Practicing self-care is good for the mind, body, and spirit. There are several things you can do to put the mind-body connection to work for you. One example is to utilize mindfulness meditation, which can be as simple as remembering to take a deep breath before you answer the phone.Engaging in mindfulness meditation is something you can do when you have time and a few minutes to focus, said Dr. Dan Bennett, chief of psychiatry at Kaiser Permanentes Panorama City Medical Center. The great thing about making this type of mind-body connection is that it doesnt require a guide, a yoga mat or anyspecial equipment.

Here are some simple things you can do to boost your mood, beat stress, and enjoy life more. Each one takes just a little time and effort and youre worth it.

Take up meditationFocus on your breath and being present in the moment. You might not experience instant inner peace, but a few minutes of quite meditation can hp clear your thoughts, calm your sense, and recharge your energy.

Sleep well andsleep enoughLack of sleep can affect the way you feel mentally and physically. Limit bedtime distractions if you have trouble sleeping you cant leave the days stress at the door if youre checking email, texting, or browsing online.

Socialize face-to-faceConnecting with others can do wonders for your physical and emotional wellness. Calls, texts, and social networks are great for staying in touch, but quality time together is what really helps people and relationships thrive.

For more information about the mind-body connection, visit the Kaiser Permanente website at http://www.kp.org/mindbody.

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Simple Ways to be Kind to Yourself - Magazine of Santa Clarita

The Hollywood actor Richard Gere has revealed for the first time the full story behind his mercy mission to the NGO rescue boat Open Arms as he prepares to testify as a witness against Italys former interior minister and far-right leader, Matteo Salvini, who is on trial for attempting to block the 147 people onboard from landing in Italy.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Gere, 72, who lawyers have listed as a key witness to the situation aboard the NGO rescue boat Open Arms, described the scenes of desperation he saw when he arrived on the vessel being held off the Italian island of Lampedusa in the summer of 2019 with conditions rapidly deteriorating.

We saw more than a hundred people on board, Gere told the Guardian. I felt ashamed that we have so much and are not able to embrace these fellow human beings, our brothers and sisters who were starving, traumatised. If they were told the boat was going back to Libya, they would jump in the water and drown themselves, and I felt it was our responsibility to bring as much light as we could.

The trial of Salvini over the incident, for which he faces a maximum of 15 years jail if convicted on charges of kidnapping and dereliction of duty, began in Palermo last month. The judge, Roberto Murgia, has allowed Geres testimony after the actor said he was willing to testify on behalf of the refugees. A date has not yet been set for the testimony.

Magistrates consider Gere, who was on the boat but neither a refugee or member of the crew, an objective observer who can lend credence to what they have described as an explosive situation aboard with asylum seekers forced to remain on deck for 19 days without receiving medical attention before eventually being allowed to disembark.

The blocking of the Spanish tugboat Open Arms became one of the most notorious consequences of Salvinis recently introduced security decree that aimed to put an end to NGO rescue missions in the central Mediterranean by imposing fines of up to 50,000 (42,700) for boats that brought migrants to Italy without permission.

Geres journey to the boat began with a holiday in Tuscany. I was visiting a friend that summer who asked me if I was aware of this new law in Italy, so I asked him to explain it to me. He said: Its going to be a criminal offence to help people in distress.

Youve gotta be kidding me! This is not possible! I mean, in deeply Christian Italy, how could this happen? Its criminal to help people in need? It was mind-boggling to me.

He put the holiday on hold to fly to Sicily with his son and on 9 August, with a tiny boat packed with supplies of food and water, the Hollywood star made it to the Open Arms vessel.

The final leg of getting to the rescue ship was far from straightforward. When he arrived in Lampedusa from Sicily, Gere and other volunteers from the NGO bought food and water supplies. But there was a problem. The Italian authorities would not allow any boats to get close to Open Arms, which was still at sea.

There was this man, Gere says. He was told by the police that theyd destroy his business and that hed end up in jail if he helped us. We had the food, but we didnt have the boat to get the food out to these people.

Finally, an islander recognised the actor and offered to help. His boat was small, but there was no time to waste. The situation on Open Arms was growing increasingly dire by the hour. With the boat packed with supplies so many that Gere and the others sat on top of the provisions the team set off. After an hour on rough seas, they reached the vessel.

