Mental Meanderings — Community Outreach
Mental Meanderings is an opportunity to explore what we’ve learned about mental health— teach, learn, share experiences, or just walk with your community on the Ski Hill Trail in Soldotna, Alaska.
Our mission, is to bring ease to discussing mental health as well as exploring challenges, potential solutions, and general protocols to improve mental wellbeing, particularly in our unique Alaskan environment. We are looking for knowledgeable professionals who want to connect with their community, share their gifts, and reduce mental health stigmatization.
The idea is to meet on the first and last Saturday of each month, at 12pm— sharing/learning everything you can on the first Saturday, then following up and reflecting on any changes you’ve noticed/implemented in your life on the last Saturday. At the very least— enjoying a communal walk on a well maintained trailhead with kindred spirits who strive for positive change in our community.
Exercise
Meandering about various forms of movement, how we motivate ourselves to do so, and how exercise increases not only our physical strength but also our mental resilience.
Cold (Eustress) Exposure
Meandering about the ways that exposing our bodies to cold, heat,
and other bodily stressors can harden and strengthen us both
physically and mentally. First and last Saturday of December.
Focus & Attention
Meandering about the ways our mental focus ebbs and flows, how
we can harness and train that focus, and what might be hindering
our ability to pay attention.
Addiction (Self-Regulation)
Meandering about the ways that both unconscious and conscious
compulsions can keep us coming back to various substances and
activities that we may or may not want to continue interacting with.
Mental Programming (CBT)
Meandering about the ways we can change the way we react to
unhealthy thought patterns, Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS),
and other mental tricks we’ve learned along the way.
Mindfulness
Drawing on what we’ve learned about our body’s needs, our
somewhat limited attention spans, and our ability to improve both
our focus and resilience to home in on what being mindful really is
on a day to day, moment to moment, feeling to feeling basis.
Purpose
Meandering about the purpose of our lives, why it matters, and how
we can nurture or create purpose when we feel like we have none.
Diet
Meandering about nutritional needs and the various tools we use to maintain a healthy diet, how our diets effect our mental health, as well as sharing our favorite healthy cheat meals worth sharing.
Sleep
Meandering about the value in creating and maintaining good sleep habits as our midnight sun begins to dissipate.