Mindfulness Place

COVID-19 – Resources for Coping and Resiliency

N’s and D’s

Back “before covid”, Shelley and Bernice and I used to offer a 4-week group called MAST. One of the activities that we did nearing the end of this group was this “Taking Mindful Action in Daily Life” activity.

Taking Mindful Action in Daily Life

Think about the kinds of activities you do in a typical day. Some of those activities may feel nourishing and give you energy, whereas others may feel depleting and draining. To maintain a balanced life, we need to decrease the amount of depleting activities, as best we can, and increase the nourishing ones. Make a list of different kinds of activities that give you energy and feel fulfilling. These may be activities that you are currently doing and would like to do more of, or new activities you would like to bring into your life.

Take a few minutes to consider your day--In your Mind’s eye or on paper: What parts of your day were depleting? Put a “D” beside these activities. What parts of your day were nourishing? Label these with an “N”. Quietly and gently be curious about how many “N’s” and how many “D’s” you have in your day. Shelley and I use this as a check in with each other….”How are your D’s today?” or “Is that a big D or a little d?”. “Any N’s today?”. “Is it time for an N?” This is a beautiful practice in being mindful in daily life.

When we did this group activity, the whole group would offer ideas of what they find nourishing. Each person took home a list that was full of ideas of what they might experiment with to increase the nourishing (N’s) activities in their day. I miss this group activity. Here's a list of my N’s. Maybe you can come up with some of your own that you would add to the list….

Sitting beside the pond watching the ducks bob their heads down into the water and back up again. Little duck bums and webbed feet wagging in the air as they forage under water. Water splashing everywhere.
Early morning coffee with the windows open. Quiet in the house. Listening to the sounds coming to me from outside: frogs croaking, birds starting their day. The trumpet of the rooster. Just listening.
Walking down the road in the evening. Sometimes with music and headphones other times, listening to the sounds around me.
Yoga with Adrienne.
Baking homemade tea biscuits.
Watching my family eat homemade tea biscuits.
Journal writing.
Cross-stitching.
Zoom call with friends.
Planting seeds for the garden.
Reading cook books.
Reading a good book.
Sitting on the front porch when the sun is shining on it in the morning.
Cooking on the BBQ.
Feeding the animals. Watching them eat and observing their behaviours and interactions with each other. It’s fun to be like a “fly on the wall” and watch animals together.
Being a part of Relaxing Times.
Afternoon tea.
Playing euchre with my family.