In the SameHere Scale App, you will find a whole STARR (Stress & Trauma Active Release & Rewiring) section with audios, videos, visuals, and science explanations, that will help guide you through using evidence-based mind/body exercises. You can access this Gym for the Brain at any time.
With our physical health, we all know many exercise options we can use to start to take control of how we feel. The good news is, with STARR (Stress & Trauma Active Release & Rewiring) Exercises available in the "Gym for your Brain" section of the SameHere Scale app, you now have many options to "act" and work on your mental health, like you do your physical health. When you start to gain control over how you feel, you also start to gain hope!
STARR is a group of evidence-based self-care exercises (the descriptions of which were provided by either the inventors or lead researchers of each exercise) that work to heal affected structures in your body - structures that are impacted as stress and trauma accumulate in your nervous system as you live through challenging life events.
Below, find screen shots that show how you can start to use the STARR Gym for your Brain. You will see that there are audio, video, and illustrative descriptions for each exercise and the body parts they work on, as well as a "Routines" section, so that you can try each exercise out, and see which ones work best for you.
The more you know about what these exercises are doing for you, to help you heal, the more likely you are to stick with them. What better than having a Gym for your Brain, in the palm of your hand?
In the SameHere Scale App, you will find a whole STARR (Stress & Trauma Active Release & Rewiring) section with audios, videos, visuals, and science explanations, that will help guide you through using evidence-based mind/body exercises. You can access this Gym for the Brain at any time.
Visuals are large, and audios provide thorough explanations.
Tutorials made available on “STARR Cards” in the app dive deep into the science of each STARR Exercise and help you understand what body parts that stress and trauma negatively impact. These exercises then help you to work on those specific body parts that have been impacted, and begin to heal.
Blinking images of internal body parts that each of the STARR Exercises work on are viewable so that you can learn what the exercises are helping to heal. Body parts such as the: Vagus Nerve, Insular Cortex, Microbiome, Corpus Callosum, Amygdala, Mitochondria, Lymphatic System, Fascia, HPA Axis, Psoas Muscle and many others are shown and described. The more you know about what each exercise is doing for these body parts, the more likely you are to stick with them.
Each of the STARR Exercises is accompanied by a thorough video which explains precisely how the exercise is performed, how often to do each exercise, and references to the body parts the exercise is working to heal. There is both a demonstrator and a narrator for each video.
You can set up routines by clicking the middle button in the bottom, and you will be able to schedule STARR Exercises on a specific day and time, or weekly. You will get reminders as push notifications on your phones, if you opt to keep them on. Sticking to exercise routines requires tools that are reminder to us and keep us accountable.
Log-ins for both individual users and group users can be done with phone number, email, or through Google and Apple accounts. For schools, we have single-sign-on with Clever and ClassLink. And, for schools that have banned cell phones in class or prefer different devices, the app works seamlessly on Chromebooks and iPads, as well as other desktops and laptops.
Home Screen shows you your weekly and monthly trends, streaks, and a calendar view.
Home Screen view lets you toggle to see your trends in chart format that can be dragged left and right to change dates ranges with your finger, in addition to the calendar format.
Tutorials guide you as to how to engage with the Scale, and you can slide the #SameHere hand to lock in your selection as many times a day as you would like, or as instructed to by a Group Leader.
A “Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors” legend is available (by clicking on the ⓘ in the top right of the Scale) every time you makes a selection , so you can see which emoji choice fits you best at that time.
A simple but thorough “Follow-Up Questions Form” enables you to track what is going on in your life that may be contributing to how your mental health is impacted and changing over time on the Scale.
In that Form is: A list of options for events (positive and negative) that may be going on in your life, is provided, along with the ability to write-in those not listed.
In that Form: A Mind/Body sensations can be tracked, also with an option to write in ones you may not see on this list.
In that form: You can track which of the STARR Exercises you did, and for how long, from the STARR section, as well as what other activities, physical exercises, or lifestyle changes you made each day.
All of your responses to the previous Form’s questions show up under every one of the coordinate points on your personal chart and calendar views.
As an Individual App user, you can go into Settings and “Invite Contacts” to connect formally with anyone in your phone who is a contact. Chat functions allow you to stay in touch with friends, family, mentors, etc. Group Members in the Enterprise Group version of the app can chat with any of their Group Leaders. This feature can be enabled or disabled for groups based on your preference.
In chat, you are able to send quick emoji responses from the SameHere Scale, or request the same from your connections.
As an Individual app user, you can even use the chat feature to request to see each of your connection’s personal SameHere Scale responses, or you can share your own with them. It all depends on the comfort level you have with one another.
As these are Enterprise Group features that cannot be viewed through the SameHere Scale app, in the App Store, click here to request more information, or a demo, if you are interested in exploring more.
Group Leaders can see an aggregate view of the selections of their Group Members each day (this refreshes at 12am each day). Group Members can see the same charts (to normalize that it is truly okay not to be okay), but unlike the Group Leader, cannot see individual Group Member answers.
Group Leaders are able to request a Scale check-in from one, some, or all of their Group Members, within seconds, or send their own Scale response to help foster vulnerability and openness.
Group Leaders can sort by daily trends, weekly trends and monthly trends, to make sure they are staying on top of their Group Members, easily. Alerts will be coming soon based on the data that has been analyzed, to ensure Group Leaders are able to stay on top of concerning trends, but not be overwhelmed. These alerts can be set up to go directly to school professionals and/or administrators. Assigning STARR Exercises by the Group Leader will be coming soon as well.
We provide you with Group Leader and Group Member “Invite Codes” for each of your groups or classes, so that you are in control as to which individuals are invited to be Group Leaders, and which Group Members can be added to each of your groups. You are able to have an unlimited number of Group Leaders and Group Members in each group. Group Leaders can lead multiple groups, and Group Members can be Members of multiple groups.
L.I.F.E. Saver, #SameHere’s proprietary tool for first-person suicide prevention is available in the Settings section. This tool provides a positive plan of action, a video with global advocates to guide users through that plan, and a link to call or text the suicide prevention hotlines, should a user be in crisis (this can also be customized based on country helpline resources). STARR is a great starting point, to get proactive in working on your mental health and regulating your nervous system. But, it’s important for individual and group users to have some place to turn when no one is around to respond if they are in a crisis situation. This tool provides that plan and safe place.
