Creating a Balanced Lifestyle Using the Kawa River Model
Topic outline
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When we feel OK, we do various activities every day, and our energy levels are pretty much OK. We do the stuff we have to do, and we also have the energy to do other things that we enjoy doing. When our mood drops, we feel tired, and energy levels and motivation drops. So we do even less.
Use this worksheet along with the Weekly Planner (link below), to help you create balance in your week, even on the days you may be feeling low.
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When we’re feeling depressed, we tend to do less and less because of the tiredness, difficulty sleeping and eating, and negative style of thinking. We stop doing the things we used to do and enjoy. It could get so bad that we can't even go to work, or do things at home. We want to stay in bed, or stay at home doing very little, and we might isolate ourselves from friends and family. Just increasing our activity and exercise levels can make an enormous impact on our mood.
Use this worksheet to help you find ways to motivate yourself to create a more balanced lifestyle.
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When we are depressed it is common for us to stop doing things we used to do, because it just takes too much effort and seems too hard. This can make us feel even worse. Use this worksheet to help you write down some of the activities you used to do, but have been avoiding recently.
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Use this worksheet along with one of these from the links below to create a daily or weekly planner to ensure balance to your daily or weekly activities.
Weekly Planner 1 https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/BACEdiary-weekly-splitcells.pd
Weekly Planner 2 https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/BACEdiary-weekly.pdf
Daily Planner https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/BACEdiary.pdf
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Our mood can be greatly affected by what we do, when, and with whom. In order to maintain a healthy sense of wellbeing, we need to balance what we do. We can use the acronym ACE to help us remember: ACHIEVE - work, chores, study, CONNECT - with friends, family, community, ENJOY – play, fun, pleasure.
Use this worksheet along with the planner in the link below to assess your week and improve the balance.
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"Occupation" refers to the activities we have to do and want to do each day which give our lives meaning. Sometimes we are unable to create balance through sickness, disability, or circumstances (such as during this coronavirus crisis).
This Presentation explains how to create a balanced lifestyle from an occupational therapy perspective, and uses the Kawa River Model (used by occupational therapists) to help students frame their thinking around creating balance in their daily life.
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