Gere and the others immediately distributed food to the migrants. Accompanied by an interpreter, he spoke to almost every person on the ship. I introduced myself, he says. I introduced them to my son. I looked them in the eyes. Most of them didnt know me or who I was. To them, I was just a worker guy who brought some food and did his best to smile and be kind. We brought water and food, and maybe a sense of hope.

We were a lifeline to a world of non-torture, of possibilities and dreams. Then I asked them who they are, where they come from. There was a mother with her young daughters who had to navigate the militias trying to make her way to Libya. Of course, these young girls were easy prey, and she had to give herself on every border, she had to give herself to gangs of militias, sexually, to protect her daughters and to take her family to the Mediterranean, where there would be hope and safety. And there she was, 20 miles from safety but unable to reach the shore.

Gere, who has been engaged in numerous humanitarian causes over the years, began to use his contacts to see if he could get the refugees further help. I called the Spanish PM [Pedro Snchez] from the boat and asked him to take some of these people, and as much as he felt the situation, he was politically constrained because of how much the right were pulling strings in Spain. He told me: Look, weve been taking a lot of people from Morocco, they come across the water from Morocco. We take too many. But basically he said he could only do what his people would allow him to do.

I called my contacts in Germany, and [Angela] Merkel was obviously the most courageous person in Europe. They were taking in over 1 million refugees, but at that point she felt constrained. In the end, no one was taking responsibility.

The experience on board the ship would leave an indelible mark on Gere and, as Salvini went on trial, the actor agreed to testify on behalf of Open Arms. It was a not a decision received well across the Italian political spectrum and some on the right have accused him of grandstanding. You tell me how serious a trial is where Richard Gere will come from Hollywood to testify about my nastiness, Salvini said. Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, declared that Gere was just an actor seeking visibility.

Gere, who began his Hollywood career in the 1970s and rose to be one its most bankable leading men, chuckled when asked what he thinks about Melonis jibe. Visibility? Actually I have been searching for anonymity. Its the opposite, he says.

First of all, I dont know these people. Ive never met them, but I highly doubt theyve taken the time to go on a boat and have a human experience and understand the real people they have their influence over. If they did that, then I think theres probably another conversation to have. You see, I dont see myself as a movie star. Im one of 7 billion human beings on the planet, thats it, no more. Im no better or worse than anyone.

He says his motivation was to say what he had seen on the boat. Look, I dont know anything about the politics, and I dont know the defendants in this case. Frankly, I dont wish him [Salvini] ill, but my concern is the people who are suffering so much. Thats what moves me. Its possible, because I was there, in the middle of the craziness, my visceral human understanding of it is maybe a little deeper than most peoples. I was a witness, no more, no less. And I can share that with the rest of the world if Im asked.

But in terms of the politics of it, Im not advocating one way or another, of what the Italian people should do. Thats completely up to the Italians.

Advocating for refugees, poor, sick and homeless people, is a solemn endeavour for Gere. His Gere Foundation supports global development, global health and humanitarian initiatives with a focus in Tibet. He has been a longtime supporter of Survival International, an organisation that defends the human rights of indigenous peoples around the world. He is also on the frontline of the struggle against Aids. He has visited refugee camps from Kosovo to El Salvador.

He first encountered Open Arms five years earlier in Barcelona when he met Oscar Camps, founder of the Spanish NGO. Since then, Gere would regularly check in with him to get real-time information on the status of refugees in the Mediterranean.

Im inspired by Open Arms, Gere says. Im deeply committed to their point of view of the universe. Theyre dealing up close with these people, and thats where you want to get your information. [] They said it was deeply serious, not only to them, but to other rescue boats as well. And thats when I made a very quick decision. I said: Look, I gotta see this for myself. I jumped in a car and arrived at the Rome airport in literally five minutes.

Gere says he is deeply aware that in Italy and in other places in Europe, more than 70 years after the defeat of fascism in the second world war, thousands of people are joining self-described fascist groups. Extreme rightwing groups have become higher profile in the US in recent years while in response to its own migration from the south, videos and photos from the Mexico border have shown Border Patrol guards on horseback chasing down asylum seekers from Haiti.

