What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness means paying close attention to things as they are right now, in the present moment. It means being aware of our own thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, and the people and world around us, in a compassionate and curious way. Though this sounds relatively simple, the practice of it can be difficult as often we go through life as if on automatic pilot, reacting to events and getting carried away by them without realising it. Practising mindfulness can help bring us back to our senses, quite literally, so we can learn to be more fully present in our lives.
How can mindfulness be useful?
Broadly speaking, there are two main ways in which practising mindfulness can be useful to us.
It can help us to not get caught up in overreacting to triggers that we may find stressful and so therefore, we can better manage our emotional state and see with greater clarity what we need to do in order to help ourselves in that moment.
Mindfulness invites us to be more present in our everyday life so that we can truly appreciate the good moments that we experience but can sometimes take for granted or not really show up for due to being lost in the busyness of the thinking mind.
How to practice mindfulness
There are ‘formal’ mindfulness practices, like meditation, and informal ones, such as getting into the habit of pausing sometimes to notice the little details of our lives – for example, the feel of the wind on your face, your feet on the floor or the sounds and colours around you. It could also include acknowledging your state of mind.
Mindfulness also involves working to develop an attitude of kindness towards ourselves and others, along with a non-judgemental awareness of each moment as it is.
That doesn’t mean we have to like everything. But it does mean a willingness to look at things as they really are, which is an important first step in taking any action that may lead to change, whether in ourselves, our communities or our world.
The two mindfulness courses that I offer
The two courses that I offer to clients honour the roots of mindfulness from Buddhist teachings and these are combined with cognitive behavioural methods from modern psychological science. They offer mindfulness meditation practices with cognitive therapy exercises as well as suggestions for how to cultivate mindfulness in everyday life. Though they are usually taught in groups, I offer them on a one to one basis so that more focus can be put be put upon the individual and how they can incorporate mindfulness in their lives that go beyond the course.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is for people who have suffered from two or more depressive episodes while Finding Peace in a Frantic World has been designed for anyone that has an interest in developing mindfulness in their lives. You can click on the following buttons to read up further information about these two courses.
Interested in finding out more or would like to book your one to one mindfulness course? If so, please fill out the following form and I will get back to you shortly.