Relaxation and Recreation Activities

Foreign.

I'd like to welcome everybody to today's presentation on relaxation and recreation activities.

If you did not know it, which I think most of us probably do already, there is an entire field called recreation therapy. And you can get certified as a recreation therapist.

So we're going to talk a little.

Bit about what recreation therapists do, but also how we can integrate relaxation and recreation activities into our treatment program and why it's important. Today.

We'Ll review the function of mindless.

Mindfulness and a variety of mindfulness techniques. We'll also explore mindlessness. We'll explore the concept of relaxation and recreation and identify some different methods for relaxation and recreation.

I'm not going to spend a whole.

Lot of time on theory. I really want to get to the nuts and bolts of what can we do with our clients? What we can, can we have our clients do, and what can we do with groups? Especially if you work in a residential or an IOP setting, there are a lot of different activities that we're going to talk about that can be very enjoyable. I guess.

Mindfulness, as most of you know, is just being aware of your current state.

Emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually. How do you feel? What do you need? When we are stress, stressed out, a lot of times we are in this emotional mind. We are in this autopilot. We are just acting to try to eliminate distress. We are really not mindful of the big picture of what's going on, which means because we're stressed, we tend to have tunnel vision. You know, we talked about that in several classes. When our HPA axis is activated, our main focus is fight or flight, flee. When we are mindful, we are able to take a breath and stop and use some different activities, distress tolerance or whatever. Some of them may be relaxation or.

Recreation, in order to help us turn.

Down that HPA axis or that threat response system. So we can get into our wise mind and we can make decisions based on a broader array of information because we're getting rid of that tunnel vision. Think about, I've started doing crossword puzzles again lately, and it gets so frustrating to me sometimes that I'll be doing a crossword puzzle and I know the answer. I It's right on the tip of my tongue, and golly, I cannot think of it to save my life. And I've learned with crossword puzzles that, you know, sometimes it's better to move on instead of getting all frustrated about not being able to solve the current issue, not getting all frustrated about the current problem. Because as you get frustrated, your tunnel Vision starts in and it's harder to pull on some of those areas from your, from your brain.

A lot of that is what we're.

Going to talk about today.

Now, art therapy is a way of.

Using certain types of activities in order to help people delve deeper into understanding some of their issues.

Relaxation and recreation is, are really designed.

To help people get a mental and physical break from stress as well as to increase self efficacy and positive feelings and positive chemicals. Mindlessness allows people to ignore minor stress until it adds up to a meltdown.

If you're going, and a lot of.

People do this, they just go on autopilot all the time. They get up, they eat breakfast, they go to work, they come home, they go to sleep and repeat. And they're not thinking about is my life meaningful? Am I getting overly stressed? Am I starting to add stress into my little bank?

Think about stress.

Sometimes I have, have clients think, create a piggy bank if you will. And they put their stressors in that each day. And the ones that they deal with, they can take out. And the ones that they haven't dealt with, obviously they leave in there. And we see how long it takes for that stress piggy bank to get to the point where it's overflowing. And I want them to recognize that, you know, just because we are not thinking about a particular stressor at the moment doesn't mean it's not still impacting us if we haven't dealt with it.

We want to encourage people to put.

Stimuli things in the environment that are going to trigger them to, to do mindless, mindful activities, trigger them to reflect on their day, trigger them to do relaxation and recreation activities. For example, if one of their activities is yoga, having a yoga mat rolled up in the corner or having a place where they go to do yoga, that can prompt them to remember to do that. I know for me, I'm, I'm really bad about getting caught up in work stuff and I can forget to go to the gym. So we'll talk about adding cues. For me, I have a push notification, an alarm on my phone that tells me, hey, get your butt up and go to the gym. And that reminds me to take a break.

In order to help people increase their.

Mindfulness and increase their awareness of what.

They need and become more in touch.

With how they're feeling so they can prevent getting as stressed out and they can recognize, you know what, I need a break right now. They can practice using a body scan, just going from head to toe. I like going top to bottom. Because I envision pushing stress out my toes, but going from head to toe, noticing where the stress is, noticing where there's pain or where there's discomfort. Because all of those things, even if it's just minor and can add up to stress and that stress is going to ramp up that threat response system, that HPA axis, and make it more difficult to think clearly as well as contribute to a variety of stress related illnesses.

Mindful breathing is another one, and that.

Is like the easiest one of all.

When you breathe in, I like to.

Put my hand on my belly when I do it, but you don't have to. When you inhale, you feel your belly expand, you feel the air coming into your lungs, you notice how it feels, the temperature. If you're inhaling through your nose, you're noticing smells as well. Hold that breath, notice what it feels like to hold that breath and then slowly exhale, noticing as you exhale. And I generally when I'm inhaling, I'm thinking in with the good air, out with the bad air, or out with the stress.

