Session 3: Fall Provider Training Series: Mindfulness in Tele-Practice

Okay, we can go ahead and pause the music and, and then go ahead and get started. So hello everyone. I see some familiar names and others who I don't know yet. First of all, welcome. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Blakely Nielsen, and I'm on Parallel's marketing team. We're so excited to have each of you with us today. Parallel is more than just a platform. We're a tight-knit community, and we're thrilled that you're here to be part of it. I'd like to start by saying a heartfelt thank you to all of our providers. You truly are the face of Parallel, and your dedication makes a meaningful impact on the lives of students daily. We can't thank you enough. And to our HQ team, your commitment to supporting diverse learners and thinkers is truly appreciated, and thank you for showing up today. For those of you who are not currently Parallel providers, guess what? We're hiring. So stick around to the end and we'll share a little bit more about the— those opportunities. But before we dive into the presentation, let's cover a few housekeeping items. Feel free to ask questions. We really want this to be an interactive presentation. So there's a Q&A chat box, and we'll get to all of them at the end. Also, we have a gift card raffle, so stay tuned to see if your name's called. It could be your lucky day. With that, I'd like to start with a short inspirational video. This week, our CEO and founder, Diana Heldfond, was honored with the Forbes 30 Under 30 Award in the education category. This recognition speaks volumes about our collective why. I'd like to share with you this video that shows the passion that drives us forward. Enjoy the video and the presentation.

Diana, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.

Of course.

So to start, please tell me about what your company Parallel Learning does. So we provide both software and services to school districts around the country. We work specifically with their special education department. So in K through 12 districts, you have general education and then you have special education. which is about roughly 15% of students who usually have a learning or thinking difference, mental health challenge. And we basically staff school psychologists, speech therapists, special ed teachers, a whole host of different professionals who work directly with students to make sure that, you know, even the most complex students are set up for success in the district. I want to hear about the why. Tell me about your founding story, how this came about. Well, I'll start with I have dyslexia and ADHD, so I fall very squarely into the population of students that we now work with here at Parallel.

Okay.

And was lucky enough to have access to a lot of resources growing up. My mom in particular was very on top of things, made sure that I really reaped the benefits of early detection and early intervention for my, my challenges, and was diagnosed when I was 7 years old, which is a very unique story. Most kids are years behind in core academic subjects or struggling with very severe mental health challenges before anyone really intervenes on their behalf. And so with that, was extremely motivated by my own experience to kind of recreate my reality at scale for more students. And was also paired with, you know, the start of the pandemic when so many students, you know, schools were struggling to put general education online. Nevertheless, you know, special ed students were just simply not getting served at all. And was, you know, extremely concerned to see dire circumstances, and, and that was kind of ultimate culmination for jumping into Parallel. I've been really excited to partner with, you know, some amazing clinicians in the space, operators, engineers, to really bring Parallel to life. Talk to me about how many students and educators you serve and how that's grown over time. Yeah, it's grown a lot, very quickly. So we started actually working with school districts just over a year ago. So prior to that, we were actually serving families who were actually not getting served within the school districts or were looking for additional services. And that business was fantastic and growing, you know, also very rapidly. The districts came to us and said, you know, we actually desperately need your services as well. And so that gave rise in spring of 2022 of when we started deciding to work with school districts directly. That's actually now 100% of our business. It's been an absolute joy to work with districts, You know, across the country, we're in 15 states at this point, serving thousands of students per month, doing both psychological assessments, speech assessments, mental health assessments, and then also doing the kind of ongoing services. So things like speech therapy, special ed teaching, and so on. So really becoming this kind of full-stop partner, I should say, for school districts. Tell me about your fundraising journey. What's that been like for you and how much have you raised so far? It's been a really exciting journey. It's amazing to see how many institutional investors ultimately support our mission and really want to see Parallel grow. I'm a solo founder, so fundraising has been something that has like fully fallen on my plate. And with that, we've gotten a lot of traction. So we've now raised about $30 million in total. From some of, you know, really the top investors out there, from Tiger Global, Obvious Ventures, Rethink Impact Fund just led a small round. We've been really lucky to work with, you know, kind of investors of all different backgrounds, both from the more impact-centric investors who have, you know, more education, more healthcare-specific experience, to the kind of big growth funds and really see it from all sides. So it's an amazing opportunity to have, you know, everyone around the table and everyone's It's been highly supportive of making Parallel what it is today. One last question for you.

