Tips for wellbeing
Posted on 4 March 2021
Developing gratitude and awareness
University Chaplain Catherine Reid recommends the Examen - or a review of your day - to notice things you are grateful for. This can be in very small things, like a meeting that goes well or enjoying some time with friends. It is also a practice that helps you see what was challenging. If you feel disconnected from the events of the day and feel that you didn’t enjoy anything, the Examen can help to show that, in fact, there were things from the day that were positive. The Examen takes about 15 minutes and is best done in the morning and/or evening (before bed), when we reflect on our feelings and hopes for the day, and at night, when we reflect on what happened.
See an introduction to the Examen and an Examen Daily Prayer for Anxiety.
Gain headspace
Finger labyrinths are a good way to gain focus over something or gain some headspace. Walking a labyrinth involves your body and breathing as you reflect on something in particular. You can take a faith approach to walking a labyrinth, where the activity essentially becomes a form of prayer, or a loosely spiritual practice and even non-faith approach, where the activity enables a form of reflection and can encourage a sense of being grounded.
Download a labyrinth from various sources:
Pray as you go
The Pray as you Go app lasts for about 10 minutes. A piece of music or a song is played followed by a Bible reading and then one or two questions are asked to get you thinking about the message from the reading in your life at that moment. They also offer the Examen Prayer as audio files. You could simply listen to it at the end of each day.
Sacred Space offers a short prayer for each day with a reflection to ponder throughout the day.
Help and support