People can do mindful observation, just focusing.

On a specific object. I think most of us when we were younger sat by a candle or a campfire or a fireplace at some point and just watched the flames flicker. You know, being mindful just of that one thing in the moment is giving our brain a break from being stressed. It's not thinking about those stressful things, it's just calming down and focusing on this one thing.

Environmental awareness is another thing that we.

Can do, just taking a moment and opening our awareness to what's going on, what's in the environment, what does it feel like, what's the temperature, what do we smell, what do we hear instead of being in our heads so much and getting out and noticing the birds, the, the clouds, the sunshine, whatever you're noticing.

Mindful awareness encourages people to think before they act. And we want to encourage people to.

Notice how they're feeling and figure out what is the best way I can react to how I'm feeling now to improve the next moment.

And mindful appreciation is kind of a relaxation activity, encouraging people to notice five.

Things in their day that usually go unappreciated, like somebody holding the door for them, or the fact that, hey, it's a sunny day or there's a cool.

Breeze, or things that we take for.

Granted and it doesn't have to be something someone else does. But being appreciative for things that, you know, normally we may not even notice can help people become more Grounded and more aware in the present moment.

Four by four is another activity.

Have people identify what four things that they see, four things they hear, four things they can touch, and four things they smell.

Tactful mindfulness encourages people.

Or tactile, not tactful. Tactile mindfulness encourages people to notice sensations. They can pinch themselves if they want. That's not my choice. Holding an ice cube encourages people to become aware of how that feels in the moment. Petting a cat, noticing how soft the cat's fur feels. You know, just being very aware of what you're feeling.

Tactile mindfulness can also help people tune.

In to how they deal with pain by identifying what emotions are arising. When they're feeling pain, you know, that's tactile. They're feeling it. So what emotions are arising and how can they deal with it? Is it anger? Is it grief? Is it frustration? Is it anxiety? There are a lot of different emotions that surround pain. So being aware of how we respond to those feelings is really important.

The I and you exercise is also.

Another mindfulness activity, and it's not so much for relaxation and recreation, but it.

Is helpful to have people practice this.

So when they start doing group recreation activities and group relaxation, that they are owning their feelings and respecting other people's boundaries.

Encourage people to spend a day, you.

Know, just today's Tuesday, you know, spend.

All day tomorrow noticing how often you.

Use the word I in a sentence. I feel, I am, I will.

And paying attention to how often they.

Use the word you in a sentence in blaming, directing, or accusatory fashions. You made me feel you didn't do this.

Or whether they're using it in an.

Inquiring, compassionate fashion, such as, you seem distressed, you seem depressed today. Would you like to talk about what's going on? Give me just a second. Okay.

Another activity that people can do is cause and effect. Encourage people to play out the story for everything that they do for a.

Given period of time. So thinking about, you know, today, I.

Got out of bed this morning because.

I, you know, was excited to come in and do some research on a particular topic. And, you know, I really enjoy the days that I get to interact with you guys. So Tuesdays and Thursdays are. I'm really motivated to get out of bed.

So the effect of.

The effect of me getting out of bed in order to do research and come to work and being excited about.

It is that I'm happier today.

You know, it started off my day well, when I got out of bed for things that I was looking forward.

To encourage people to identify I did this because. And how that affected you.

You know, I yelled at somebody who cut me off in traffic because I.

Felt like they were rude.

The effect of this on me is draining my energy. Probably not a useful way to use my energy.

Encouraging people to play through things like.

That and really look at how they're spending their energy throughout the day.

Another mindfulness activity that can be fun.

Especially for families or couples, is the devil's advocate. Mindfulness activity.

Have the person act as if they.

Believe the opposite of what they believe about something, or take the other person's perspective, make a note of how they feel and new perspectives that they gain. Encouraging people to expand their awareness can also be part of a mindfulness activity. When, you know, little kids are playing on the playground and one kid takes another kid's ball or shoves him off the swing or something, especially young children are very egocentric and they have difficulty taking other people's perspectives.

So when you say, how do you.

Think that made Johnny feel when you did that? The little kid may honestly look at you with this blank look, like, I don't know.

If you instead ask him, how would.

You feel if Johnny did that to you? Oh, they can connect with that.

So if they take. Put their themselves in the other person's.

Shoes, or in the case of something that's more esoteric, they just argue the opposite side. It will help them gain insight into how other people are perceiving things. And that goes a long way in as far as activities. If you want to think about in recovery, for example, families have often lost a lot of trust. So examining, you know, devil's advocate, why might this person not believe me that I wasn't using. It can also be a great activity for social justice, encouraging people to take the opposite perspective of what they believe.

