tuning into yourself

Tuning in to Yourself is a resource for personal reflection, which invites you to take a pause for yourself before the visit. The resource describes a range of ideas for becoming aware of how you are feeling and how you would like to prepare for your online visit with your family member/friend.

Purpose

The purpose of this resource is to start the Treasure Hunt from a place of acknowledging how you are in that moment.

Suggested Time for this Resource: 10 mins.

 

WHAT’s involved?

The steps involved in Tuning in to Ourselves are:

  • Noticing & Acknowledging
  • Naming & Accompanying

While it has been designed for you to do on your own, you may like to share your thoughts and feelings with others. 

TUNING INTO YOURSELF

NOTICING AND ACKNOWLEDGING

In these first steps you will be using a figure of a body to represent you and filling in on the body how you are feeling right now.

Think about how you are feeling right now as you prepare for your online visit with your family member/ friend. Notice any sensations in your body. This could include checking:

  • for places where you feel relaxed/ energetic/ tense/ tired/ hot/cold.
  • in with how your breathing is and how your heart is beating.
  • out for anything else you notice.

Draw an outline of your body. Fill in this outline in whatever way you like*, any of the sensations you noticed. If you are feeling these sensations in particular parts of your body, for example you notice your feet are cold, you may want to fill this in on that body part below.

* You may want to colour-in certain areas, write words, draw another image, doodle.

Do any of these words, or others you come up with yourself, fit with how you feel right now? Jot these emotions on or around the image of your body.

  • Anxious
  • Exhausted
  • Sad
  • Awkward
  • Stuck
  • Overwhelmed
  • Embarrassed

  • Uncomfortable
  • Frustrated
  • Disappointed
  • Confused
  • Powerless
  • Flustered

  • Confident
  • Connected
  • Calm
  • Supported
  • Respected
  • Heard
  • Excited

  • Pleased
  • Fortunate
  • Hopeful
  • Safe
  • Included
  • Comfortable

Look at what you have written or drawn in, on and around the outline of your body. Spend  a few moments acknowledging this is how you are now. The purpose of this time is not to try to change or make a judgement on how you are, just to become aware of it.

NAMING AND ACCOMPANYING

The focus of Naming & Accompanying is to consider how you would like to feel during the visit and any small steps that might help these feelings to be present.

Going back to the list of emotion words, select one or two emotions that you would like to experience during the visit. Write these word(s) down.

Draw a horizontal line and write ‘a little’ at one end of the line and ‘a lot’ at the other. Place one emotion word you’ve chosen above this line. Mark an ‘O’ on the line that represents how much you are feeling this emotion just now. Now mark an ‘X’ where you would like this emotion to be during the visit. Your ‘X’ may be the same place as your ‘O’, or to the right or left.

What one or two small things could you do that may help the emotions you selected to be where you would like them to be during the visit? Write these ideas down.

Thinking about the emotions you selected you are now invited to consider if there is an object which could be a source of support during the call? Is there any object in your surroundings that helps you to feel the emotion you would like to feel during the visit? It could be a piece of clothing, a cup, a memento, a photo. If you feel it would be helpful, bring the object and have it beside you, to accompany you, to remind you of the emotion that you would like to experience during the visit.

ONE SMALL TREASURE

Is there one small treasure – a thought, emotion, experience – from your time tuning in to yourself that you would like to hold on to for yourself or share with others? If one comes to mind, you could write it down, to keep it as part of the Treasure Chest you are creating here.

NEXT STEPS ON your TREASURE HUNT

Continue on to Tuning in to Others which offers you ideas for being alongside your family member/friend in ways which help you tune in with what is going on for them.

Contact us

This project is funded by the Dementia Services Development Trust and the project members are...

What we've built on

This work builds on more than two years of collaboration between...