Fourth Entry (October 27th, 2021)

     Before engaging in the deep breathing exercise, I actually had a pretty good day and was feeling better than I have for the past few weeks, which was really nice. Wednesdays are usually pretty laidback days for me, but this one was still pretty relaxing despite me still being pretty productive throughout the day. When I was doing the breathing exercise, I laid down again which made it easier to complete, but I did notice that I had a lot of thoughts running in my head once I actually laid down and focused on them. Previous breathing exercises I have done in the past have said to pretend that the thoughts in our mind are like "clouds in the sky" and we should recognize them, but also let them past, which I did today, and that was calming. After the breathing exercise, I felt the same for the most part, but felt a bit more relaxed for bed and the day ahead of me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Twenty-Second and Final Entry (November 14th, 2021)

      Today was the final day of this project, which I was very excited for. I had a pretty calm and relaxing day because I made sure to prioritize resting after such a busy and physically taxing weekend I had, and when I finally engaged in the deep breathing exercise, I was able to lay down and focus on all of my growth since the start of this project, which made me really happy and helped me relax in my final moments of the project. My goals of this project was to decrease the amount of stress I experienced in my life, increase my willingness to engage in self-care, and figure out what self-care means to me in a world where I am expected to serve others due to my position in society as a Black woman, and while reaching these goals, I also learned about how self-care can and should look different for me each day depending on how I am feeling (such as wanting to spend time with my loved ones instead of being alone and engaging in deep breathing), I addressed misconception...
Read more

Eighteenth Entry (November 10th, 2021)

      This day was just alright for me, as I had a lot of ups and downs throughout the day as I was experiencing periods of sadness due to the loss of my great aunt (which also reminded me of the loss of our family dog over the summer) and also a few periods of loneliness because I was particularly sad in the middle of the night as I was not out and about and able to socialize very much. I actually had engaged in deep breathing throughout the day because there were times where I was sad and close to breaking down despite working on coursework, which was also a newer experience for me throughout this project (and represents change in my ability to engage in self-care and manage my stress) because I often would wait to practice the deep breathing I do for 5 minutes, and I realized I could be doing deep breathing all day, which is far more helpful than doing it once per day. I also made sure to take it slow this day as well, which is also something newer for me because I usu...
Read more

Fifteenth Entry (November 7th, 2021)

      I had another good day this day, which really made me think about if my increasingly more positive and happier mood was because I was engaging in deep breathing on a daily basis. I have started to notice the change in my overall wellbeing and ability to take care of myself, which I am extremely proud of because this is the reason why I began this project. Although engaging in deep breathing has not brought upon immediate change, it has started these gradual changes within my mind and body that am I thankful for, and this is honestly something that I never thought I would achieve. I had completed the deep breathing exercise while on duty, so I was a bit nervous before completing the deep breathing exercise. As I was breathing in and out, I felt myself slowly letting the anxious thoughts in my mind pass and was able to focus on just my breathing in that moment by putting a focus on my chest rising and falling. After the deep breathing exercise I felt much more relaxed...
Read more