So once we encourage people and we.

Help them learn how to become mindful and notice when they're getting stressed out and figure that, you know, it's, I'm.

A lot more productive and I'm a.

Lot happier when I'm not stressed out. We need to help them figure out how to do that. And I default a lot of times to Coven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective people because he talks in there sometimes. Or one of the things is about in beginning with the end in mind, recognizing that the end is happiness and a rich and meaningful life. So beginning with that in mind, what choices do I want to make?

But also sharpen the saw is another.

One that he talks About a lot.

And that's recognizing that sometimes it's better.

To take a break and actually relax.

A lot of people in our culture feel very guilty when they are taking.

A break from different things or when they're not doing something or when they're allowing thems to relax.

So it's really important to help them realize that relaxation is important.

And the past couple classes we've talked about the warm bath with stress being the hot water and relaxation and those sorts of things being the cold water.

So it becomes more of a warm.

Comfortable bath instead of something that's going to burn you.

When we encourage people to relax, we're helping them relieve their mind and body.

Of stress, tension, anxiety, and helping them.

Restore that equilibrium so the bath isn't too hot, not too cold either, but not too hot. We want to let their body naturally rebalance itself.

When that HPA axis, that threat response system is turned down, when it's, you know, not reactive, then the neurochemicals naturally rebalance themselves for the person emotionally.

People can increase pleasant cues in their.

Environment to help them relax.

Think about an environment that would be.

Completely relaxing to you.

What would you hear?

What different types of music? Birds, silence, A waterfall? What do you want to hear in the background?

You might not be able to get that where you're at.

If you live in the middle of New York City, you're probably not going to hear birds chirping and a babbling brook. But you can get soundtracks and you can also get. I mean, TVs have gotten so amazing in clarity anymore. You can get DVDs, videos, or even YouTube. YouTube doesn't have quite the visual clarity as some other things do of those different things.

So you can actually have a big.

Screen TV on the wall that has a picture of a waterfall and you can hear the water running. That's what some people do when they have offices in the city or underground or, you know, in an interior area where they want to have a little bit of nature kind of in their area.

So think about the sounds and the sights that you want in your environment.

What colors, what kinds of pictures do.

You care much about?

Organization? How. How much do you care about having stuff around? Some people love to be surrounded by tons of pictures and knickknacks and collectibles and things because it reminds them of happy times. Other people get overwhelmed by that much input and they want something that is a cleaner presentation, whatever it is for you. And what sites can you do or what things can you do in your environment to promote A sense of, of safety. And you may think sights and safety.

Well, you want to be able to.

See that the door is locked. When I go to a hotel, you know, I always put that little metal bar over so the door can't be opened.

And I can look over there and.

I can see that it's locked and I can say, okay, you know, I'm safe at night, especially if I'm in, in the city and not, you know, out in the, out in the country. Closing the blinds at night because you know, at night you see your reflection and you can't see what's out there and everybody can see in and it's kind of creepy, or at least I find it that way. I like to know what's out there. So at night I close my blinds, I close my curtains, whatever it is.

That helps people feel safe. Temperature and texture are also important. You want to have a good temperature.

So you're not sweating, so you're not too cold. That will help you feel relaxed. Because when your body temperature is not where it should be, that HPA axis kicks off. So what is a relaxing temperature for you?

Bless their hearts.

In my house, you know, I like cold. So over the winter, you know, I.

Keep it where I like it and.

Everybody else just has to put on layers.

But temperature is something that really can.

Make people stressed out.

Even infants, when they get too hot.

Or too cold, what do they do?

They cry.

As far as texture is concerned, think about what you want to wear. I know there are some times I love during the winter again is cold.

And I can wear the soft fuzzy sweaters. Love those things.

I like the feel of them.

Or you know, thinking about the texture.

Of things that are against your skin and how that makes you feel. Those are all things that you can.

Think about for very subtle ways to improve relaxation. And somewhere in there feel sites, I.

Don'T know where you want to stick it is ergonomics.

You're going to be more relaxed if.

You are not in pain and smell. For some people it's crisp air, like opening the windows.

For other people, aromatherapy. Some people like incense, whatever it is that you like.

For smells now where you are, you know, if you're at work, for example, you may not be able to have strong scents.

That's okay.

You know, if you're in one of.

Those scent free zones, that's all right. You can keep scents on a cotton.

Ball, in a little Ziploc baggie, in your backpack, in your briefcase, whatever, and.

Just take a whiff every once in.

A while and then zip it back up so you don't have to have either. Or you can have access to some smells even in a scent free environment.

And it's a fun thing to do with these different things for relaxation to.

Have clients brainstorm what types, for example.

What types of pleasant cues can they.