We saw during the time of the Nazis how easy it was to think of the other and do horrible things to them, he says. Its a mentality of ignorance, cruelty, the mentality that thinks that we exist personally in our own bubble, and as a country we exist in a bubble and its completely faulty and ignorant.

Gere is from Pennsylvania. His parents came from a very small town where his father grew up milking cows. And the actor said that the communitys values havent changed, with its honest, hard-working people who would do anything for their neighbours.

But, Gere says, they are 95% Trump people. It makes no sense to me. Trump, or the defendants in this case, exploit the people that the rest of us kind of dont see. Thats what frightens me. We dont see our own brothers and sisters in our own community deep enough to understand where that darkness is coming from. Its important for us to really look and not marginalise them, but to embrace them.

He is most likely to appear via video link and is relaxed about the possibility he may be called at any time. In his Buddhist calm, he adds: Its very simple, Ill just tell the truth, Ill just tell what I experienced. Im only here to speak for people who dont have a voice. Its not about me. Im completely irrelevant here. Im honest with you. I can be invisible. All I am is a witness.

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It was mind-boggling: Richard Gere on the rescue boat at the heart of Salvini trial - The Guardian

During a session of fitness phenom Taryn Toomeys The Class workout, after a grueling series of jumping jacks and squats, participants are instructed to take a moment and focus intently on their breathing. The directive is intended not to help them catch their breaththeyre generally pantingbut to make them conscious of it. In the face of a challenge, the mind often gets loud with complaints, excuses and judgements, thereby limiting us, says Natalie Kuhn, a founding teacher and the vice president of programming at The Class. Becoming aware of your breath and slowing it down actually slows down the thoughts, she says. The practice of returning our attention to the breath is what helps us self-regulate.

A general rule of thumb is that humans can go for about three weeks without food, three days without water and only three minutes without oxygen, says Ashley Neese, a California-based author and breathwork teacher. Yet, as vital as it is for our health, breath is not something that many of us think about; its simply a physical inevitability. We assume, at our peril, that breathing is a passive action, just something that we do: breathe, live; stop breathing, die, James Nestor writes in his recent book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. But breathing is not binary.

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It's Time to Take a Deep Breath. Here's How. - The Wall Street Journal

Teenager Sama Ahel was taught deep breathing to cope following the Gaza-Israel conflict in May. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Teenager Sama Ahel was taught deep breathing to cope following the Gaza-Israel conflict in May.

GAZA CITY When the Israeli missile landed at the foot of her building during the Hamas-Israel conflict this May, spraying bits of glass from the surrounding apartments into the room where she huddled with her family, 15-year-old Sama Ahel did what any other teenager might do. She took out her phone and started filming.

The video lasts about seven minutes. You see her in socks, running down a darkened stairwell and across a rubble-strewn street. You see a charred car flipped on its back, and flames in front of a Hamas government office on the ground floor, and her 17-year-old sister Tasneem covering her bloody face with her headscarf.

You hear rapid-fire explosions, and Sama's shrieks, as she crouches with her family behind a metal dumpster next to a United Nations compound across from her apartment building. A wailing ambulance collects them, and her father, a psychologist, tells her to stop filming, fearing Israel could pick up the cell phone signal and target them.

Not captured on video is what Ismael Ahel did next. He led his family in a deep breathing exercise. The idea, he says, is to ease yourself out of the shock and into the present, to make yourself recognize that the traumatic event is over.

"You just need to close your eyes and start to inhale," Sama, now 16, demonstrates. She draws a quiet breath and holds it for a few moments. "You will start to feel it going through you."

Her entire apartment building needed help.

A week after the war, Ahel and a group of therapists went to all 120 apartments in the building, making house calls. They referred some to therapy. With others, they taught deep breathing and other coping mechanisms, like shaking out your limbs to release stress.

"We have a hard time treating" Gazans, said Ahel, sitting on his couch at home. "We can't just deal with the first trauma or the second trauma. It's a complexity of trauma together."

One of the buildings in Gaza City that was bombed during the war in May. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

One of the buildings in Gaza City that was bombed during the war in May.

The deadly 11-day conflict in May scarred Palestinians and Israelis both. But in the small Gaza Strip, where Palestinians faced heavy bombardment without the bomb shelters and missile defense systems that protect Israelis, the psychological wounds are deep.

