Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to the present moment with greater openness and compassion. It can help you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions, without immediately getting caught up in them or judging yourself for having them.
Rather than trying to clear your mind or make difficult feelings disappear, mindfulness helps you develop a different relationship with your experience.
It can help you treat yourself with more care and compassion, and choose how you want to respond to difficult thoughts and feelings rather than automatically reacting.
Mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist practices, with a history spanning thousands of years. However, the approach does not require any particular religious or spiritual beliefs.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American professor, played an important role in bringing mindfulness into modern healthcare in the West through the development of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Choosing how to respond, rather than automatically reacting.
When a difficult thought or feeling shows up, it is easy to react on autopilot. Mindfulness helps you pause and notice what is happening, so you can choose how you want to respond.
Mindfulness can be incorporated into therapy in a way that is practical and tailored to you.
I often use mindfulness within other therapy models such as CAT and ACT, since it can be a really useful skill to develop and is effective for managing stress and difficult emotions.
Mindfulness may be helpful if you:
Mindfulness-based approaches have been extensively researched and can help reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, and support emotional wellbeing.
You can read more about Jon Kabat-Zinn and his work at jonkabat-zinn.com
Contact Dr Jen today to talk about whether mindfulness could help you.