Put in their environment that would help them feel happy, relaxed or, you know, creative.

Cognitively encourage people to take time each.

Day, even if it's just two minutes to just be. And that goes with that mindfulness, opening.

Their attention to how they are in.

The moment, not thinking about it, not judging it, just radically accepting how they are. Using guided imagery can help people relax. And I did last Saturday I did a live video presentation on, on YouTube on different ways or kind of a quick start guide to different ways you could use guided imagery.

Relaxation is one of them.

And you can imagine, you know, you can use guided imagery and envision your muscles relaxing. You can envision, you know, getting a massage. You can envision the color blue, for example, which is a cooling color just gradually wafting over your body and cooling down, cooling your body down and helping your muscles relax.

There are a lot of different ways.

You can use guided imagery for relaxation.

You can read something that's enjoyable and non stressful or learn a new hobby. It does take energy to learn a new hobby, but it does help you relax.

And we're going to talk more about hobbies. When we get down to recreation.

For physical relaxation. This is what we typically think of when we think of relaxation. When we relax physically, we're helping ourselves.

To relieve pain and muscular imbalances and regulate blood flow.

We're opening up all of those energy.

Pathways, if you will.

Stretching, massage, hot tubs, progressive muscular relaxation.

And even breath work can help us focus physically relax.

Remember, when you slow your breathing, your.

Heart rate is naturally going to slow.

When your heart rate slows down, that.

Also turns down your HPA axis.

So that can be all of those things can be helpful and encouraging people.

To remember whether they're, if they're stretching, you know, it's not just down and back. You don't want to bounce, you want to go down, you want to hold for at least a count of eight.

Same thing with breath work.

When you breathe, it's not just, you know, hyperventilating deep breaths like you do in the doctor's office when they're listening to your chest, you want to breathe in for four or eight, hold for a period of time and exhale. I generally say 4 in 4 hold 4 out because most people can do that without much distress. Some people like to do 8, 8 and 8. Whatever works for you.

Socially, social environments that promote calm, tranquility.

And happiness can help us relax.

What that is for you is partly going to depend on your temperament and your history. If you've got a lot of trauma.

History, you may not want to be at a nightclub where there's like hundreds of people around and you're getting bumped and all that kind of stuff.

What kind of social environments help you.

Feel calm, where you can connect with yourself because, you know, being your own best friend is definitely really important, but.

Also connect with other people. Extroverts will probably tend to be more.

Relaxed in, you know, a group.

Even when I go to the library, you know, especially when I was in college, I used to love to leave.

My dorm because I was all by myself and I felt isolated and go to the library. I found it more relaxing to study.

At the library just because there were.

Other people around, not because I was even talking to them.

Encouraging people to think about social environments.

That promote calm in them.

Laughter is a great tool for promoting.

The release of endorphins, the release of serotonin, and just overall relaxation. When we get a good belly laugh, we're also increasing oxygenation throughout our body, which can help improve energy and mental clarity as well. So laughter actually is really good medicine.

Encourage people to do things or look at things or do something that makes.

Them laugh each day. And this is where social can be helpful. My daughter, every night when we're, you know, at dinner, she is showing me things that she saw on the dodo or somewhere else that made her laugh. And you know, she shows them to me and of course they make me laugh most of the time. So that is one way that laughter actually can be relaxing as well as social. People who are judgers on the Myers Briggs tend to not like surprises and need to plan for particular events.

So socially it's going to be more.

Relaxing for them if they know that two weekends from now we're going to go to on the lake on John's boat. You know, they can plan for that and that's something they can look forward to. And that is.

It gives them something.

To be excited to about, but it also relieves any stress because people who are strong on that J component have difficulty with spontaneity.

On the other hand, people who are.

Perceivers, who are more spontaneous love surprises and they get really excited and prefer not to have to exert the mental energy of planning Everything out. They like to fly by the seat of their pants, so to speak.

When you think about your personal preferences.

And social interactions and things that you do, you know, thinking about whether it's, you need a lot of advance notice and you need to plan it out in order for it to be relaxing or if you'd rather just get up.

Environmentally encouraging people, and we talked about this a little bit already, encouraging people to look at the colors, sites, light levels, temperature locations, sounds, and the organizational.

Level that encourages them to feel relaxed in their environment. Or what can you do?

You may not be able to do.

It in your whole house or in the whole organization that you work for, but is there a little corner somewhere that you can make your very own?

So let's move on to recreation because recreation is, like I said, there is.

A whole field of recreation therapy.

But recreation and relaxation sometimes go hand in hand, but not always. You know, meditation can be recreation, but.

It is probably more relaxation. So there's some overlap. Recreation really helps people have fun and maybe connect socially.

Current literature supports the comprehensive health benefits.

