Mindfulness

Mindfulness as defined by Jon Kabat - Zinn

“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, in a particular way, non-judgementally”

The utilisation of Mindfulness Meditation within a therapeutic framework is now well established.

Mindfulness is the only NHS (NICE) approved Meditation and has therefore been a evaluated as a proven method for helping to resolve issues relating to Anxiety and Depression.

So what exactly is Mindfulness?

 Well there is certainly a lot of confusion surrounding this particular form of therapy.

I often hear people talking about mindfulness as being a tool for ‘clearing’ the mind, when really this is missing the point.

Equally people often feel the need to find the perfect time in which to practice Mindfulness. Again, while this might be useful in the beginning, it is also beneficial to look at mindfulness a little differently.

So rather than ‘clearing the mind’, Mindfulness should be seen as means for noticing what is on your mind right now ‘ in a particular way, non-judgementally ’. This means ‘Noticing’ and ‘Accepting’ within a well defined therapeutic framework.
So to this end, to be most effective, Mindfulness needs to be taught exactly in the way it was designed to be taught.

This is therefor exactly the way you will learn Mindfulness should you attend our clinics.

‘Bringing awareness to the present moment’ - what is often described as ‘being in the now’ relates to the Buddhist concept of just concentrating on what you are doing without distraction.

‘If you’re walking - walk, if you’re eating - eat.’

In other words there is immense therapeutic value to be derived from taking a break from ‘Multi - tasking’.

The human brain has the ability to multi-task, but it will very much appreciate the opportunity to take a break from it - to concentrate just on one thing , even if it is for as little as five or ten minutes a day.

Equally we should not wait for the perfect moment to practice mindfulness. Instead one should understand Mindfulness as a way of life. Of living in a way that allows us to gain therapeutic value from the simple act of lifting a coffee cup or walking to your car.

Of course while it is nice to be able to take time away from everything and practice meditation, it is very important to see Mindfulness practice as a means for coping with all the various stresses and pressures of normal day to day life.

COMBINING HYPNOSIS WITH MINDFULNESS

At one time the idea of combining these two quite different modalities was frowned upon. We were in fact one of the first clinics to ‘layer’ hypnosis and mindfulness, and in doing so immediately found we were producing impressive results.