

Exercise 2. "The core of the earth"

Goal: grounding, gaining internal stability, increasing stress resistance, reducing anxiety, saturating internal support.

Instructions: Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. The knees are flexible, springy. You can sway in place, feeling stability.

Imagine the core of the Earth deep underground. Feel the connection with him through the legs, feet. Feel how it attracts, how stable it holds.

Feel that whatever is happening, there is this core under your feet and it supports. Now you can try to start walking slowly, continuing to feel the connection with this core and its support.

Duration: 10-15 minutes, you can listen to slow music.

Commentary: The static part may take a while before movement is possible. Each has its own need for saturation with support in static, no need to rush yourself and clients.

Exercise 3. "Planet travel"

Purpose: nourishing with support, improving grounding.

Instructions: The exercise consists of several parts.

1. Walk with your normal gait. Pay attention to its features: how you place your foot and distribute weight. Your posture. Speed. Step length. How wide your feet are. Where are the socks directed. How mobile the whole body is during movement.
2. Now imagine that you are on a huge planet with great gravity. And you are literally drawn to the floor. Try to walk, keeping such an image and "play" with your body - depict how you would walk on such a planet. How does gait and sensation change?
3. Now imagine that you are on a small planet and have become light-light. Walk in this manner. How do gait and body sensations change?
4. And now we are returning to Earth. Walk with a normal gait, but track: what has changed in it?

Comments:

• Changes in gait or body sensation may be subtle, so try to listen to them.
• Each part of the exercise takes approximately 5 minutes.
• Rigid people sometimes find a planet with a strong attraction unpleasant and a feeling of lightness becomes a resource. We need to develop flexibility and adaptability.
• If, on the contrary, you like a huge planet more, then such a person really needs to be nourished with support.

You can find other practical exercises in the new book by psychologist Irina Solovieva, our longtime author, "Dealing with Addiction and Codependency: Theory and Practice" (IKSR Publishing House, 2020)

We talk in more detail about the hidden resources in our life with the psychologist Elena Logunova from Kazakhstan in the project "Dinner with Solovieva":

Part 1

Part 2