Mental health is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you are going.
While we are quarantined, you have no excuse to learn a language or improve it. And yet, the opposite is also true. You can leave this time of confinement with no new skill, no new perspective or no new routine. I personally believe you can do what makes you feel better this time or any time. But if working on your Spanish makes you happy or if you have been wanting to start learning Spanish but never found the right time to do it, this might be that time.
These uncertain times are what you make of them, and there is no way one should live them: either being productive or either taking the time to rest and reflect are both perfect approaches. Also, having days of work interspersed with days of rest are also perfect. Just take a minute at the beginning of the day to ask yourself, “what do I need today?”, “what would help me keep my sanity, my calm state, my peace?” Is it going offline and read a book? Is it journal for hours? Is it baking, cleaning the house, doing some exercise? Is it doing nothing, or planning nothing or is it keeping a routine that resembles normalcy? Whatever the answer your body is giving you, go and do that.
Now, for those whose Spanish language practice is soul-soothing, happiness-inducing, and heart-opening I have ideas. Because these times are hard, even if you are a zen master and see the beauty and necessity of these times, they are hard. We can sense the anxiety level rising when we go do the shopping with our masks and gloves preventing our contact with the world, or feel tense when someone gets too close or coughs… Probably, one of the best lessons we need to learn is how to keep our anxiety levels low so that we don’t go into panic mode or full-blown depression.
Now, how can your Spanish practice help your mental health and how can your mental health practices help your Spanish learning?
I have three ideas:
- INTROSPECTIVE JOURNALING
Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to get acquainted with our own story. Now that the world has come to a halt and mother Earth has grounded us to our rooms, we have the opportunity to question why we are here, how we are feeling and how do we want our future to look like. And this, more than a rational activity, is a feeling one. One that needs us to free write uncensored, to pour our hearts our, our fears and desires…
Write about how you are feeling these times or practice creative writing around the following ideas and Spanish journaling prompts:
▻ Facing a global/individual crisis:
¿Estás en confinamiento, aislamiento o distanciamento social de alguna manera, o estás a punto de estarlo? ¿Cómo estás experimentando esta crisis, o cómo ha cambiado tu estilo de vida de momento? Escribe sobre tu proceso de asimilación. (Are you in confinement, isolation o social distancing to any degree? How are you experiencing this crisis, or how your lifestyle has changed so far? Write about your assimilation process).
▻ Priorities
¿Han cambiado tus prioridades desde que el comienzo de esta pandemia? (Have your priorities shifted since the beginning of this pandemic?)
The silver lining
¿Cuál es el lado positivo de esta situción? (What’s the silver lining of this situation?)
▻ Inner bucket list
Mira hacia dentro, ¿qué aspectos quieres mejorar? ¿qué limitaciones quieres romper? ¿qué sensaciones o sentimientos quieres tener de nuevo o por primera vez? (Look inward, what aspects do you want to improve? What limitations do you want to break? What sensations or feelings do you want to have again or for the first time?)
▻ Your relationships
¿De qué manera se están viendo afectadas tus relaciones por estos acontecimientos en general? (How are your relationships being affected by the events at large right now?) - MEDITATION IN SPANISH
The ideal state for a learner is a state of calm and tranquillity mixed with positive emotions. And anxiety is not a positive emotion, it rather is the arch-enemy of learning, so learning how to keep a calm state at all times, helps to access the full range of your knowledge and to optimize your learning. And there is science behind meditations as an enhancer of language learning.
Following a guided meditation in Spanish is going to help you both with your mental calmness and with your Spanish learning.
- MANTRA CHANTING IN SPANISH
Meditation and breathwork are tools to keep our brain open for optimal learning. In line with keeping a calmed brain to learn better, we can practice the language with mantras. The use of mantras and affirmation are learning techniques/practices that combine the two most important elements in learning: repetition and emotion. And all that is happening in a calm state, because you are repeating or signing the same line, over and over. Our brains love that. Our brains will remember that line.
Resources
Soundcloud – Guided meditations in Spanish, walking meditations in Spanish, body-scan in Spanish… are some of the free content in my Soundcloud channel. Go explore!
Spanish Masterheart – A membership that includes a new guided meditation every month, journaling prompts, audio journaling prompts, reading materials… all to take care of your Spanish learning journey, your body, your mind and your heart. Want to join the Spanish tribe?
Free Mantra Creation for Spanish learning Workshop – 7th May 2020 at 8am (Los Angeles), 11am (New York), 5pm (Madrid). Sign up to join the free workshop or have access to the replay. Join!