Of exposure to nature and green environments on human systems.

Nature therapy is recommended for reducing the.

Modern day stress state and what they termed technostress.

Green space exposure reduced mortality, heart rate.

And violence and improved attention, mood and physical activity. In several different studies, and in one.

That looked specifically at children and adolescents.

It was found that green space exposure was especially helpful with children that had hyper, hyperactivity and inattention problems. So that green space, when you're out there in a, in nature, it can help people actually calm down a little bit.

They don't exactly understand why, but they.

Have found that parks, it doesn't have to be going out into the woods somewhere, even just going to a park that's a green space that has, you know, birds and trees and stuff, and the person is unplugged, you know, they're not walking around with their nose in their iPad can be really helpful.

Recreation is different from art therapy in that it is not designed to delve into past issues. It's beneficial to the individual because it.

Decreases cortisol and stress chemical levels and it increases relaxation chemicals.

It helps sometimes distract people from problems so they can enhance clarity.

Kind of like me and my crossword puzzles.

It can increase wonder and awe when people are outside in nature doing recreation.

Or even maybe they go to a. Some sort of sporting event and they see, you know, people who are at top of their game, so to speak, performing. And it's just awe inspiring.

When we do that, we're focused on.

What they're doing and that, that sense.

Of wonder and it also increases self esteem and self efficacy when we are.

Doing things and we look back and.

We go hey, that was fun.

And I didn't, or I didn't know I could do that or look how, how well I've progressed in doing these things. Recreation can really help people, you know, enhance their self confidence.

So individual recreation activities. One thing you can do is just the simple old Alphabet list.

You can put it on the board that's. I find that to be a little bit boring. I usually go around the group and we go through the Alphabet and whatever letter somebody gets, they have to identify some sort of recreation activity that they could do. So obviously Q X Z. Some of those are a little bit more dip. Actually Z is not. Z is usually go to the zoo.

But some, some of the letters are.

A little bit more challenging to do. But it can be fun to kind of see what people come up with.

Some of the activities going on a.

Nature walk can help people, you know, unplug. You know, it's that bathing in, bathing in nature, if you will, and just becoming more grounded and more aware of the environment.

Gardening, whether it's gardening for food or.

Making a meditation garden can be very relaxing and it can be recreating also some of these things like nature walks and gardening.

Get it, get us outside so we're.

Getting more vitamin D which contribute to improved mood and improved health.

Meditation, yoga and martial arts are all physical recreation things that you can do.

In progressively, you know, more active modes, if you will. Yoga is slow. It's definitely taxing on the person, but it is a slow, controlled thing. And a lot of people report increased self esteem not only by being able to do things, you know, learning how to do different yoga poses they couldn't when they started, but also because it.

Increases their self awareness as well as.

Their coordination and their esteem and a lot of other stuff. There's tons of research on the benefits of yoga.

Martial arts can be anything from, from.

Karate to Tai chi to taekwondo. There's definitely a lot of mastery and focus and introspection doing those sorts of.

Things, but they can be very recreational. The nice thing with those things is.

They can be done individually and or as part of groups.

Sports and exercise are things again that.

Can be done as part of a group or individually.

There's a lot of research that has.

Shown that exercise, you know, actually doing sports or exercise increases serotonin levels as well as oxygenation.

And if you're enjoying what you're doing.

Then you're increasing all kinds of other happy chemicals like dopamine. So, you know, you've got lots of bonuses there.

Dancing is another thing.

Art can be painting, drawing, crocheting, woodworking.

There are a lot of different forms of art.

When I worked in residential, a lot of times I'd work with clients and.

I'd say, well, what is it that.

You enjoy doing when you're. When you're sober? And they look at me and go, I have no idea.

So I encouraged the clients to identify.

One thing each day to try and, you know, of the offerings that we had at. At the clinic to start identifying things that they like. I mean, we had a volleyball court, we had a nature trail.

We had art.

Art classes and an art room they could go to.

There were a lot of different things they could try out to start reconnecting.

And figure out, you know, what is.

It that I really enjoy doing. And it's not just people who are in recovery. There are a lot of us who.

Have been on autopilot for so long. You know, we've been focused on being a caregiver and an employee or a student for so long that we really weren't stepping outside of that role for recreation.

So sometimes we need to take a.

Step back and say, all work and no play is not a good thing.

Music can be. Listening to music.

I love listening to music and kind of getting in the zone with different.

Playlists, performing music or singing. Sometimes just singing out loud to myself at the house. You know, sing like nobody's listening.

Thank. Thank.

Thankfully, it's fun and it's enjoyable for me. Play with your animals or animals at the pound.

Animals are so loving and so appreciative of attention, whether you're playing with your own or if you can't have your.

