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Resource Category: Jewish Connection to Mental Health

Active Inclusivity: How to Be Inclusive During Shabbat

We talk about inclusivity all of the time, but what does it mean to be actively inclusive? How do we ensure all people are able to fully participate in whatever way they are showing up? It’s important to keep in mind that for many reasons a Shabbat dinner or get-together can be difficult or stressful for some people. We don’t know what someone is showing up with that night. Whether for mental health, dietary, or other reasons, here are ways to create a community of caring and inclusivity.
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Shavuot: The Holiday of Ultimate Awareness

By Rabbi Steven Gotlib | Beginning on the second night of Passover and extending until Shavuot, many Jews count the Omer. For 49 days, Judaism maintains a special awareness of time — even for a religion that, as Abraham Joshua Heschel described, constructs a sanctuary of time each week in marking the Sabbath. But what exactly makes these 49 days between Passover and Shavuot so special?
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Jewish Mantras: How to Change Your Brain

How can we change our mood when we’re in a funk? This resource will describe brief exercises to improve your mood now as well as retrain your brain to help you be more positive overall. It is important to verbalize and analyze our emotions. Feelings help us gather information about ourselves— how we are experiencing the world and what we need in order to feel better. But if unwanted thoughts and unsettling feelings start to consume us, how do we focus on joyful concepts instead of those that circulate anxiety and depression? We must retrain our brain to cultivate our own happiness and strength, recognizing we are not defined by our emotions; in fact, we are the boss of them.
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Ladder of Emotional Regulation

We have a variety of strategies and skills available to manage and/or “regulate” ourselves when we feel overwhelmed. Their effectiveness depends on the person as well as the type and intensity of the distress they are experiencing in that particular moment. Several types of tools address the different aspects of the emotional experience, and we can address our needs from all sides. We can manage unhelpful thinking, employ sensory strategies to calm our bodies, use social support to validate our feelings and get help when we need it.
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Brachot (Blessings) and Intuitive Eating

Jewish rituals surrounding food can be a fantastic tool for developing mindful eating practices and strengthening our ability to eat intuitively. According to Jewish tradition, before and after eating any food, a blessing should be said. However, the blessing recited before eating is not a generalized prayer of gratitude. Rather, each blessing is specific to the kind of food you are eating.
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Immersive Experience Staff Journal

We know staff mental health needs are important, and we hope this resource offers an opportunity to better support the staff’s mental health over the summer. The Blue Dove Foundation is proud to partner with BeWell, an initiative of Jewish Federations of North America, and Foundation for Jewish Camp in the creation of this meaningful resource.
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Summer Camp Staff Journal

We know staff mental health needs are important, and we hope this resource offers an opportunity to better support the staff’s mental health over the summer. The Blue Dove Foundation is proud to partner with BeWell, an initiative of Jewish Federations of North America, and Foundation for Jewish Camp in the creation meaningful resource.
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