Ahel and his colleagues diagnose it as "Gaza trauma"

It's the accumulation of trauma upon trauma from four punishing wars over the last decade and a half, fought between Gaza's Hamas rulers and their foe Israel.

"I maintain that the biggest damage that happened in May is psychological," said Matthias Schmale, who this summer finished his tenure as Gaza director of UNRWA, the U.N. agency that provides food, health care and schooling in Gaza.

About half of Gaza's two million residents are under 18 years old, and in the last six months, many have received mass therapy. The United Nations put 150,000 children through counseling and summer activities.

"If you look objectively at the numbers, people killed, buildings destroyed, et cetera, this was maybe not as heavy as the 2014 [war]. But I didn't meet any Palestinian who didn't describe this as worse, and that had to do with the heaviness [of the Israeli strikes] and the psychological impact," Schmale said.

Some children after the war had knee and ankle pain and difficulty walking. The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, a local clinic supported by European donors, diagnosed it as trauma-induced, and referred them to traditional folk practitioners who perform a olive-oil body massage known as gata'at il-khofa, Arabic for "cutting the fear."

A mental health worker in Gaza walks with one of the children who participated in a psychodrama session aimed to help kids cope with the trauma of war. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

A mental health worker in Gaza walks with one of the children who participated in a psychodrama session aimed to help kids cope with the trauma of war.

It improves "blood circulation, lymphatic circulation, and puts an end to some of those pains," said psychologist Yasser Abu Jamei, who directs the mental health organization.

Kids who don't communicate or collaborate

The mental health clinic still runs group psychodrama workshops, which Abu Jamei said is a cost-effective way to treat many kids at once.

"Ooooh! Oooooh!" psychologist Aida Kassab howls, flapping a window drape to simulate a storm, as kids huddle in a plastic playhouse during one group psychodrama session. Kassab wants the children to learn to find love and protection from others when their home feels threatened. The kids in the session barely speak to each other.

"Those children are from the same school and the same neighborhood. But there is no communication between them. No collaboration, no teamwork," Kassab said. "They have a behavior disorder, and trauma."

Psychologist Aida Kassab leads children through a psychodrama session aimed at helping them cope with the trauma of the Gaza-Israel conflicts. Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Psychologist Aida Kassab leads children through a psychodrama session aimed at helping them cope with the trauma of the Gaza-Israel conflicts.

Helping traumatized families find their 'strength points'

It's hard to treat trauma in Gaza, where people don't feel the war is truly behind them. Israel and Hamas are still negotiating the terms of their ceasefire, and most destroyed homes have not been rebuilt.

Abu Jamei offers parents advice. "Sometimes the best thing which you can give the family is to make them identify their strength points in their life," he said. "You know, a strength point could be that you survived. A strength point could be that your home is still there. A strength by point could be that your school is a good one."

Yasser Abu Jamei, a psychologist, is the director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. He tells parents, "Sometimes the best thing which you can give the family is to make them identify their strength points." Fatima Shbair for NPR hide caption

Yasser Abu Jamei, a psychologist, is the director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. He tells parents, "Sometimes the best thing which you can give the family is to make them identify their strength points."

The Ahel family has those strength points: They survived the attack near their building. Their home is still there. Tasneem graduated with high marks on her matriculation exam shortly after the war and is searching for a scholarship to study medicine abroad. Sama is back in school.

But Sama finds it difficult to move on. Friends keep commenting on her video of the attack she posted on Facebook, and every other day or so, she goes back and watches those seven terrifying minutes. Her father says their apartment building is now tilting a few degrees. At school, when she looks out the window, she sees a bombed building.

Still, before she does her homework or takes a test, Sama sits on a comfortable chair, rests her hands on her legs, shuts her eyes, takes five or six deep breaths, and visualizes.

She pictures the Mediterranean Sea. Or Capital Mall, a shopping center with a bustling food court. Or her friend Yasmine's house. Or the Qattan children's library, her second home.

She has some happy places she can go to in her mind.

Fatima Shbair contributed to this story from Gaza City.

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Coping with conflict: Kids in Gaza learn deep breathing to ease their trauma : Goats and Soda - NPR