What would you like your legacy to be?

I think as a founder in this space, you have to say it's got a mission element, right? Obviously, everyone that works for Parallel, it's great that we're a venture-backed company and we're growing quickly. The business success is part of it. I think more than anything, that actually means that we've done really a lot of good in the world and that we've really helped change the trajectory for students just like myself. That like, frankly, if I did not have access to resources that I did early on, I would not be sitting here today. I would not have the confidence for that. I would not have that basic skill set. With that in mind, I think that's probably like the biggest motivation is how do I really, you know, Yeah. Hit the point where I feel like we've helped as, as many students as we possibly can.

All right, welcome everybody.

All right, my name is Corinne Kukeon, and I'm one of the regional managers here at Parallel, and I am one of the district clinical contacts as well as a bilingual SLP for over 20 years. I'm ASHA certified and the current associate coordinator for SIG 18 for telepractice, and it is my pleasure to introduce to you some of my colleagues. So today we have Roxanna Torres Patterson, who is our West SLP Regional Manager. She is also a district clinical contact and a bilingual SLP for over 20 years. She also is a certified life coach and ASHA certified. And of course, we have Shawna Beyer, our Director of Speech and Language Pathology Services, who has been an SLP ASHA certified for over 25 years. She also serves as a clinical instructor for Emerson College. So we're very happy to have our clinical team present today on the topic of mindfulness and telepractice. So we will start with our learning objectives. So today's learning objectives will be that you will understand what mindfulness is and the benefits of mindfulness in the telepractice workplace. You will also be able to describe techniques used to create mindfulness practice. And finally, you'll be able to apply mindfulness techniques in various telepractice scenarios. So some really practical advice that you'll be able to take away today. And without further ado, here are our presenters.

Thank you, Corinne. So during this webinar, you'll learn about what is mindfulness, why it is important, how do you practice it, techniques, and we'll have some demonstration and practice. And of course, as Blakely said, if you have any questions, please be sure to put them in the Q&A, and we'll address those at the end of this webinar. So the what, why, and how of mindfulness. So the what is certainly mindfulness, and we wanted to share a definition of what mindfulness is. And it's a mental state achieved by focusing on one's awareness, being in that present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensation, and we use it as a therapeutic technique. I'll hand it over to Roxanna to explain the why, and then we'll get to the how at a little later time.

