Wow – do we live in “interesting times” or what?
I had been doing quite well last week – putting in place plans for working from home, facing a crisis with others in a (remote) team, and just being very grateful to have a job, as so many people I know are self employed or in industries where there are mass layoffs.
However, this week reality is hitting. My parents are in the very vulnerable category. Schools are not just closing but are closed. I am noticing a distinct increase in the price of some things I normally buy. My husband is in “Furlough” so our income has dropped and I have concerns about him being at home and bored.
This means that rather than thinking vaguely that I ought to do something to focus on well-being, I am in the situation of actually, really needing to do something! Fortunately, I have a background in psychology and neuroscience, am a mindfulness teacher, have been working on a PhD in wellbeing, and am undertaking research in biophilia (more on that in a later post). This means at least I have some knowledge of what the research suggests might help!
Now, given that I am a mindfulness teacher I think you maybe slightly shocked if I didn’t think mindfulness helped. It definitely has helped me. Evidence has shown it can be a powerful tool, working on training the brain a bit like you would train your muscles. Do a bit and a little bit of the brain changes, do it a lot and you can actually make a real difference. In particular in 4 areas, namely the posterior prefrontal cortex, which in involved in attention, the insula which is involved in emotion recognition and the hypothalamus and amygdala, which are involved in the flight, fright, freeze mechanism and tend to be rather over active in anxiety! (if you want more on this do ask, and I can link to some studies).
There is not a definition of mindfulness, but one description that is often used is that by Jon Kabat Zinn, who is well known in mindfulness circles, is that of “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonj-udgmentally” This sounds really easy, and it is. Sometimes. Occasionally. Every so often. Or NOT at all – in fact mindfulness can be quite hard work!
Mindfulness has taken off over the past few years and there are loads of resources out there both brilliant and not so good. I have included a list below of sources I think are good – you may prefer one to another so see what works best for you.
I will however add a disclaimed I give to all my mindfulness students. If you are interested in exploring this go for it, but do what works for you. Mindfulness is not a cure all, and at times, when you are really stressed it can actually be rather unhelpful – if this is you, try another thing, mindfulness is just one of the tools in well-being. These tools are many and varied and I will be pulling together a few over the next few blogs to help you take care of yourself and your family.
For now I am including some on line mindfulness links, which you may find useful.
Mindfulness Links
I will start with Bangor University (where I did my initial training) – https://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness/audio/index.php.en
And Oxford University (where I have done follow up training) – https://oxfordmindfulness.org/online-sessions-podcasts/
An NHS site- - https://www.bemindfulonline.com/
Breathworks - http://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/
MSC - https://centerformsc.org/
Frantic world - http://franticworld.com/
Mrs Mindfulness - https://mrsmindfulness.com/
Mindful - https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
For those who prefer Apps then you might like to try:
Insight timer - https://insighttimer.com/
Aura - https://www.aurahealth.io/
Omvana - http://www.omvana.com/
Stop, Breath, think - https://www.stopbreathethink.com/
Calm - https://www.calm.com/
Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/
I had been doing quite well last week – putting in place plans for working from home, facing a crisis with others in a (remote) team, and just being very grateful to have a job, as so many people I know are self employed or in industries where there are mass layoffs.
However, this week reality is hitting. My parents are in the very vulnerable category. Schools are not just closing but are closed. I am noticing a distinct increase in the price of some things I normally buy. My husband is in “Furlough” so our income has dropped and I have concerns about him being at home and bored.
This means that rather than thinking vaguely that I ought to do something to focus on well-being, I am in the situation of actually, really needing to do something! Fortunately, I have a background in psychology and neuroscience, am a mindfulness teacher, have been working on a PhD in wellbeing, and am undertaking research in biophilia (more on that in a later post). This means at least I have some knowledge of what the research suggests might help!
Now, given that I am a mindfulness teacher I think you maybe slightly shocked if I didn’t think mindfulness helped. It definitely has helped me. Evidence has shown it can be a powerful tool, working on training the brain a bit like you would train your muscles. Do a bit and a little bit of the brain changes, do it a lot and you can actually make a real difference. In particular in 4 areas, namely the posterior prefrontal cortex, which in involved in attention, the insula which is involved in emotion recognition and the hypothalamus and amygdala, which are involved in the flight, fright, freeze mechanism and tend to be rather over active in anxiety! (if you want more on this do ask, and I can link to some studies).
There is not a definition of mindfulness, but one description that is often used is that by Jon Kabat Zinn, who is well known in mindfulness circles, is that of “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonj-udgmentally” This sounds really easy, and it is. Sometimes. Occasionally. Every so often. Or NOT at all – in fact mindfulness can be quite hard work!
Mindfulness has taken off over the past few years and there are loads of resources out there both brilliant and not so good. I have included a list below of sources I think are good – you may prefer one to another so see what works best for you.
I will however add a disclaimed I give to all my mindfulness students. If you are interested in exploring this go for it, but do what works for you. Mindfulness is not a cure all, and at times, when you are really stressed it can actually be rather unhelpful – if this is you, try another thing, mindfulness is just one of the tools in well-being. These tools are many and varied and I will be pulling together a few over the next few blogs to help you take care of yourself and your family.
For now I am including some on line mindfulness links, which you may find useful.
Mindfulness Links
I will start with Bangor University (where I did my initial training) – https://www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness/audio/index.php.en
And Oxford University (where I have done follow up training) – https://oxfordmindfulness.org/online-sessions-podcasts/
An NHS site- - https://www.bemindfulonline.com/
Breathworks - http://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/
MSC - https://centerformsc.org/
Frantic world - http://franticworld.com/
Mrs Mindfulness - https://mrsmindfulness.com/
Mindful - https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
For those who prefer Apps then you might like to try:
Insight timer - https://insighttimer.com/
Aura - https://www.aurahealth.io/
Omvana - http://www.omvana.com/
Stop, Breath, think - https://www.stopbreathethink.com/
Calm - https://www.calm.com/
Headspace - https://www.headspace.com/
