While the previous section focused on "action strategies" to support healthy emotion

management, this section focuses on "thought strategies." You'll consider research-based

ways to shift the way you think to shift the way you feel, and consider how you can
incorporate these strategies into your daily life.

Learning Objectives

 Develop a plan for practicing and incorporating these strategies regularly

 Identify thought strategies that may be a good fit for you
 Describe how shifting the way you think can help you manage your emotions

Introduction: Reflection
In the last section, we shared emotion management strategies that focus on action, movement, and
our physiology. Now, we’re going to turn to strategies that focus on ways we can shift our thinking.
These strategies use the higher thinking regions of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex, which we
learned about previously.

To begin this section, take a moment to reflect on the following quote. How might this connect to
what’s happening in your life right now? 
Quote Explanation
The quote on the previous page appears in Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book, Man’s Search for Meaning,
written about his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The
book, and this quote, describe his approach to finding positivity and purpose while experiencing
great suffering, and his observation that doing so could in turn impact health and longevity. 

Though our current lives are far from the devastation of concentration camps, there are times when
we truly cannot change the reality of a situation like mandated social distancing. Yet, we do have
some control over how we think about and respond to what is happening. And this can truly make a
difference. The goal of this section is to introduce you to research-based thought strategies that
have been shown to be helpful for school staff.  

On the next page, you'll view a video focused on the power of thought.

positive self-talk and reframing

Compartmentalize
Focus on Gratitude

Find Passion and Purpose

Savor the Good

Mindfulness
A strategy you’ve probably heard a lot about lately is mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of
paying attention to our minds and bodies without judging them. By increasing our awareness of what
we are thinking in the moment, we are turning our attention to the present, and away from what
happened in the past, or what might happen in the future.

Mindfulness has its origins in Buddhist meditation, but has become a completely secular practice.
There doesn't need to be anything religious, or even spiritual, about paying attention to your own
breath, noticing points of tension in your body, or gently reminding yourself to focus on the present
when your thoughts begin to wander. 

Research shows that developing a regular practice of mindfulness helps us to be more accepting of
ourselves and improves our well-being. Research also shows that:

 A daily practice of mindfulness can preserve focus and short-term memory and quiet a busy
mind, even in stressful, demanding jobs like working in a school. 
 According to recent research, after weeks of daily practice, mindfulness can change activity
in the brain associated with empathy and compassion.
 Mindfulness can reduce the negative perceptions we have of people who are different from
us. 
In the video on the next page, we'll explore how we can add a bit more mindfulness into our daily
lives.
Additional Articles and Resources
The articles below are related to the content we explored in this section. Please feel free to view
these articles or bookmark for later.

 Cultivating Resilience Through Physical Health and Habits of the Mind  

 Managing Anxiety Around COVID-19 Tipsheet 
 This Pause in Our Lives Can Lead to Reflection and Greater Fulfillment