Hello everyone, and thank you. Um, yeah, so we're gonna get a little bit, um, sciency here, but not too much. This is not going to be an anatomy class, I promise, but it is important to understand a little bit about How the brain functions. Um, so we've got, you know, in our evolution as humans, we started out with what they, um, scientists deem as the lower brain. Um, and then we eventually, um, grew to have what's called the neocortex or the new brain. So the lower brain is much more primitive. It's innate. It's also termed the reptilian brain. It's very primal and instinctual. It's in control of our automatic self-preserving behaviors. So it definitely runs on default. But the good thing is that it has helped us evolve up to this point. And however, it's important to appreciate the kind of power that it has as we try to become more mindful, more intentional in our daily lives. One thing that has been talked a lot about in research of how humans or why humans do what they do is comes from Dr. Douglas Liesl and Alan Goldhamer in their work on discovering what the psychological basis for human motivation, but particularly their work was regarding unhealthy eating habits. However, and they published a book in 2006 called The Pleasure Trap, but since then we've been able to come to understand that this this piece of their work really can be applied to more than just unhealthy eating habits. It really does explain how it is that humans do what we do. And it's called the Motivational Triad. And the theory purports that these— that our lower brain, our lower functioning or reptilian brain functions with these 3 things in mind. It is pleasure-seeking. It's— it works to avoid pain, and energy efficiency is also a big component of it. So this is important to understand because as we try to become more mindful of ourselves and going back to that definition, really becoming aware of what it is we're thinking and feeling and why it is we're doing what we're doing, it's important to understand that this is kind of what we're up against almost, um, with regards to our, our default and that instinctual, um, piece of ourselves. So it's important to understand that, that we, we have this in addition to the neocortex where we can be a little bit more intentional. Um, the, the neocortex, the newer brain, what we're talking about specifically today has more to do with like the frontal lobe where, where it's complex, higher-functioning, um, purpose for us, such as reasoning and planning. And, and that's certainly where our— we're working to be more mindful. That's where it's coming from, is that newer part of our brain. But we are also working somewhat against this instinctual lower part of our brain. So that's, that's important to understand. Because the brain is going to function as it always has, right? It's going to consistently look for danger. It's going to be seeking pleasure, whatever feels good. It's going to work to be efficient. So whatever is familiar, whatever's worked in the past. So when we try to circumvent that, We are going to, to kind of run up against some resistance. But it's almost as if the brain is going to offer us these options that it has and has. And, you know, we've jumped on these options before, but it's important to understand that, that these are optional. And we're going to talk about some techniques to kind of circumvent them and become more mindful and more intentional. But as we are working towards that, we need to understand and appreciate that there will be some resistance. And And it will feel sometimes like, like we're fighting toddlers because again, with the lower brain being very primal, it's, it definitely is going to be somewhat of a struggle whether you're just getting started with this kind of practice or even when you've been doing it for, for long periods of time. But again, with the purpose of becoming more mindful and more intentional, We're going to get into a little bit into the how. But first, Shawna is going to kind of point out again the importance of mindfulness.

Thank you, Roxanna. So let's be mindful of the importance of mindfulness. It is important for many reasons. And it's been associated with numerous physical, mental, emotional benefits. And, you know, on a day-to-day basis, we have a lot of stress, a lot of things happening, happening and coming at us at once, especially in our, our, our everyday practice. And, and not just that, our everyday life. So mindfulness helps with stress reduction, improved mental health, enhanced focus and concentration, better emotional regulation, increased self-awareness. Improved physical health, enhanced cognitive function, increased resilience, improved relationships, overall well-being, and to become more intentional and live life more intentionally. It helps to create a work-life balance, help you reach goals you set, and overall giving you peace and satisfaction. So why not, right? And I'm sorry. So we want to remember this. I mean, we're all, you know, we're all learning different techniques and different things to help us in our everyday lives. And mindfulness, we have to remember there's no right or wrong way to practice it. And the key is just to be open-minded to new techniques. A reminder of the definition of mindfulness and the fact that, you know, part of that definition is focusing on one's awareness, being in the moment, remember. And according— here's some facts. According to the National Science Foundation, the average person has tens of thousands of thoughts per day. 80% are negative, believe it or not, and 95% are repetitive. We have 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day. Our minds are super busy, and that's an average of 2,500 to 3,300 thoughts an hour. And there's— that means it's 4 to 8 thoughts per minute. And this is based on neuroimaging data. So we need mindfulness to help us.

Yes.

