Mindfulness@Kyndryl - September 2022 Newsletter - Self-Care

EDITORS NOTE

by Patrick Kozakiewicz

This newsletter is all about self-care... mindful self-care. It's the oxygen mask principle.?

I was recently on a plane to the Philippines and the safety video at the beginning talked about how it is important to place the oxygen mask on yourself before others, and what they added which I really liked was that?you need to "fit and adjust" the oxygen mask. This is key for self-care, to "fit and adjust", because while there are some generalizations to self-care that you can read about below ?? (from?Yolanda Hernandez?and the community), it really depends on you and what your specific needs are when it comes to self-care. This is why you need to be mindful of your self-care and take time to find what works best for you.

So, to support your self-care,?we are not only offering our partners, customers and Kyndryls free mindfulness sessions but also this beautiful?self-care image above from?Beatriz Nieto Ortiz, as well as the mindful artwork by?Maria Clemente.?We also recommend you check out the podcast this month as well as the book to learn more about how to take care of yourself with mindfulness.?

Also, congrats to?Rachel Formella?for being this month's Mindfulness Champion. You deserve it!!! ???

Moreover, stay tuned to World Mental Health week coming to you the second week of October. ???

Thank you kindly for being and doing what you do.?

P.S -y personal recommendation is to checkout Mindful.org's extensive Guide to Practicing Self-Care with Mindfulness.

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PODCASTS OF THE MONTH

10% Happier Podcast (Dan Harris)

The host, Dan Harris, makes mindfulness meditation approachable for listeners of every background, helping you find a?mindfulness practice?that meets you where you are.

He interviews a variety of guests — from bestselling authors to sought-after?meditation teachers?and entrepreneurs of all stripes — to give his listeners a deeper understanding of mindfulness and how it can fit into (and transform) their daily routines.

Listen on?Apple,?Google,?Spotify, or?Stitcher

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Mindful Self-Care?

by Community

“Self-care, as a contemporary practice, is defined as the daily process of being aware of an attending to one's’ basic physiological and emotional needs, including the shaping of one’s daily routine, relationships, and environment as needed to promote self-care (Norcross & Guy, 2007). Self-care is seen as the foundational work required for physical and emotional well-being. Self-care is associated with positive physical health, emotional well-being, and mental health” (Cook-Cottone, 2015, p. 297).?

“Mindful self-care progress involves four steps:

1. mindful awareness of self-care as essential to well-being
2. assessment of self-care domains
3. assessment-drive self-care goal setting
4. engagement in self-care behaviors

Click?Here?to learn more about Mindful Self-Care and take the Mindful Self-Care Assessment create by the University at Buffalo

“Your well-being affects (and is affected by) those waves through small ripples of self-care and the decisions you make.” ― Melissa Steginus

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MINDFULNESS CHAMPION OF THE MONTH

Rachel Formella

Dr. Rachel continues to lead the community and mindfulness program at Kyndryl with exceptional restlessness, empathy and devotion. She has been a strong ally for many years, teaching, ideating, co-creating and leading so many different initiatives across the company. We are forever grateful to her service and commitment and look forward to her continuing the great work well into the future.

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BOOK OF THE MONTH?

Can you imagine what it's like to be able to completely clear your mind and experience a deep sense of calm whenever you want?

What about the power to switch into a state of intense concentration, but at the same time be completely relaxed?

Or even to feel the beginnings of an unwanted emotion, like anger, but be able to choose whether to let it take hold of you, or simply make it dissolve and disappear?

One Google engineer managed to do just that. Chade-Meng Tan discovered a way of explaining these secrets in a way that busy, stressed-out people could instantly understand. So many fellow Google employees told him that it had changed their life that he stopped engineering to share it with the world.

The course that he still runs at Google is in this book, and it's designed in a practical way that anyone can apply to any area of their work or family life. Meng won't ask you to hug a tree or 'find your centre'. He'll use brain scans, modern science and plenty of humour to show you how a miraculous technique called mindfulness can, in just 100 minutes, begin to change your life.

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MINDFUL ART of the MONTH

"The Sea" by our very own Kyndryl, Maria Clemente.

The Landscape of the sea represents strength, depth, freedom, life, calm, variety of sounds, with sinuous waves it always expresses itself. Love the sea.

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Self-Care

by Yolanda Hernandez?

Have you ever thought about what self-care is and if you do take time to have self-care for yourself? What is self-care??

Self-care means to take care for oneself. It does not involve anybody but yourself. You are important to your family, friends, and co-workers.?

You need to take care of yourself so that you can take care of everything else that is going around you. This means you need to take time and do things that you want to do for yourself.?

There are many things that you can do. Here are just a few things you can do. Things like physical activities such as walking, running, and exercising. Even if you do it for 15 minutes a day or whatever you feel comfortable doing is good. When you are done, you can go and soak in a nice tub full of water and Epson salt and relax, or a shower if you prefer, just unwind, and take care of yourself. Your well being is important. Another good thing that your body needs is sunlight. You can sit by a window for 30 minutes and let the sun hit your body and relax with a cup of tea or your favorite drink. Basking in the sun supplies vitamins D which is good for your bones.?

You also need to make sure that you are eating healthy so that your body can stay energized for the activities you have each day. Watch what you eat and ask yourself, “is this really something healthy I should eat?” Also, make sure you are drinking plenty of liquids that are good for you.?

One last thing and it is very important in self-care is your mental well-being. This is also a vital importance to your whole being in self-care. Our mental well-being is the heart of your self-care. There are many things you can do. Here are a few things you can do.

You can make sure you take breaks at work and at home. Even if it is just 5 minutes. It can make a difference in the next challenges you have coming. You can listen to music, play video games, read a book that inspires you, listen to a podcast that stimulates you. You can also practice mindfulness which helps you to stay focused and to be in the present moment. The present moment is what you are experiencing now not in the past or future. It is the now that is important. We all know that life can change in a blink of an eye. Let’s remember to be grateful for what you have now, your family, your friends, your pets, your home and just life itself. Remember the little things as well. Pay it forward to a stranger. Bake something for a neighbor. Having ill feelings towards others hurts only you. Let it go and move forward to living. Move forward to what really matters.?

You are important is this world. Someone needs and wants you so make sure to take better care of yourself. Nobody else can and you are the one that knows what you need to do.??Don’t let the cares and worries of what is going on around you detain you from self-care.?

Take care of yourself.?

“You need to take care of yourself so that you can take care of everything else that is going around you. This means you need to take time and do things that you want to do for yourself.?”