As a part of the human experience, we all fail, learn, grow, and evolve. For many of us, this experience includes an effort to become more mindful, more aware, and more connected.
The human life is, in essence, a journey toward wholeness.
To support this journey toward wholeness, my colleague, Mayra Porrata (@mayraporrata), and I have created a simple digital tool called Mindful Inquires™.
Mindful Inquires™ increase emotional intelligence through self-reflection.
Mindful Inquires™ is a tool based upon our ESSENCE GLOSSARY™, which is a listing of 32 social-emotional attributes. The attributes are supportive of individual and interpersonal well-being across the lifespan. These qualities can also be viewed as skills that when mindfully expressed, assist individuals in being more fully integrated with their thoughts, feelings, actions, relationships, and interactions with the environment.
Mindful Inquires™ provide a tool for supporting contemplative practices and, therefore, our own spirituality.
The Mindful Inquires™ Starter Pack is a digital file (i.e., a pdf) that consists of seven cards with questions designed to guide and support self-reflection. The questions enable the creation of a new narrative for the you, which in turn, creates awareness of new possibilities for yourself and others.
For me, the cards support my efforts to re-program the narrative that plays out in my head. In other words, to turn self-criticism into self-compassion. Good idea right? However, for me it is easier said than done. In fact, my husband likes to remind me that, at times, my “mind” is not a very good friend, and often encourages me to find a “new one”.
I have started to use the cards, to shape my inner narrative and to generate more compassionate self-talk.
For those of us who work with young children, we are familiar with the term self-talk; however, as it applies here, it is about the unconscious and ongoing story in our heads and what and how we say things to ourselves. Each day, I can “replay” this same story, or instead, pick a card and answer the question in the most compassionate manner possible. Doing so, creates a new connection in my mind.
Better questions lead to better lives —What are you ready to ask yourself?
For example, if the card asks me about a time when I was brave, I think about that time or remind myself I am brave, each time I have a negative thought.
Another example is with the card that asks, “What can I stop doing today, that no longer serves my peace of mind?” Often, the answer to the question is directly related to the negative self-talk that is going on inside my head. When we think differently about ourselves, we begin to speak and behave differently.
Make sense? Ready to put a new spin on self-talk that will lead to self-growth?
P.S. The full deck of Mindful Inquires™ cards are available in the Pre-K Teach and Play shop. There are also cards for Inclusion Inquires and Soulful Inquires.
P.P.S. ECE Solutionary Members receive all three packs as part of their subscription. Interested in becoming a member? Click here to join today.