Acceptance is hard work

[NightFury]

I need to learn how to use Smiling Minds better @tyme do some exploring. It sounds pretty versatile. 

At what time of the day do you schedule it for? 

[tyme]

Always before going to bed. I never really use it during the day unless I'm driving and I find my breathing rate has increased for some reason @NightFury 

I reckon the more you do it, the more effective it becomes.

DId I tell you about salsa dancing and how therapeutic I've found it? It was a real mindfulness challenge because you MUST stay to the 3,3,3 beat. So after a 1 hour session, I used to always come out so grounded....

Although, I havent' done it in a long time. I'm just so time poor. But it was definitely really really grounding... (oh, and I can't dance if you paid me!)

[NightFury]

Yeah, I think just before bed is a good time for me too @tyme 

I think you're right, but I need a bit of encpuragement to stick to things. Once I've missed a few nights and feel like I've let myself down, I kind of give up. 

I didn't know you did Salsa dancing. It sounds like it helped you a lot and you got a lot out of it. I'm terrible at dancing...I fall over my own two feet, so adding steps and stuff...yeah. 

I took a Zumba class once and I was the person who went left when we were supposed to be going left and vice versa. Lol. 

[tyme]

You don't even have to be good at dancing... I dance with 2 left feet... but seriously, salsa dancing was so so grounding... the constant repetition of 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 - 1,2,3 was so helpful. 

It's definitely a different feeling to zumba. 

Oh, since you've been in schools, have you heard of the DRUMBEAT program in schools? @NightFury 

[tyme]

https://aifs.gov.au/research_programs/evidence-and-evaluation-support/cfc-program-profiles/drumbeat-...

Maybe you could've used it for your assignment! @NightFury 

[NightFury]

I kinda like the idea of line dancing. @tyme I used to want to learn when I was a child. I even went to a couple of classes with my aunt. 

I've heard of Drumbeat and have seen it at a couple of schools. It looked like lots of fun. 

[tyme]

Yeah. I'm going to have a look at DRUMBEAT a bit more. Supposedly it's used in youth justice too.

Anyway, I'm hopping off now. All the best with the rest of your assignment @NightFury 

I'm not around tomorrow, but hope you can do something nice for yourself once you hand in your assignment!

[NightFury]

Good night @tyme thank you for the company over the last couple of days..

[Jynx]

@NightFury sometimes it can help to write things down before seeing a new gp/therapist/support. For me, reading stuff out feels a lot less emotional than actually recalling it in the moment (or you might be able to just hand over the notes and let them take it in). Repeating one's story over and over can certainly be very difficult, and however you can reduce that impact is so valid. 

Wow!! Sounds like work has been a whirlwind of information and learnings - not surprised you don't have a lot of energy leftover! My brain would be fried too 😅 It's really amazing to hear that you're looking forward to the work ahead, that's definitely a promising sign! I know for myself, logging into the forums has never felt like a slog, or something that I dread - I hope it continues to be that way for you too!

Hope your assignment is all done now, how long till the next impending deadline? 

Hugs 💜

[NightFury]

Writing things down helped me in the first appointment with my old GP, when I went in to get a Mental Health Care Plan. @Jynx so thank you for the reminder. I'm hoping he will fill out a form for me on the impact of my mental health on my studies and then, I can get an access plan through the Uni. This automatically gives me an extra week on assignments. 

That particular assignment is done, the next is due on two weeks. I had a bit of a meltdown at how long the word count for this one is. All of the courses are structured the same - a small assignment at the start, a bigger wordier (2500 word) assignment in the middle and a scripted powerpoint presentation at the end. But just to change it up... for this course they've changed the powerpoint to a 2000 word research paper.