Calm Mind Centre

12/23/2025

Day 22 - body scan.
Take a moment in this busy holiday season to check in with yourself and your body.
A body scan meditation offers numerous mental and physical health benefits, primarily by fostering a strong mind-body connection and activating the body's natural relaxation response.

Mental Health Benefits

Reduced Stress and Anxiety: By shifting focus away from racing thoughts to physical sensations, body scan meditation helps ground you in the present moment, which can significantly lower stress and anxiety levels.

Improved Emotional Regulation: Heightened awareness of how emotions manifest physically (e.g., a tight jaw or tense shoulders) helps you recognize and respond to feelings in a healthier, less reactive way.

Increased Self-Awareness and Self-Compassion: The practice encourages a non-judgmental observation of your internal state, which builds self-awareness and a more compassionate relationship with yourself.

Enhanced Focus and Attention: Regularly practicing body scans trains the mind to concentrate, which can lead to improved focus and productivity in daily life.

Support for Trauma Recovery: It can be a gentle way for individuals to safely reconnect with their physical self, which can be beneficial when processing trauma that may be "stored" in the body.

Physical Health Benefits

Activates the Parasympathetic Nervous System: The practice helps shift the body from the "fight or flight" (sympathetic) mode to the "rest and digest" (parasympathetic) state, promoting a deep sense of calm.
Better Sleep Quality: By promoting deep relaxation and helping to quiet racing thoughts, body scan meditation can make it easier to fall asleep and improve overall sleep quality.

Pain Management: It helps change your relationship with pain by encouraging the observation of sensations without judgment. This can reduce the emotional distress associated with chronic pain, even if the pain itself doesn't disappear.

Reduced Physical Tension: The process of systematically scanning the body allows you to identify and release areas of muscle tightness you may not have been aware of, such as in the shoulders, back, or jaw.

Lowered Physiological Markers of Stress: Research indicates that regular practice can lead to measurable physiological changes, including lower blood pressure and reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

12/22/2025

Day 21- share your true feelings!!

Sharing your true feelings, whether with yourself or others, significantly benefits mental health by fostering authenticity, improving relationships, promoting emotional regulation, and reducing internal stress

Sharing with Others
Reduces Isolation and Fosters Connection: Expressing vulnerability helps you feel understood and accepted, strengthening bonds with others and counteracting feelings of loneliness or isolation

Encourages Support: When people know what you are truly feeling, they are better equipped to offer appropriate support, advice, or assistance, which can be crucial during difficult times

Provides New Perspectives: Talking through problems allows others to offer different viewpoints or solutions you might not have considered on your own, aiding problem-solving

Validates Emotions: Having your feelings acknowledged by someone else can validate your experience, making you feel normal and sane, which reduces self-doubt and anxiety

Sharing with Ourselves (Self-Reflection)
Promotes Self-Awareness: Acknowledging your own true feelings is the first step toward understanding what triggers you, what you need, and what makes you happy or distressed This awareness is fundamental to personal growth.

Facilitates Emotional Processing: Allowing yourself to feel emotions fully, rather than suppressing them, helps in processing and moving through them in a healthy manner Suppression often leads to emotions festering and potentially manifesting as physical symptoms or mental distress.

Enables Healthy Coping: By recognizing what you feel, you can choose appropriate and effective coping mechanisms —-For example, if you acknowledge you are stressed, you can actively practice relaxation techniques or seek rest, rather than engaging in unhealthy avoidance behaviors.

Builds Self-Trust: Honoring your internal experience builds a sense of integrity and trust within yourself, reinforcing that your feelings matter and are valid.

In essence, authentic emotional expression, both internally and interpersonally, moves you away from the stress of maintaining a false self and toward a more integrated, resilient, and connected way of living

12/22/2025

For day 20 spend at least 15 minutes connecting with nature (and loved ones)!
Spending time in nature significantly boosts mental health by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, while improving mood, focus, creativity, and sleep through physiological calming effects like lower cortisol levels, restoring attention, and fostering feelings of peace, vitality, and connection to something larger than oneself, making it a powerful tool for overall well-being and resilience. Even brief, regular doses of green space, like a couple of hours a week, are linked to better health outcomes, with benefits extending to improved cognitive function and increased prosocial behaviour.