And so that awareness piece, um, I think as we understand kind of that the way the brain functions, like I mentioned, with regards to our primal brain or lower brain and our higher brain, um, awareness of thoughts is, is key and important. Um, but also is awareness of our emotions. If we thought about it, we could probably name maybe 5, 10 at the most emotions typically. But there are theoretically an infinite amount of emotions available to us. What— and we're going to talk a little bit more in detail about this, but it in part has to do with the range of vocabulary we have. To describe emotions. So awareness of thoughts, awareness of emotions, in order to go beyond our instincts, all of this is key to understand. We're going to start talking about the techniques we can use to, to go beyond instinct and to become more mindful. The first tool is by far the most important. And that is compassion for oneself. We tend to, especially if you're in this, the field of service, be pretty quick to extend grace or compassion towards another. And just as typical humans, we tend to be less giving of that compassion towards ourselves. So as we learn some of these techniques and work to practice them, It is important to remember again kind of what we're up against with regards to how our brains are designed, and then extending some grace, some compassion, not judging ourselves so harshly like we tend to do. I live in the LA area, and a lot of people are in what they term the industry. They're always talking about the film industry. But one of the things I came to appreciate about the film industry is that they have a lot of takes in when filming just about anything— TV shows, movies, it doesn't matter. And so when I thought about that, we talk about all the mistakes that we make, particularly learning something new, versus in the, in the industry they talk about it just like we just do retakes. That's it. So I kind of broke that word down— mistakes. In, in kind of comparing it to the film industry where there is really no judgment. It's like, oh, we just need to run that again. We just need a do-over. And if we can extend that kind of thinking and mindset towards ourselves, it helps increase the self-compassion. And then just acknowledging and validating where you are potentially thinking some of those same thoughts as we work to maybe circumvent or reprogram our, our brains to think something differently. And just recognizing it is a journey, basically. Um, so we've got self-compassion. Another tool or technique is called the model, and this comes from the Life Coach School, which is the program where I am certified. And we use this particular tool to not only uncover some of the thoughts that we are thinking, those 60,000 to 80,000, um, but also to reprogram and to, to be able to master our, our thoughts. We probably won't ever be able to, to completely disengage the default because, as we know, it's, it's served us well evolutionarily speaking. It's got us to, you know, where we are today, um, but we can very quickly circumvent and override some of the more instinctual thoughts and emotions that come up. So I'm— the model is a really great tool. I'm not going to get super deep into it because it is somewhat not complicated, but it does take a good bit of practice. But I did want to at least increase your awareness of some of the tools, and this is a really good one. We have— it has 5 components to it. We go throughout our days and stuff just happens, right? That stuff that happens, we are able to put in what's called the C line for circumstance, whether it's someone says something to us that may have triggered us into an emotional state that maybe was unpleasant. We can put any circumstance in that line and then kind of really get into the weeds of what is going on in our brains, in, you know, throughout our body as a result of what has happened. So once there, we are able to put a circumstance in the C line, we call it, then we, we kind of sift through and figure out what thoughts That situation or circumstance sparked, and there are probably several, but we pick one. And then based on those thoughts, or the one we pick, we determine which emotion it triggered. And then based on those emotions that we discover, we can see what actions we took based when we were feeling those certain emotions, and then what results. led or were the result— what were the results of our actions? So again, this does get a little bit complicated, but it is super helpful in increasing our awareness of the thoughts that we're having and the results because of those thoughts. And like I said, it also is a great tool to change our mindset once we get a little bit of practice in using this particular tool. It's also helpful to reprogram a little bit some of the defaults that our brain goes to. An easier yet also effective tool is called a thought inventory. And if you've ever kept a food journal or ever kept, you know, real close eye on your expenses and how much money you're spending, it's sort of the similar similar to those. It works to increase your awareness of the thoughts, those thousands of thoughts going on in your brain. Not that I'm recommending you write thousands of thoughts down, but I do recommend that you take moments of your day to just kind of check in and see what kind of thoughts you are entertaining just throughout your day, regardless of what's going on. Certainly at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. But anytime you feel some kind of strong feeling or emotion would be a good time to take inventory, to just write down some of those thoughts that, one, it takes you kind of into the present moment and figure out what is going on in your brain. And then as you continue to do this, you'll see some of those repetitive thoughts that Shawna talked about earlier. And you'll see, you You know, perhaps the balance of negative versus positive thoughts. Regardless, it will increase your awareness. When I first started doing this particular tool, I was a bit surprised to see how often I used the word stupid in my thoughts, and they were all directed towards myself. But you know, oh, I can't believe I did that stupid thing, or I can't believe I was so stupid, or you know, it it really helped to increase. My awareness of just what was going on in my brain and somewhat how harsh I was able—I was being towards myself. So that was a really, really useful tool. We talked about how important awareness of our emotions are. If you've ever seen the Disney Pixar movie In and Out, they do a great depiction of. just exactly all the kind of chaos that's going on in our brains with the emotion characters that had in there. And one thing to note is that there are just 6 basic emotions here. There's a lot of theories of how many basic emotions we have and, and all of the different variants from those basics. But the point of it is We really do have a lot more emotions than we kind of think about on the regular. So it's a good idea to increase awareness of just how many emotions we do have, we do experience throughout the day, because it helps to really pinpoint what it is that's going on within us. To increase mindfulness. All right, I'm going to turn it over for— to Shawna for our next tool. Thank you, Roxanna.

