Look Up COPECARD®

How It Works

Looking up at the stars (the night sky), we connect to something greater than ourselves, inspiring awe – that sense of wonder,  It turns out that awe, by bringing perspective on our individual self in relation to others, promotes social connectedness and improves caring, sharing and helping skills. 

Stargazing also helps us calm our minds, especially in times of stress. It can promote our imagination and curiosity and aid in self-reflection. It can move us from a heightened emotional state / our emotional brain to our thinking brain. By engaging our creative and analytical skills, such that occurs in art (Draw to Cope) and math (Count to Cope), our emotional brain quiets.

How to Use

Look up at the night sky. Find patterns in the stars. Play “connect the stars”, like “connect the dots”. Identify the constellations, such as Ursa Major (the Great Bear) and the asterisms, such as the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, which are part of Ursa Major. When possible, give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, a process called “dark adaptation”, which can take up to 30 minutes. Study star formation and why stars “twinkle”, known as stellar scintillation. Make a star map, Use stargazing as a catalyst to explore astronomy, physics, chemistry, light, color, aerospace engineering and more! A friend of COPEKIT is a retried aerospace engineer who worked on the Apollo missions - his inspiration came from stargazing as a child in his backyard, simply “looking up”.

When to Use - Signs of Stress/Trauma

  • preoccupied, worried, overwhelmed

  • anxious, panicked, agitated

What It Can Do

  • decrease anxiety, distress; feel calmer

  • increase control over feelings (self-regulation)

  • reconnect to self and present moment

  • boost creativity as your mind relaxes and you draw inspiration from the natural world

  • turn attention away from the self, which can improve caring, sharing and helping skills (collaboration)

  • facilitate engagement with others

  • promote situational awareness and problem solving

  • enable shift from “emotional/stress brain” to “thinking brain”, promoting calm and enabling cognitive skills such as situational awareness