Own for some reason. There are a lot of animal shelters.

That will let you walk the dogs or play with the cats, you know, on your lunch break or, you know, on the weekend or whatever. You just have to arrange it ahead of time.

Go to a museum, a gallery, or an arboretum.

In Nashville, they have the Grand Old Opry. There's an arboretum there that's huge. I get lost every time I go in it. But it. They have waterfalls and they have an indoor canal that has a little boat that goes through it and everything.

And it's very relaxing.

It's a wonderful place to go, like in the middle of the winter or in the middle of the summer when it's too nasty outside. You don't want to spend a lot of time out there. You can go into the arboretum and it's just this huge indoor green space that is beautiful.

Movies, watching them, you know, that's not.

The most recreation intensive thing.

But sometimes it's about relaxing and enjoying.

If you're watching a movie, you know, a comedy, for example, that can be very recreational and relaxing.

Reading at home, reading a book, or even going to the library.

I'm one of those people, I love to go to the library and just look at the different books that are there. I can spend hours at a library. Boating or kayaking can be enjoyable for people. I grew up in Florida and I grew up on the water. So just listening to the waves lap against the side of the boat, even if it's a dinghy or a kayak or a rowboat, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I'm not that picky. But hearing, hearing the water is extremely relaxing. And being out boating or kayaking, again, you're getting that vitamin D. Cooking is.

Another thing that people can do for recreation. You can. Instead of making the same old same.

Old, you can learn how to cook a new dish every single day.

And this encourages those creative juices.

It encourages people to become more aware of taste sensations. It increases self esteem and self efficacy. Just about any hobby can really increase people's sense of self confidence, which is why recreation therapy or recreation activities are.

A really important part of recovery. It's not just about helping people relax. It's helping people recognize what they can.

Do and increase that sense of self esteem and efficacy.

And finally, volunteering. You know, you don't have to have.

Six people to go volunteer. There are generally, I think it's volunteer.org now. There are a lot of different websites that you can go on to find different volunteering activities in your area.

And again, there are volunteering activities for introverts as well as extroverts. Extroverts may like something like Habitat for.

Humanity where there's lots of people working on a house.

Introverts may like going to a state.

Park and cleaning up garbage or pulling out the invasive species that have started popping up.

Whatever it is that you enjoy, there's.

Probably some sort of volunteer activity for it.

Activities that increase interpersonal interaction are rarely.

Effective at remediating loneliness because many people have trouble making meaningful social connections without support. Think about depression, addiction, grief, or even dementia.

When we are working with clients that.

Have these issues, you know, they may have a sense of loneliness or isolation. And it's important to help Them develop.

A sense of connection.

That is an important thing for humans. We have that whole hormone oxytocin, our.

Bonding chemical for a reason.

You know, we are not meant to be hermits.

We want to help people make meaningful social connections in a supportive environment.

So.

They are connecting with people who.

Get it, you know, and, and teaching empathy is not something that, you know, a lot of people are really interested in, in learning about, but which is why support groups can be very helpful to increase interpersonal interaction.

But there are also a lot of.

Activities that we can do to help people feel more connected and increase their communication because it they focus on helping people communicate and connect over something mutually agreed upon, mutually agreed upon goals or issues or ideas as opposed to trying to make small talk and say, you know, hey, what did you do this weekend? Do we have any shared interests? I don't know. That's difficult for a lot of people.

Activities that promote what they call social.

Productivity is based on the notion of reciprocity where planning and contributing are included, as well as benefiting from the relationship.

When we're socially productive, we're involved in.

A give and take relationship and we feel integral to that relationship.

And that has a positive effect on.

Resilience, health and well being.

In these social productivity relationships, there's less.

Emphasis on me having to try to make you like me versus our we're going to talk about our shared goals and interests. It gives us something to talk about.

And that is a lot more beneficial.

For people who have difficulty discussing things. For example, somebody with dementia, you know, may have an easier time with social productivity where they're talking with someone about something that they're doing right now about planting a plant or planning some sort of event for the afternoon.

Social productivity and peer support are pillars for recovery and well being from everything.

From anxiety, addiction, depression, dementia, weight loss, grief resolution.

We want to recognize that even healthy.

People need social productivity and peer support.

Remembering or defining peers as others with similar issues or goals. So peer support doesn't necessarily mean, you know, somebody else who's depressed. Peer support can mean somebody else who likes hiking.

And when I go hiking, ideally that's somebody else who has a much better feel for land navigation than I do because I get lost easy. So we can synergize, as Covey would say.

So what can we do? Art therapy. In terms of recreation, we want to.

Focus on how can this activity incorporate planning, contributing and peer support.