So definitely amazing tool would be breathwork, and there are many different breathing techniques, and we're going to practice just one of them. But we have breathing techniques such as box breathing, alternate breathing, lion's breath, bee breathing. Perhaps you have one of your own that you like to use. And believe me, I'm not perfect at this, and we don't expect anybody to be perfect, but it's finding that awareness. And I've— since I've been using the breathing, it really helps. And even as I was preparing for this presentation tonight with Roxanna, I was like, yes, this is helping me. So, um, we want to demonstrate, or I will, and Roxanna can certainly jump in, but, um, we want to demonstrate box breathing for you. So I want to explain it first. And we have, um, 4 phases here that we're going to talk about. But box breathing is also known as square breathing or foursquare breathing, and it's a simple technique. It helps us to relax, and it's, it's a specific pattern of breath control, and it's often used in meditation and yoga and stress management to promote relaxation and reduce anxiety. So it's— the breath is divided into 4 distinct phases, each of equal duration. So I'm going to try and demonstrate and talk through it, and then we'll practice it together. You definitely want to make sure that you are in a comfortable seated position. You're sitting, you're sitting in a chair with your spine straight, your shoulders relaxed, and not driving. So certainly in a, in a safe and comfortable environment. And you want to begin by inhaling. And so we have these 4 stages, and we'll have an animation here in a minute that Will depict for four seconds. So you begin by inhaling, and you want to try and fill your lungs and your diaphragm completely with air. You'll inhale and count to four. So you're going to breathe through your nose and and deeply inhale. One, two, three, four, and hold. Your breath. One, two, three, four. Exhale for four. One, two, three, four. And hold. One, two, three, four. You'll want to compete repeat the pattern, and and you can increase the the number. You know, increase or decrease the count. Depending on your comfort level. But let's try it. So here we go. Sit up tall, relax your shoulders, and you're going to inhale deeply. 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold. Exhale. 1, 2, 3, 4. And hold. 1, 2, 3, 4. So hopefully you can try that. You can continue to practice that. And I think Roxanna might end up providing like a handout at some point, and then maybe Blakely will send that out to everyone. But it'll have more information and perhaps some other breathing techniques that you can choose to use.

So, all right.

So when and why and how to do the breathwork again? You know we keep saying like all the benefits, right? So you can see some highlights: relaxation. It reduces blood pressure. You know it's a conduit for conduit for homeostasis. The focus, the energy level. You know, and think about. You know, and be mindful, right, of the circumstances in which, you know, you may need to practice mindfulness. And we're going to talk about some of those scenarios again, not only just in your daily life, but when we're working, which we work, you know, 8, 9, sometimes, you know, sometimes longer days. We need to practice this, especially if you're sitting You know, in front of your computer doing your teletherapy, you need to practice breathing. And again, there are different techniques you can use, and box breathing that I demonstrated is just one of them. Another thing that, you know, whether it's these stretches or any other stretches, you know, I think it's great. Like, I actually printed this out. And I have a handout. I don't know if you can see it, but I printed it out, and I'm going to have it by my computer so that I can, you know, implement these stretches throughout the day. Movement is very, very important to, you know, helping our body again, just increasing blood circulation, reduce that stress, reduce muscle tension. We get stiff right as we're sitting in one place, and I know we talk about as is SLPs and, you know, other, other therapists, you know, giving our students brain breaks. You know, this is giving us a brain break and taking a moment to help us help ourselves reduce that stress and just get up and move. So just remember, you can couple the stretches with the, with different, you know, techniques of breathwork. And find what works for you. Another thing is meditation. It's definitely, you know, a valuable technique as well and has very some of the same benefits as I've already described. And, you know, and I would say really enhancing self-awareness. So it's a that's a huge benefit. So again, just find what works for you, whether it's a combination or one or two of these things to help you throughout your day.

