Week 1: Discovering You

This first week will be spent reflecting on what you already know about yourself and what you like about your life right now. Before you start writing or thinking or doing anything on this journey of finding a happier version of you, find a quiet and comfortable spot that you enjoy being in. This could be sitting on your bed in your room, curled up in the most comfortable chair in the house, or lying on the floor in the family room. This should be someplace quiet, where you can sit without any other noise, people, pets, friends, phones, computers or anything else that can distract you.

Comfortable?  Good, now close your eyes; try not to think of any of the day’s activities, or your homework or anything else that might keep you from relaxing.  Now take a super deep breath in, and hold it while you count down from 3 to 0 in your mind. When you hit 0, blow all of your breath out, as much as you can.  To get the idea of how to do the breathing, think of blowing a balloon full of air, one that is so big you can barely get one arm around it once it is filled with your breath. Now in your mind, imagine holding the balloon up so you can see it full of air. What color of balloon do you see? It could be red, or blue, or green or yellow, any color that you like. Now, imagine letting go of the balloon, and pretend it is traveling around the room as all of the air is released from it until it collapses on the floor in front of you. 

Keeping the thought of the balloon in your mind, take a deep breath in again, hold it while you once again count down in your mind from 3 to 0. Exhale your breath again, trying to be as empty as the balloon you just imagined.  Good job.  Now breathe that same way two more times.  You should feel relaxed now and ready to begin. 

Every day before you start the next activity, make sure you stop and practice breathing with your eyes closed in a quiet spot.  This helps your body relax and your mind become alert and active.  You can think of it as removing all of the extra noise in your thoughts so you can just focus on the exercises for each day. If it helps, imagine that you are deleting words on a document so you have a blank page to begin working with in your mind.