Stress & Anxiety Reduction: Lowers the stress hormone cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate, leading to feelings of calm and relaxation.
Mood Enhancement: Reduces symptoms of depression and sadness, increases happiness, energy, and feelings of vitality.
Improved Cognition: Restores attention, improves concentration, memory, and impulse control, and boosts creativity.
Better Sleep: Natural light exposure helps regulate sleep cycles, leading to better sleep quality.
Emotional Regulation: Decreases irritability and helps people feel calmer and more in control.
Sense of Awe & Connection: Fosters a feeling of being part of a larger whole, which can promote generosity and reduce self-focus.

The science behind it
At tention Restoration Theory: Nature's gentle, fascinating stimuli allow directed attention fatigue to recover.

Physiological Changes: Exposure triggers positive changes in stress hormones (cortisol) and brain chemistry (dopamine).

Sensory Immersion: Natural environments offer calming sensory experiences that soothe the mind, contrasting with digital noise

Practical Ways to Connect with Nature
Walks in Parks: Just 20 minutes, three times a week, can yield benefits.
Outdoor skating, tobogganing, snowman building, etc.
Forest Bathing (Shinrin-yoku): Immersing yourself in a forest environment.
Gardening/Home Gardens: Even small green spaces can provide benefits.
Mindful Observation: Intentionally noticing nature around you, even in urban settings, enhances connection.

12/22/2025

Day 19! Make or buy something comforting!

Fave snacks,
Comfy sweater,
Comfy blanket,
Childhood dinner,
Etc.
Make or buy something that brings you joy and comfort during this busy busy season!

12/18/2025

For Day 18 Grinch has a message! Make your heart grow three times the size this season with a holiday playlist that makes you move and groove!
A custom holiday playlist can benefit your mental health by promoting feelings of joy, nostalgia, relaxation, and mindfulness throughout the season.

Emotional Regulation and Mood Enhancement
Joy and Positivity: Music, especially music you personally enjoy, stimulates the brain's reward centers, releasing dopamine (the "feel-good" neurotransmitter). A playlist of upbeat, favorite holiday songs can quickly lift your mood, increase happiness, and counteract feelings of sadness or the "holiday blues"
Nostalgia and Connection: Familiar holiday songs can evoke powerful positive memories of past celebrations, family, and loved ones. This feeling of warm nostalgia can provide comfort, a sense of connection to tradition, and reduce feelings of loneliness, which can be heightened during the holidays

Stress Reduction and Relaxation
Mindfulness and Presence: Curating and listening to a playlist requires you to be present in the moment. Focusing on the music and the process of choosing songs can serve as a mindful activity, distracting you from worries about holiday planning, gift shopping, or social anxieties
Calm and De-stressing: Including slower, instrumental, or classical pieces in your playlist can help regulate your nervous system. Calming music has been shown to lower heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, offering a much-needed break from the typical holiday hustle and bustle

Personalization and Control
Sense of Control: The act of creating something specifically for yourself provides a sense of agency and control. This can be empowering, especially when many aspects of the holiday season feel overwhelming or outside of your control.
Tailored Experience: Unlike random radio stations or store background music, a custom playlist ensures you only listen to music that resonates with you personally. You can switch between energetic songs for cooking/decorating and gentle songs for unwinding, perfectly matching your mood and activity level.

Overall, a custom playlist acts as a personalized, accessible tool to manage the emotional highs and lows of the holiday season, helping you foster a more positive and balanced mental state.

12/18/2025

Day 17 - preform an act of kindness!

Performing acts of kindness benefits both the giver and receiver by releasing "feel-good" brain chemicals (dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin), boosting mood, reducing stress (cortisol), increasing happiness, and fostering social connection, creating a positive cycle that improves overall mental well-being and self-worth for everyone involved. Givers gain purpose and connection, while receivers feel valued and are more likely to pay kindness forward, spreading positivity.

For the giver (The "Helper's High")
Neurochemical Boost: Releases dopamine, serotonin (mood), and oxytocin (bonding, calm).
Reduced Stress: Lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, and shifts focus from personal worries.
Increased Happiness & Self-Esteem: Fosters feelings of purpose, satisfaction, and self-worth.
Stronger Connections: Enhances feelings of belonging and reduces loneliness.

For the receiver
Feeling Valued: Experiencing warmth and positive social interaction, increasing optimism and self-esteem.
Reduced Isolation: Combats feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Mood Boost: Receivers often feel happier and more connected.

For the community
Contagious Effect: Acts of kindness inspire others to be kind, creating a ripple effect of generosity and positivity.

kindness creates a virtuous cycle: doing good makes you feel good, which encourages more good, benefiting individuals and the wider community!
Preform an act of kindness today and as often as possible!!

12/18/2025

It’s a great time of year to create homemade decorations or gifts!!