Yeah, for sure. Thanks, Shawna. So as telepractitioners, we do have challenges, as anyone would, let's say, in an on-the-ground position. But I think in addition to that, we're working in various platforms. Often, or we are working in multiple time zones, or we have a lot of maybe unique distractions or interruptions that come to us. And certainly communication when we're sitting behind a screen all day and can't walk down the hall to talk to somebody can be a challenge. Increasing camaraderie or building rapport, just having social interactions. I don't know about you, but working from home every day, no one's at my water cooler. It's just me. So, and then also, you know, it can be a little bit more challenging sometimes to separate work life from our personal life because it's here with us all day, every day. So we're going to talk about a few of these scenarios and talk about, you know, the techniques that we reviewed today to see how we can apply them. But again, as I mentioned, the first is doing these things with compassion towards ourselves as we become more aware of our thoughts and emotions and how it's manifesting for us in our body and using the techniques we've talked about, breathwork and the stretches and the meditation, the thought inventory. and the model. Here's a common challenge when working with telepractice is we have oftentimes our providers are working as best they can to communicate with the district, but perhaps some miscommunication happens. Let's say we didn't, or the provider didn't get details of an IEP that they were supposed to attend, and then they only maybe learned about it When their manager was contacted. So we will probably have a good bit of thoughts about, you know, that complaint or that whole circumstance and scenario. And again, as we've talked about today, the variety of tools that we have to take a moment and be mindful of the situation and how we're feeling, what we're thinking, And oftentimes using either breathwork or the stretchings or the meditation to kind of get us back to that homeostasis before we act. So we are less reactive and less working from that primal default brain and being more intentional. Another scenario that often happens when you're Working from home is perhaps a neighbor or someone will drop by because they know you're there all day, every day, and, and kind of feel, you know, a little bit inclined to, to share with you their experiences when you're trying to get your work done. So again, becoming aware of what we're thinking about that particular scenario or situation. How that's making us feel, using some of these techniques that we've talked about to get us back into a mode where we can be more intentional in how we handle that situation. Another common one for telepractitioners is feeling isolated. And spoiler alert, we really don't have any different answers for any of these scenarios because all of the things that we've talked about today apply to every situation that, that can come about, whether in telepractice or in your personal life. Um, but yeah, becoming more aware of how it is or what it is you're thinking about, um, feeling isolated, or, you know, in, in this particular, um, scenario, you're already feeling it. So what is the thought behind that feeling of isolation? And what it is you you do, what are the actions you take when you feel that way, and whether or not that's working for you. If you want to to change those actions, going back to to the thoughts and the feelings, and what it is you're going to do differently to get a different result. But that's the intentional piece. And then lastly, we have you know one of the bigger challenges I think from working from home is separating that work and personal life because. It's always there, kind of whispering to you to come back. So perhaps maybe your family complains that you're not really engaging with them or not even getting off the computer until late in the evening. So again, becoming aware of what it is you're thinking, or perhaps particularly in this situation, what it is you're thinking about work that you're not. You know, leaving the computer until late, and then using some of the other techniques to get you into a state that would help you be more productive or purposeful in your intention and your actions. Okay, so we've gone through a little bit about how our brain, our human brain works. And I really want to point out that, you know, it really has worked well for us. It's evolved us to this state. So, you know, without judgment, knowing what we're kind of working up, working against in a way as we try to become more intentional. And the importance that awareness plays in being mindful, you know, really honing into the thoughts that you're thinking and the emotions that those Thoughts spark, and then the, the actions that you take because you're feeling those certain feelings and emotions. And then we gave a few techniques that would— will help in the quest to become more mindful and more intentional in your life. All right, so I think that takes us to the Q&A.

