Affirmation Tea - May 2021‌‌

[AARPRachelA]

Hello wonderful people! May is Mental Health Awareness Month. To honor the month, affirmation tea will have a focus on mental health.

Caring for your mental health is vital, especially as we age and during these uncertain times. This week, remember to be gentle with yourself and care for yourself with kindness. One way I do this is by journaling. I've found it extremely useful for tuning into myself and my emotions. It has helped increase my self-awareness and develop more emotional intelligence and empathy for others. In what ways do you care kindly for your mental health?

To affirm for yourself, reply with ⛅ or "yes."

Hope you all are having a magnificent week! Hasta la proxima semana (until next week) 💜

[terrilwayne79]

Yes

[AARPRachelA]

Hello community friends, and welcome to some new affirmation tea-ers! The past week was a rough one for me in terms of my nervous system regulation. I was all out of whack, but through meditation, journaling, yoga, listening to music and talking things out with a trusted group of people, I'm feeling more aligned and grounded. Hope this new week has been off to a good start for all of you! Here's our affirmation:

Wherever you are at, remember to honor your progress. Growth, change and transformation are a state of being. We all have our own process. Remember to honor who you are and where you are at with compassion. One way I like to do this is with a self-love ritual. I start by tuning into my body and how I'm feeling with a brief meditation/body scan/grounding exercise. I take a mental note or write it out. Then I ask myself what I want from this day (or week, or month, or year, etc). Lastly, I write a love note to myself. My own personal affirmation to acknowledge how I'm currently feeling, uplift myself and help me achieve my desires.

To affirm for yourself, reply with 💫 or "yes."

I hope you feel more centered as you navigate the natural ups and downs of life this week 💜

[terrilwayne79]

Yes

[AARPRachelA]

Welcome @terrilwayne79! Stay tuned every week for affirmation tea 🍵 Glad you're here 💜

[Rhymesometimes]

@AARPRachelA  Glad you are feeling better and more grounded. Love your self-care principles.  My week took a "whack" too.  See "Painful Rhyming" in Health forum under Conditions and Treatment.  Learning to roll with the challenges, find the silver-lining in them, learn lessons and of course, never, never lose my sense of humor.  ---  Christine

[AARPRachelA]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about your grocery cart incident @Rhymesometimes. I hope your ankle, toes and foot are feeling better. I'm glad you caught arthritis in your ankle early 🙏 I love your rhyming ritual - it's therapeutic! 💜

[Rhymesometimes]

@AARPRachelA Definitely on the mend.  Early on the ankle ( my silver-lining ) Having fun with the rhyming.  Really good brain work.  Very relaxing.  Thank you for your kind works. Enjoy your holiday weekend.   ---  Christine

[TheSuzyQ]

Yes

[RacquelE712599]

Pets over Medicine , Music 🎶 over Medication, Meditation over Medication 

[AARPRachelA]

Hello everyone, and Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far. Lots of things are going on and I hope you are all finding time to care for yourselves. Here's the mid-week affirmation tea for you!

Stopping negative thoughts and self-talk can be very challenging. Mindfulness has helped me to tune into those negative thought patterns. When I realize I'm in a negative thought spiral, I can then take control of it. It takes practice and it's not easy, but it's a necessary tool to have in your wellness kit. How do you deal when you have negative thoughts?

To affirm for yourself, reply with 🐚 or "yes." Sending you all some positive vibes ✨ See you next week! 💜

[LindaB671]

💫

[judym387642]

yes

[TheSuzyQ]

 🐚

[LindaB671]

🐚

[Rhymesometimes]

@AARPRachelA  To banish negative self-talk, have you heard of wearing a band around your wrist, and having to change to the other wrist every time a negative self-talk thought comes into you head? At first, it would be constant, but day by day, it should start to extinguish the habit.  Because that is what it is, an established habit. I'm thinking of trying it.  I better get a sturdy band!   ---   Christine

[AARPRachelA]

I have not tried this trick @Rhymesometimes, but I'm going to! I think it will help me tune into my thoughts even more 💭

[DeahWA]

Part of this for me, this self talk that is kind and encouraging rather than judgmental and deprecating, is to also try to eliminate from my vocabulary all words of violence. Once I became aware of how these words and phrases -- it HIT me (for it occurred to me), you BEAT me to it (for you got there before me), SHOOT I missed it (for sh!t I missed it), don't KILL the messenger (for don't blame me), and so on -- stir up within me energies of hostility and aggression, I've tried to catch myself and change my word choices. Doing this has really contributed to a more positive outlook and deeper inner peace.

[TheSuzyQ]

Very interesting! I have never thought about those phrases. A valid point.

I have been consciously trying to replace negative self talk with positive self talk this week and I can say it has made a real difference. It seems to the more I do it, the easier it has become and I feel much happier 🙂

[AARPRachelA]

I've never thought about how violent words are incorporated into idioms, and I'm very appreciative to you for pointing these out @DeahWA! Language is the framework for how you interpret the world around you, and being mindful of that is also an ongoing practice 💜

[AARPRachelA]

It's time for the tea! Affirmation tea, that is. Mental Health Awareness Month continues, and this week we are focusing on mind, body and spirit care.

How do you carve out time to care for your mind, body and spirit? I know for me, it's sometimes easier said than done. Exercise is one way I care for all three, and I especially enjoy practicing yoga. I'm so looking forward to cooking with others again as that is something that has always brought joy to my being. What about you? How do your nourish your mind, body and spirit?

To affirm for yourself, reply with a 🌟 or "yes."

Take care of yourselves, my friends! See you again next week 💜

[Rhymesometimes]

@AARPRachelA  I've been consistently getting up and starting each day with a daily devotional, journaling, writing my to do list for the day (together usually just 15 minutes ) and then going for a walk these last few weeks.  My attitude has improved and my patience is better.  Christine 

[AARPRachelA]

I'm so glad to hear that you are taking time for yourself @Rhymesometimes 💜 Self-care is a practice, and frankly some weeks I do better with it than others.

[TheSuzyQ]

🌟

[LindaB671]

Yes

[Rhymesometimes]

Amazing, isn't it @AARPRachelA , how we can shower others with grace and kindness, but we have trouble ( or don't even thinking about ) giving that same care to ourselves? Having had my own struggles with depression and anxiety, I thank you for bringing attention to mental health.  Will take a sip of tea in your honor.

[AARPRachelA]

Yes, @Rhymesometimes! It's been eye-opening to become conscious of my negative self-talk. That's why my word for 2021 is "worthy" as a way to remind myself that I am worthy of love, compassion and kindness 💜

[LindaB671]

🌥

[TheSuzyQ]

⛅   I have been working on being more gentle with myself and caring for myself with kindness. I am learning to forgive myself for my insecurities and other faults. My process for this has been very interesting. I am doing this by trying to see all human beings as having the same infinite, intrinsic worth, worthy of love even though they are flawed, broken or behaving badly. This has been a challenge this last year! Changing my belief of how human value is determined is changing the lens I see the world through, and this is somehow changing how I see myself too. In the words of Cinderella, "Have courage and be kind." 🌷

[AARPRachelA]

Thank you for sharing @TheSuzyQ! I have been going through a similar process. It definitely changes your perspective when you remember that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes. As humans, we hurt ourselves and each other, but that doesn't make us unworthy. Worthiness and accountability have been big focuses for me this year.