The Mental Fitness deck is for students and teachers who build mental fitness as part of positive education, for anyone who likes to train the mind the way an athlete trains the body, and for a class or group that wants to practise together.
It applies the familiar idea of physical fitness to psychological wellbeing. Just as the body has strength, flexibility and endurance, so does the mind, with social connection added as a fourth component. Mental fitness can be built through regular practice, and the focus is on building capacity. Each question works like one repetition in a gym.
Each card holds one question on eleven resources in four components: Mental Strength, with Purpose, Meaning and Self-Efficacy; Mental Flexibility, with Mindfulness, Self-Regulation and Acceptance; Mental Endurance, with Resilience, Optimism and Perseverance; and Team or Social Fitness, with Connection and Collaborative Capacity. A card might ask what helps you stay present rather than ruminating, how you keep your commitment when motivation fades, or who supports you when you need it most. Like every FlourishTalk deck it is made for you, with your name on every card, and arrives by email as a print-ready PDF to print on cardstock and an eBook for a phone, tablet or computer.
I suggest you treat the deck as a mental gym: one question a day in a journal, such as what mental flexibility you showed today. A class can draw a card that asks how we can build greater resilience as a team.
Dr Alten du PlessisFounder, LearnSmart4Life