All right, well, thank you so much, Roxanna and Shawna. I know I learned a lot from you guys. We do actually have some questions. First question is directed to Roxanna. What led you to becoming a life coach?

That is a great question. It's same thing that led me to becoming a speech-language pathologist. And that is my quest for understanding how our brain works, how humans work, um, and then what we can do to, um, you know, as an SLP, what I can do to, to help someone compensate for perhaps whatever it is, um, whatever their diagnosis is, um, as a life coach to help, um, elevate that person. You know, every time I look at the The sky, I, I'm— I become aware, like, there are people living up there, and they got up there using what I have in, in my, in my skull. Like, we all have the potential for greatness. And I think just knowing that, that we do all have that potential is, um, mind-blowing to me, and it makes me more curious and That definitely got me into, um, both fields, life coaching and SLP work.

And a follow-up question to that that I'm curious about, how long did it take you to become a life coach? Curious if it was shorter than becoming an SLP, because we all know how long that takes.

Um, well, the coursework is shorter, yes, that's for sure. But I would say, um, It took me 2 or 3 years to really, like, come to understand what that even meant, despite using some of these practices. And then, you know, a little while to recognize, like, oh, I could do this and then help people. But the coursework itself probably took about a year, I think. So yeah, half the time. Well, no, a fifth of the time, a sixth of the time. I don't know, something like that.

Thank you. Another question we have. Can you share an example of a moment of meditation? What does that look like?

Yeah, you know, that's a really great question because there are— there's no right or wrong way to meditate, in my opinion. I personally love walking meditation where I go out into nature. I don't have anything in my ears. I'm just You know, working to appreciate where I am and my surroundings, and then just kind of follow my brain to where that, where that goes. You know, there are so many different types of meditation. One of my favorites, in addition to that, is loving meditation. And that's kind of when you focus on people in your lives that you focus on just the gratitude and, and the good feelings you have for them. Just, you know, it, it does take some work, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend picking maybe that sibling that drives you crazy as the first one to focus on, but something a little easier. But there are just so many varieties of meditation. I think oftentimes people think when they meditate that means that they have to stop their brain. But first of all, as we learned with the 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day, that's virtually impossible. Your brain is always going to be working. It's always going to be offering you some thought. Really what I like to think about is getting curious of the brain. And so then just sitting— it, it took me probably 5 years or so of really honing in on meditation to kind of quiet the brain. And it only lasts a couple seconds. So, so because that's just how our brain works, right? But I think— I hope I answered that question.

Thank you. Yeah, one more thing, just as a beginner, what do you recommend? What are some strategies to kind of become habitual about this, to form a habit? Because when you're just starting out, any kind of new behavior is really hard to establish. So what do you recommend? What are some techniques so that this can become a habit for somebody?

Yeah, I've heard a lot— a few people use this technique that I'm going to share, that it worked for me. It's definitely worked for a lot of others. And that is, as silly as it sounds, taking some sticky notes, putting them up throughout your your home or your workplace, wherever that might be, to remind yourself to breathe, to stretch, to take a moment and jot down your thoughts. But I do— I don't so much anymore, but I did when I first started. I had sticky notes everywhere as a reminder because, again, as we talked about, we're working against that motivational triad, the familiarity piece, that efficiency piece, So our brain is constantly going to be, you know, saying like, just eat the chocolate, right? That was, that was my advice. Just eat the chocolate. That's how you deal with, you know, stressful situations or your emotions or whatever, because it worked before, because it does give you that hit of dopamine, um, which feels good. And so the brain, again, is always seeking pleasure, um, and familiarity. It took my sticky notes to Kind of get out of some of those habits so I could be more intentional and more aware.

Thank you, Roxanna. And I also liked Shawna's idea earlier about printing out the stretches and just having it right next to you. I think I'm going to do that myself as well.

I think that's a great reminder.

Yeah, for sure.