One activity that people can do is art therapy to enhance family communication. They can create a family flag or a gratitude tree. And when they hang their gratitude leaf on the gratitude tree, they share with.

The family what they were grateful for that day.

And that can be a ritual that.

Everybody does at the end of the day, before bed, at dinner time, whatever.

And family flags or group flags can.

Also be really fun.

And they can. The nice thing with these things is.

They can involve people of all ages.

You know, people, children who are four.

Or five can contribute just as much as, you know, grandparents.

Normalize and provide peer support for shared experiences by doing things like a trauma quilt and the trauma quilt that we used to do in Florida.

Each person made their own square for the trauma quilt and it got added to the squares everybody else created. And we did this through the Office of Victim Services and created this big.

Quilt to represent not only the trauma.

Experiences, but also the surviving of those experiences and the strength that came out of those experiences.

Another thing families can do is to.

Create a photo, blanket or book. And this one's really fun because you.

Go through different pictures that you have and talk about the fun experiences.

You know, you can have a family photo book of the best events or the best things of 2020. And each person contributes their own pictures.

To that photo book and shares with.

The family, recounts for the family why they that was one of their highlighted moments of the year.

And then you get that printed out.

And you have that to go back and look over all of the time.

In nature as groups or as families. You can go out on nature walks.

And just practice being mindful noticing the different types of trees that you're walking past.

You can just walk in nature for stress reduction, not even focusing on noticing.

Anything but clearing your mind and just being aware of the moment.

Or you can take a little more.

Active stance and, you know, as a group and get involved in some sort of conservation activity. You know, you can go bird watching and build bird boxes for a particular type of bird like the. We call them chicken hawks, like kestrels. Kestrel boxes are really needed as well as bluebird boxes.

And that's a great activity for people.

To get involved in because they're contributing, they're planning, they're talking, they're sharing experiences around something that they're all passionate about. And it doesn't have anything to do with the stresses of their daily lives.

You can also do community gardens.

I love these because they can help.

Teepee, teach people self sufficiency, how to.

Grow their own, grow their own food if. And you have some master gardeners out there and some beginners and they can teach one another and share. You can also share your harvest at the end of the season. So those can all be fun things.

And when you're out there weeding or tending, you're also. People also tend to talk to one.

Another and share anecdotes or whatever you want. Tips for how to, for example, control the aphids on the tomato plants.

You can also. And people also benefit from community gardens by enhanced nutrition.

They're. They have the possibility, if they do it organically, of getting organic produce that is fresh.

As soon as you pick something off.

The plant, it starts losing nutrient value.

So the faster you get it to.

Your mouth from the plant, the more nutrients that you're going to get out of it.

So that's.

Those are some benefits of community gardens.

You can also do meditation gardens and you know, not everybody's into digging in.

The dirt and all that kind of.

Stuff, but you can also have cute.

Little decorations in meditation gardens. You can make these up here in the right corner that have use little tiny. Or you can use bigger terracotta pots.

Plant paint them and then write words.

On them that represent something that you want to think about. In these. I have children. Health. Those are things that I'm grateful for. You could put something on it like hope, faith, courage, love, you know, whatever.

It is that you want people to.

Think about when they're in the garden and they see the little terracotta mushrooms, if you will, interspersed throughout the plants.

So there are things that people who.

Are not into getting down and dirty and digging can do to help decorate and design what it's going to look.

Like at treatment centers or even if.

It'S an outpatient clinic.

If there is a place that people.

Can make more relaxing, you know, maybe they decide that there's a patio, what the smoking patio or what used to be the smoking patio that has some green space around it that they can plant some flowers and make it more of a harmonious space that people can sit at and enjoy nature for the moment, adding bird baths or wind chimes.

There are a lot of different things.

That people can do and this is where that planning and contributing comes in because you'll have people with lots of different ideas of what they'd want to see, hear and smell in that particular area.

This is a great activity also for.

Residential facilities, whether it's long term care facility for people with dementia, for example. They've shown tons of positive research on gardening and green space in helping people with dementia feel happier and stay more cognitively present.

Music is another thing and we talked about it a little bit with individual. You can make themed playlist music playlists.

And share them with the group. So one activity that I do with my group sometimes is, you know, we'll.

Be talking about recovering from a breakup.

For example, and that may have been the topic for the day. And I'll ask them to bring songs or make a small playlist and bring it back with them the next time. That share some songs that are good to listen to when you're getting through a breakup. One, songs that show strength and, you know, courage and all that kind of stuff.

You can have people identify a song that has lyrics that are meaningful to.

Them and share them with the group, whether it's at dinner with the family.

Or with your therapy group, having them.

Identify a song that has, you know.

Even if it's just the chorus that.

Is meaningful to them and explain to the group why it's meaningful so it.

