Here is a collection/book of poems I wrote for my stress management technique. This year, I originally used music therapy, but decided to try poetry as a form of emotional expression. With poetry, I am able to transfer stress to paper and turn negative thoughts into positive creations. Instead of keeping them on lined paper, I chose seven poems and created digital prints out of them so that they are legible and a little more creative. So far, I find that poetry therapy has been beneficial for mitigating my stress and I will continue to use poetry as well as other stress management techniques in my future. I hope you enjoy!

Visualization and Mental Imagery was prepared by:

Emily
Emma
Braydon
Chloe

My previous self-care activity was watercolour painting and my new practice is meditation, after it was introduced in class. This is why, for my creative piece I painted with watercolour (and ink) with the word ‘mediation’ in mind. I tend to have a perfectionistic mindset, but for some reason, when I am painting with watercolour, I allow myself to make mistakes and relax. This form of art therapy designates a time for me to slow down my thoughts and put a picture to the chaos. Before NURS 180, I thought meditation was simply ridding your mind of all thoughts, but after experiencing guided meditation, I understood this was not the case and that I particularly enjoyed it. Meditation has become part of my daily routine and I find that afterwards my mind is clear and I am energized. This is symbolized by the halo of light and bright colours used in the painting. I hope you enjoy! 🙂

Hi everyone!

For my creative component I have made a video containing some of my favourite moments spent in nature. I love being outside and have found that hiking, running, and spending time outdoors has improved my mental health greatly. My favourite activity to do when I am feeling overwhelmed or stressed is go for a sail in Vancouver’s beautiful harbour. Spending time doing this with my friends will always put a smile on my face and allow me to escape reality for a couple hours. 2 weeks ago I went on a sunset sail with two of my close friends and watched the most beautiful sunset (as shown in the video). I recommend anyone feeling stressed to spend some moments outside and breathe in the fresh air, and never forget there is so much to be thankful for. 

I decided to compose a Zine for the creative component of this assignment. The Zine is ten pages long with the first page covering the introduction and table of contents. This zine collection is a mixture of my stressors in life both from the past and present, and some of the creative problem-solving techniques that I have exercised in the past to help in adversity. A few pages of the Zine contain UBC resources that are readily available to support me during a physical and emotional challenge and some self-care tips from some influential psychologist in the field. I wrote down each support system and ways in which I can access it including the phone number and location, for instance, you can see from the pictures that I have resources such as Empower Me, SASC and the UBC Centre for accessibility. 

My primary stressor is being distant from my family, I am currently in my third year, but I haven’t gone home within the years due to immigration  concerns. Hence, whenever I feel home-sick I call my family, and this is depicted in the Zine where I have a picture of my family and each of their contact information, I also included the UBC wellness centre as a resource that I can utilize on campus to help me when I am feeling homesick.

In my first attempt to deal with my stressors, I followed the wrong approach. I detached myself from the community, which I realized was doing extra harm to my wellbeing. I had the impression that if I had persevered living in a refugee camp for 16 years, which is shown in the Zine through pictures, then I could endure the stressors that I was encountering in my stay at UBC. However, later on, it occurred to me that in the refugee camp, I had my family and community providing me with social support as I was navigating through daily stressors. Therefore, I started going to the wellness centre for social support, I excised regularly, I started attending social events, and I decided to be open to new experiences. Also, I am currently exercising a new approach for this assignment. It involves connecting with nature through practicing mindful yoga and meditating for twenty minutes early in the morning and over the weekend meditating in nature, for instance, at the park, beach and forest.

My other stressor is PTSD, and I seldom feel like I am reliving a war trauma from my childhood through upsetting thoughts, nightmares or flashbacks, or having powerful mental and physical reactions if something reminds me of the tragedy. In the Zine, I included resources such as “Empower Me” and UBC Health Centre to support me when I feel  PTSD-like symptoms.

My story was featured on CBC News last summer.

I have also been featured in student podcasts at UBC, but I currently do not have the links to those. I like sharing my story with people because it helps in highlighting the resilience that exists in refugee camps and allows people to know ways in which they can get engaged to support refugees around the world.

For my self-care assignment, I experimented with using art as a coping strategy. I just used sharpie and watercolours to create the image. I chose the words “patience, consistency, and balance” as these represent my aspirations for the new year and always help to centre my mindset. I really enjoyed creating this drawing/painting and found it to be very relaxing. It allowed me to express my thoughts and creativity without being bound to strict criteria. I definitely plan on incorporating more art into my schedule as self-care but also just as a way to spend time and express myself!

Hello everyone,

For my creative component of this assignment, I created 15 meditation/reflection/prayer prompts. My new activity I decided to try out was collaborating prayer/meditation and eco-therapy. Majority of my stress stems from anxious thoughts of the future and “being still” allows me to organize my thoughts. After the eco-therapy project presented in class it inspired me to try practicing being still in an outdoors environment and away from an urban setting. Perhaps some of these prompts will conjure some reflection for some of you, especially during this time of social-distancing.

Take care,  Matthea