Creating things with your hands boosts mental health by acting as a mindful distraction, reducing stress through repetitive motions, releasing dopamine for pleasure, building self-esteem with tangible results, and offering a non-verbal outlet for emotions, essentially calming your nervous system and shifting focus from worries to the present moment.

Mindfulness & Focus: Engaging in detailed handwork (like knitting, sculpting, gardening) anchors you in the present, interrupting cycles of anxious thoughts about the past or future.

Stress Reduction: Repetitive actions trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation, while tactile sensations (like clay or yarn) have calming effects.

Emotional Release: Crafting provides a safe, non-verbal way to process feelings; colors, shapes, and designs can express emotions difficult to articulate.

Sense of Accomplishment: Finishing a project provides tangible proof of your capabilities, boosting confidence and self-efficacy, notes this psychology article.

Cognitive Benefits: It engages both brain hemispheres, improving problem-solving and potentially reducing cognitive decline, according to research cited by this article.

Dopamine Release: The "feel-good" neurotransmitter dopamine is released, combating low moods and creating a positive feedback loop, explains this article.

Community & Connection: Joining craft groups or sharing online fosters belonging, combating loneliness, says this article

Knitting, crocheting, sewing
Painting, drawing, pottery
Gardening, woodworking
Playing a musical instrument

Homemade gifts and decorations are great for mental health because crafting boosts mood and reduces stress by releasing dopamine, offers a mindful escape through focus, promotes self-expression and pride, fosters deeper connections when given/received, and helps process emotions in a tangible way, essentially acting as "therapy in disguise". They transform feelings into physical items, creating lasting positive memories and strengthening bonds through personalized meaning.

12/18/2025

12/18/2025

For day 15 of the holiday mental health challenge you are encouraged to create a holiday stress exit plan for gatherings.

Having a stress exit plan is good for the holidays because it allows you to anticipate stressors and preemptively create a strategy for managing them, ensuring a more positive and peaceful experience.

Proactive Management: A plan moves you from reactive to proactive, preventing potential stress from escalating into full-blown anxiety or conflict.

Setting Boundaries: It helps in defining personal limits. For instance, you can plan to take a walk, go to a quiet room, or simply leave an overwhelming situation rather than staying and becoming stressed.

Maintaining Well-being: The holidays often disrupt normal routines, and a plan helps you prioritize self-care, like getting enough sleep, exercise, or quiet time, even amidst the chaos.

Improved Relationships: By managing your own stress effectively, you are less likely to snap at family members or friends, leading to healthier and happier interactions.

Increased Enjoyment: Ultimately, having a plan helps you remain present and enjoy the meaningful aspects of the season, rather than being consumed by obligations or pressure

Essentially, a stress exit plan serves as a personalized roadmap to navigate common holiday pressures, helping you protect your mental health and enjoy the festivities!

12/18/2025

For day 15 of the holiday mental health challenge you are encouraged to create a holiday stress exit plan for gatherings.

Having a stress exit plan is good for the holidays because it allows you to anticipate stressors and preemptively create a strategy for managing them, ensuring a more positive and peaceful experience.

Proactive Management: A plan moves you from reactive to proactive, preventing potential stress from escalating into full-blown anxiety or conflict.

Setting Boundaries: It helps in defining personal limits. For instance, you can plan to take a walk, go to a quiet room, or simply leave an overwhelming situation rather than staying and becoming stressed.

Maintaining Well-being: The holidays often disrupt normal routines, and a plan helps you prioritize self-care, like getting enough sleep, exercise, or quiet time, even amidst the chaos.

Improved Relationships: By managing your own stress effectively, you are less likely to snap at family members or friends, leading to healthier and happier interactions.

Increased Enjoyment: Ultimately, having a plan helps you remain present and enjoy the meaningful aspects of the season, rather than being consumed by obligations or pressure

Essentially, a stress exit plan serves as a personalized roadmap to navigate common holiday pressures, helping you protect your mental health and enjoy the festivities!

12/15/2025

Day 14- 10 minutes reset clean up
Put on music, set a timer, and tidy one area. Clean environment → calmer mind.

12/13/2025

Day 13 of the is to eat at least one mood friendly food!

Mood-friendly foods are nutrient-rich whole foods like fatty fish, berries, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, beans, whole grains, and fermented foods that provide essential vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and amino acids (like tryptophan/tyrosine) to support brain health, neurotransmitter production (serotonin, dopamine), reduce inflammation, and stabilize blood sugar, all contributing to better energy, focus, calm, and overall emotional well-being, while processed foods high in sugar/fat are linked to worse moods.