For my thought inventory, I think I would put my journal under my pillow because at the very least, if I hadn't done it throughout the day, before I hit the pillow, I would at least jot a few, um, a few thoughts down then. Whatever it takes.

Any other thoughts, Shawna or Roxanna?

I'm just— I'm happy that we have Roxanna to coach us. And, you know, as It really does take effort to be mindful and to practice. And I'm certainly, I've already started by having my stretch diagram. And we do, we sit in the chair for many hours. And like I said earlier, I've been trying to practice the breathing and I'm already seeing benefits. But I love the idea of the sticky Sticky notes. I'm already a sticky note person, so I love that idea and might start a sticky note wall next to me. So thank you.

We have one more question. I think we have time. Do you incorporate these into your therapy sessions? And if so, do you do that with all ages or just a particular age group?

I most definitely incorporate these, some of these into And I, and I would say all ages, uh, even, you know, my, my patients in the skilled nursing facilities too, right? In terms of the, the deep breathing exercises or, um, but yeah, they can be applied to almost anyone, um, and in almost any situation. You know, the brain breaks that, um, Shawna alluded to earlier. Any of these awareness techniques or the breathing techniques or the stretches for certain can be applied into any therapy situation. I think for me, my favorite with the littles was always the stretching because they loved being physical, especially if they're you know sitting in front of the computer for you know the the thirty minutes that we tend to be with them, and then. There's a lot of different breathwork exercises. So perhaps one I think we just introduced called the Lion's Breath. That one is a favorite with the kids as well, because you get to make this roaring sound, which they always found fun. Even the high schoolers, despite their lack of visual enthusiasm, they, they would share later that they appreciated it.

And seems like people are thinking of more questions. So we have a few more. Do mantras come into play in this process?

Yeah, you can definitely— a mantra is a thought that you offer yourself that is much more positive in nature. And for certain, there's meditations you can do that are more mantra-focused. Based. Usually in yoga classes, the instructors offer you some kind of mantra throughout, throughout the practice. Certainly you can apply them anywhere. I would say with regards to the model, you do take a little bit of caution of trying to— when you're trying to change your mindset, trying to go to— because mantras tend to be you know, pretty positive, trying to go to something super positive when your habitual instinctual thought that you uncover is pretty negative, because the brain will also— it can't be fooled very easy. So if you try to offer it something, you know, the exact opposite, like 180-degree difference, you're going to find much more resistance. So I would say when you're doing like that mindset work to To think of it kind of as a ladder, you know, start recognizing where you are with the thought, and then perhaps, you know, 1% better or 10% better, not going the full 180 right away. Mantras are great, but if we're trying to use them to change our mindset, it could kind of thwart our efforts a little bit because It's almost unbelievable to the brain because for so long it's been thinking something rather opposite. I hope that makes sense.

Thank you. And we have a really positive comment about the presentation. Um, so I think that wraps up our Q&A. We'll hand it back over to Blakely.

Thank you, Roxanna, Shawna, and Corinne. What a great presentation and the perfect reminder as we head into December and the holiday chaos to just stay mindful. I think I need to go to CVS to get some sticky notes tonight. One of my favorite parts about Parallel are the people I get to work with. And so we have an incredible team of providers. A lot of you are here with us tonight, and we also have amazing clinical support. In addition to that, we have a rockstar recruiting team. So if you're not a provider, you know, we'd, we'd love to let you know that we are hiring and, you know, we encourage you to apply. Um, we also have a referral program and this referral program, I'm gonna put it, drop it in the chat right now. Um, but you can, there are 2 forms. One, if you're a provider, you can fill out that form. If you have friends, I know each of you probably can count 1 or 2 people, um, who, you know, who may be interested. Um, And we do compensate if you send a referral our way. So please, I encourage you to save these, the referral form links. And again, you can email your resume to hiring@parallelllearning.com or go to www.parallelllearning.com. Always remember, there's double L, double L. And then we can move on to the last slide. Last but not least, our raffle winner for this Session 3, an Amazon gift card goes to Christine Villanueva. Congratulations. Have a good evening. Goodbye.