Practice
Journals
Reflection exercises from your program.
journalDisobeying Unhelpful ThoughtsIn your Disobeying your Unhelpful Thoughts Journal, provided in your onboarding materials, write down an unhelpful thought you’d like to disobey today. Write out what values you’ll be honoring when you disobey it. At the end of the day, mark if you completed it. If it’s hard to think about what values you’ll be honoring, that’s okay. Just focus on disobeying the thought and notice what that’s like for you after you’ve done it. If it’s hard to choose a thought, that’s okay too. Just commit to doing this once a day and you can log it in your journal after you’ve disobeyed it.
journalMindfulness JournalToday you will create a daily routine to be present in your everyday activities. You’ll choose an activity you already do daily that you'd like to do mindfully. Just be sure this activity occurs at a time you’ll be free from distractions. When you’re back in Vareza the next day, you’ll have an opportunity to check in on it and choose a new activity to practice with mindfulness or repeat one you already did. Let’s try this out now. Tap ‘Next’ to record your first entry.
journalPacing PlanPacing yourself means doing activities for a specific period of time, then resting regardless of how you feel. It will help you avoid pain and symptom flares, and it will reduce how long they last when they do happen. It’s about respecting your body’s limits. Let’s make your pacing plan! Here’s an example pacing plan: Today, I will wash the dishes, for 10 minutes, and then rest for 20 minutes. I will do this 3 times.
journalTime Well SpentAsk yourself a simple question: "What is one thing that I did today that was time well spent?" Something that was worth your time. It doesn't mean that you liked it or wanted it or even enjoyed it but it was fulfilling, meaningful or worthwhile. Here are some examples: I took a shower. I went for a short walk. I washed the dishes. I got my kids to school on time. We encourage you to reflect on this daily in Vareza. Tap 'Next' to record your first entry.
journalValues DartboardIn this activity, you’ll evaluate how close you are to living your life according to the values you identified. This will help you celebrate what you've been doing and identify additional ways you can honor what matters most to you. *Values Bull’s Eye, adapted and reprinted w/permission (Lundgren et al., 2012)
journalValues Guided ActionEach day, you'll be prompted to choose one action that's consistent with your values that you'll commit to taking that day. Make sure it's realistic and achievable, so start with something small. Once you've made your commitment, carve out time to honor it. Then when you're back into the program the next day, you'll have an opportunity to check in on it. No one can honor their values 100% of the time. If you miss an opportunity, you can take some time to reflect on any barriers you encountered and each day you can set a new values-guided action to work on.