June 3
Check in
Poetry and the Mind: What are you feeling today?
Today’s topic is how poetry and the expression of your words can help you understand your emotions. Research shows that poetry improves and strengthens cognitive function, helps with memory retention, and stimulates regions in the brain associated with emotional response. Poetry can not only improves our mental health but give us a voice to share how our mental health affects with others. It can also help us relate to others’ struggles that are similar to our own.
Today, my check in asks you to write a short verse expressing how you feel today. Here are some prompts to help you get started.
Remember a few days back I asked you to reflect on a happy moment in your day? Take inspiration from those emotions at that time. You can describe where you were, how the weather was like, who were you with, what was it that made you happy… the list goes on.
Describe yourself to a stranger. What parts of your physical appearance do you find beautiful? What parts of your personality do you take in pride in?
If you feel comfortable with sharing and if you would like to see your work on the Decompress community board, click here to submit your poetry!
Activities
photo by Álvaro Serrano (Unsplash)
A Letter of Poetry
Letter poetry is the form of writing a letter to someone that you won’t really send to them, but it is something you would like to say to them. It could be someone you would like to forgive or to someone you haven’t talked to in a long time. As mentioned on powerpoetry.org, “letters are really good tools for closure” where “the speaker gets the chance to say everything that they need to” (https://powerpoetry.org/actions/5-tips-writing-letter-poetry).
photo by Steve Johnson (Unsplash)
Paint Chip Poetry
I’m sure most of you have heard of blackout poetry. But what about Paint Chip Poetry? This type of poetry draws inspiration from colors! To start, you can search up a list of paint colors (names like vienna violet or crazy daisy or lady rose) and write a poem based on that color.
Again, if you feel like sharing your work with the Decompress community, click the button below.
Resources
10 minute Meditation
Here’s a slightly longer meditation video from Goodful for you to keep up your meditation. Keep up the good work!
10-Minute Meditation For Anxiety - Goodful
Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-6f5wQXSu8
Link to Goodful: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEMArgthHuEtX-04qL_8puQ
Poetry’s Rhythm
Our brain is very reactive to the sounds and rhythms of poetry. It’s like music to our brains! In a study published in 2013, participants read a variety of poems, ranging from dull prose to vivid poems from novel passages and excerpts. The two types of poetry activated different parts of the brain (as recorded by fMRI scans); the poems identified with a higher degree of emotions according to participants caused more activity in the right side of the brain - the same side of the brain that was stimulated by music in a 2001 study. The prose that were more challenging and literary were found to activate the left side of the brain - the side associated with tackling complicated sentence structure and rhythm.
If you would like to read more, here’s the link! https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/how-poetry-affects-human-brain.htm
The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein
Video content from and belongs to Ted-Ed: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsooa4yRKGN_zEE8iknghZA
Direct Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URuMb15CWJs