The practice of putting a jigsaw puzzle together can help you reduce stress and unwind while spending time alone or with family or friends. Doing puzzles helps develop fine motor skills, visual perceptual skills, visual spatial processing, and organization. This practice can improve brain function, uses both sides of your brain, and provides a short term memory boost.

For this month’s Therapy Tune-Up, we are introducing a health and wellness challenge! It is easy to participate and easy to make progress.

After learning the steps to create your paper art, origami can become a meditative activity to aid in developing your mindfulness practice. You can use any kind of paper in any color or pattern.

Any practice or activity can be improved with increased mindfulness. Helping your mind and body engage eating with more curiosity can help reduce cravings and establish healthier eating habits.

Learning to maintain health as a part of your every day routine is very important to being at a young age, but applies to us all at any age throughout our lifetime. Engaging in physical activity not only keeps your body healthier by keeping it active, moving, and strong, but it also strengthens our mental health at the same time.

Use household ingredients to make this therapeutic tool for stress relief and strengthening. Many individuals use stress balls as a tool for relief. Putty can be made at home as an alternative for stress relief or other uses such as easing arthritic pain.

Write the story of your life and use the practice of writing for self-affirmation. Writing your life story can have a positive effect on your mental health as well as cognitive functioning. Particularly when focusing on difficult events, writing can help you release feelings of tension while allowing your mind to make sense of chaotic experiences.

Start a new therapeutic hobby and and enjoy the meditative practice of macrame! Practicing macrame utilizes fine motor skills through finger and hand strengthening. Work on improving visual motor skills, hand eye coordination, executive function with sequencing, and stamina.

Learn how to reduce pain from arthritis through visualization and use your mind to help you overcome difficulties. Pain can release stress hormones throughout your body which can cause additional damage. Guided imagery is a way to use a meditative practice to stop your body from releasing stress hormones.