Mindfulness
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Dear Forum Users,
We wanted to share some information and advice about mindfulness. Some of you might be quite familiar with it, potentially something you’ve heard about in passing, or a completely new concept.
Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment, or the ‘here and now’. It’s about observing your thoughts, emotions and sensations as they arise, rather than getting swept away from them.
The reason we wanted to share a post about mindfulness is because it has proven effective in coping and reducing feelings of stress and anxiety, as well as enhancing our sleep quality and emotional regulation. It is also used in practice for treatment of depression, chronic pain and addiction.
What mindfulness can help us do is recognise patterns of stress, respond rather than react to difficult emotions, help us feel more compassionate towards ourselves and others, and improve clarity.
You could try to:
- Find a comfortable position and sit upright in your chair or on the floor, resting your hands in your lap. Close your eyes and feel comfortable.
- Bring attention to your breathing, feel the air entering through your nose filling your lungs, and exiting through your mouth or nose. Try not to control your breath, just observe it. Notice the rhythm, and the movement of your chest or belly.
- If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breath. You can count or say ‘in’ as you inhale or count or say ‘out’ as you exhale, to keep yourself focused.
- If thoughts, emotions and distractions play on your mind, acknowledge them but return your focus to your breath.
- After 5 minutes, slowly open your eyes. Take a moment to notice how you feel – physically, mentally, emotionally.
You can find some great videos of guided mindfulness on YouTube, if you’d like to explore mindfulness in more detail. There are also Apps, such as Headspace, which you can download.
Kind regards,
The Forum Team
We wanted to share some information and advice about mindfulness. Some of you might be quite familiar with it, potentially something you’ve heard about in passing, or a completely new concept.
Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally focusing on the present moment, or the ‘here and now’. It’s about observing your thoughts, emotions and sensations as they arise, rather than getting swept away from them.
The reason we wanted to share a post about mindfulness is because it has proven effective in coping and reducing feelings of stress and anxiety, as well as enhancing our sleep quality and emotional regulation. It is also used in practice for treatment of depression, chronic pain and addiction.
What mindfulness can help us do is recognise patterns of stress, respond rather than react to difficult emotions, help us feel more compassionate towards ourselves and others, and improve clarity.
You could try to:
- Find a comfortable position and sit upright in your chair or on the floor, resting your hands in your lap. Close your eyes and feel comfortable.
- Bring attention to your breathing, feel the air entering through your nose filling your lungs, and exiting through your mouth or nose. Try not to control your breath, just observe it. Notice the rhythm, and the movement of your chest or belly.
- If your mind wanders, gently bring your attention back to your breath. You can count or say ‘in’ as you inhale or count or say ‘out’ as you exhale, to keep yourself focused.
- If thoughts, emotions and distractions play on your mind, acknowledge them but return your focus to your breath.
- After 5 minutes, slowly open your eyes. Take a moment to notice how you feel – physically, mentally, emotionally.
You can find some great videos of guided mindfulness on YouTube, if you’d like to explore mindfulness in more detail. There are also Apps, such as Headspace, which you can download.
Kind regards,
The Forum Team