I believe that mindfulness is the new must-have life accessory. It’s become a bit of a buzz word, some might say a ‘fad’. However as a mindfulness devotee and educator, I think it deserves the hype!
It’s a scientific approach with over 30 years of research from top universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, Cambridge and Yale which shows positive, evidenced based results in the areas of mental and emotional wellbeing.
So what is it? Mindfulness is a form of meditation that focuses on simply being present and in the moment in our lives. It is a set of simple techniques and exercises which increases our capacity to be more aware of our present moment experience. Like going to the gym, it’s a form of training but instead of training the body we train the mind. It therefore requires practice and repetition.
So, what do we mean by increasing awareness? Through mindfulness we regularly practice noticing. Noticing our thoughts, our feelings, our reactions, physical sensations in our bodies and our surroundings. We do this with curiosity and we try to not judge our experiences as good or bad. So, the practice comes from a place of compassion and of care for ourselves and the experiences we are having.
Through the repeated practice of noticing our moment to moment experiences with curiosity and compassion, incredible changes start to occur within our brain neurology and hence within our thinking and feeling minds. We become more able to direct our attention thus our thoughts, we become less reactive mentally and emotionally, we become less critical of ourselves and others, our feelings of stress and tension starts to reduce, we sleep better, we can concentrate better, we are more productive at work, we feel overall a greater sense of happiness and well-being; and all of this from a starting commitment of just 12 minutes a day!
In addition, mindfulness has been proven to be highly effective for relieving anxiety, reducing symptoms of depression and increasing the feeling state of relaxation. Other positive results include greater levels of self-acceptance, increased ability to feel compassion for yourself and others, better personal relationships and a feeling of more depth and meaning to life.
My own personal experience, having regularly practised now for a couple of years is all of the above and more! For me it has supported a deeper and more authentic connection to myself and to the decisions I make in my life. It grounds me and provides a constant that remains with me despite an ever changing outside world. It has increased the sense of home within myself and opened up more capacity to sit with the feelings of sometimes not knowing, to ‘be’ more rather than do all the time.
I am so passionate about how it can change lives that I have started running an ‘Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation Course for Beginners’ in Perth. Over a 4-week period you can learn how to start a regular home practice and experience the benefits in your life. You will develop a tool that will be with you for life. If you’d like to know more about the course and course dates please follow this link https://
In my next blog I’ll share some simple tips about how to get started with a regular mindfulness meditation practice. I’ll also share ways to start accessing core creativity in your life through mindfulness meditation.
Much love,
Claire
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