How do we become more mindful
We practice paying attention to our thoughts, emotions, your senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell) and sensations in our bodies as they happen.
We learn to watch them but not get caught up in them and realise they are not all of us and tend to come and go.
Mindfulness is practiced with kindness and curiosity.
So that we are able to accept what we think and feel and be less critical of ourselves and more loving.
Mindfulness helps us see more clearly what is happening and how the mind has reacted. In this way we can make more wise choices about what we say and do.
To become more mindful, we have to practice. It is like learning to ride a bike or play a sport.
Benefits of mindfulness
Mindfulness helps us see more clearly what is happening and how the mind has reacted. We can therefore make more wise choices about what we say and do.
Key research findings demonstrate that mindfulness can enable us to cope with physical and mental health difficulties.
Help to reduce stress, anxiety, and rumination.
Help to increase empathy and self-compassion.
Reduce emotional distress, increase positive states of mind, improve quality of life.
Influence the brain, autonomic system, stress hormones, and immune system.
Promote optimal health in mind, body, spirit and relationships.
Promote healthy eating and sleep.
Technique and Attitude
What are we mindful of?
Body Awareness
We tend to live in our heads, disconnected to the body which we take for granted
The body is always in the present so helps the mind to become present
We bring our awareness to the body to steady the mind
The body often holds emotions, which we can become more aware of
The body is amazing and does so much for us
Even when the body is suffering there is still far more right than wrong
Try a Body Scan Practice
We do not need to change our experience; it is OK just as it is. Everything naturally changes, sensations wax and wane.
We can bring both a wide and narrow focus to our bodies. We experience the body from the inside; not getting caught up with appearance. We may notice more body sensations than we are normally aware of, as we bring a kindly attention to the body.
We can recognise our habitual patterns in how we relate to our bodies. We may find we avoid some parts or are devoid of sensations, that’s OK
A sense of grounding, of being held; be curious; we are not our sensations; eing rather than doing .
Try a Breath Awareness Practice
We often live a great deal of our life in automatic pilot or mental “time travelling” when we are caught up in thinking about the past, future or are daydreaming. Our breath brings us to the present and helps us to anchor our awareness to each moment.
Where do you notice your breath the most: maybe the belly, chest, movement of the air in the throat or nose or the whole breath cycle? Does your belly rise on the inbreathe, which it will natural do when we are relaxed, or does it contract?
Compassion
Compassion is “being sensitive to the suffering of self and others with a deep commitment to try to prevent and relieve it” Dalai Lama
“The two parts of genuine acceptance – seeing clearly and holding our experience with compassion – are as interdependent as the two wings of a great bird. Together, they enable us to fly and be free. ” Tara Brach
Why not try a Safe Place Practice
Our teachers’ research
Some of our mindfulness teachers have recently completed master degrees which involved research into their own specially developed mindfulness courses or exploration of areas of interest. The topics included:
The impact of a mindfulness- and compassion- based intervention with children and young people experiencing anxiety and their parents: a mixed method study.
Bullying and Pupil Attitudes: The role of a ‘Positive Mindfulness’ programme in affecting attitudes of bullying in the classroom.
Core Process psychotherapy, its roots in Buddhist psychology, mindfulness practice and Ecotherapy.
Please contact us if you would like to find out more.
Forest Therapy
Forest Therapy is a research-based approach for supporting health and wellness through immersion in forests and other environments to promote the well-being of people and natural landscapes.
Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, which translates to “forest bathing,” it is a practice of spending time in forested areas for the purpose of enhancing health, wellness and happiness.
