Hi <<First Name>>,
Dan Siegel, UCLA clinical professor of psychiatry and author of a number of NYT bestsellers on interpersonal neurobiology as well as parenting, proposed that we each have a "Healthy Mind Platter" that includes the following seven daily essential mental activities to optimize brain matter and create well-being:
- Focus Time - When we closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, we take on challenges that make deep connections in the brain.
- Playtime - When we allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, we help make new connections in the brain.
- Connecting Time - When we connect with other people, ideally in person, and when we take time to appreciate our connection to the natural world around us, we activate and reinforce the brain's relational circuitry.
- Physical Time - When we move our bodies, aerobically if medically possible, we strengthen the brain in many ways.
- Time In - When we quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, we help to better integrate the brain.
- Downtime - When we are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, we help the brain recharge.
- Sleep Time - When we give the brain the rest it needs, we consolidate learning and recover from the experiences of the day.
So do you count your taiji/qigong/meditation practice as physical time, downtime, time-in, connecting time, or...?
See you in our Thursday Meditation and Chat session (zoom info below)!
Yan
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