Becomes meaningful to other people.

And people can talk about, oh, yeah, I've heard that song, or I love.

That song, or have you heard this song? So again, you're not talking about the person. You're talking about a shared interest, and.

That encourages that sense of community and that encourages the reciprocity in the relationships.

And performing, even karaoke, can be recreational. Some people, it takes them a little.

While to warm up, to feel confident, to do karaoke.

But once they start doing it, some people love it, some people hate it.

You know, I'm not going to push anybody to do it.

But sometimes performing is something that is very therapeutic.

There's a residential program called Cumberland Heights that's on the other side of Nashville.

And they have an entire music therapy.

Wing where they've got tons of different instruments. Obviously, being in, you know, Nashville, there are a lot of people who have musical inclinations that are in treatment. So that works really well for them. They can share. They can have little jam sessions together.

Something that is helping them develop their.

Interpersonal skills, develop a sense of mutuality and support without having to focus all day, every day on their, quote, issues.

Community classes and meetups are also great. We want people to develop support systems outside of therapy. Or people who aren't in therapy need support systems.

And as they transition, maybe they move or they're transitioning to a different phase in life. I turned in my daughter's final gray report. So she's my. Both my children have officially graduated from high school. Now. I was sad yesterday, but anyway, I digress.

Sometimes when we switch phases in life, there are.

We have new interests and community classes. Most community colleges, some four year colleges offer different types of community classes. Everything from, you know, accounting basics to exercise to learning Spanish to cooking.

There are a lot of things and they're generally really affordable and it allows.

You to interact with other people on.

A topic that you all share an.

Interest in so you're not having to make that painful small talk which is, you know, where that support comes in.

And by engaging in the class you're.

Developing a skill which enhances self esteem and efficacy. And it's just a win win.

Meetups are another place that you can.

Go on meetup.com and, and look for different meetups in your area on things that interest you.

For people who are more introverted, I.

Will note that a lot of meetups they may have, you know, 5,000 people in the meetup group but a lot of times with the meetups, you know, only a small number of people attend and you can see who's attending by who's RSVP'd.

So if you are more of an.

Introvert and you want a smaller group, you can just RSVP to the smaller, you know, activities where only, you know, four or five people are going.

Drama clubs can be really fun.

There are. My boss's husband, when I was in college was an actor. He was in a community, community theater group and he just loved it.

This was his recreation and he was.

Able to, you know, find himself in, in many different ways through acting and.

That was fun for him in treatment.

Team based War and Families Team based board games can also increase communication.

Now it can go the other way.

And increase competition which you know, can sometimes get ugly. But if it can be done in.

In fun and light hearted and in a light hearted way, games like Pictionary.

Taboo, Charades, Family Feud, any of those games where teams work together to find the answers again increases.

Talking, collaboration, communication and generally laughter and finally fundraising or cause support. This can be another one where it actually it's work but it can be fun.

If you're really in, you know, interested in something, raising money for.

Saving foster.

Animals or something, you can get together.

With a group who is similarly passionate and figure out things to do.

You can plan a fundraiser like around here we have something called Pedal for Paws which raises money for one of the spay neuter clinics. And it's a, it's a bike race thing.

5Ks. There are a lot of different things.

But that draws on people's marketing abilities or willingness. Some, some people will need to have some art skills that they can contribute. Some people will need to have more.

Other skills.

You know, there are a variety of skills that are needed for creating some sort of fundraising campaign, but it can.

Be if again, you don't get too.

Stressed out about it, it can be.

Something fun where it's sort of recreation.

Because it's something you're passionate about, but it's not work.

Mindfulness involves increasing awareness of our emotional.

Mental and physical selves.

It helps us develop an understanding of.

External stimuli that influences us internally.

Relaxation is a technique used to restore.

Equilibrium after a period of stress. We're helping turn that HPA axis down.

As clients increase their self awareness, they're.

More able or more easily able to identify signs of distress earlier so they can intervene.

And they can also identify when they're.

Just kind of feeling blah, when they need to add a little pep. It's not just about eliminating the bad, it's also about adding in the positive. They can they're going to be more.

Able to implement relaxation strategies to prevent dysregulation and they'll be more aware of their own stress triggers and effective interventions. Recreation is used to increase self efficacy and positive feelings in people, as well.

As enhance communication and reduce loneliness between individuals.

Are there any questions? One of my favorite things to do with laughter is to go to YouTube.

And find some of those videos of babies that are laughing. You know that great belly laugh that babies do. And there's one, there's this little kid that just laughs hysterically whenever the person tears paper. And you can't help like Sarah was.

Sharing, when you hear somebody else laughing.

Sometimes you can't help but start laughing. So yeah, that's one of my little tricks.

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