This course is structured in a way that you are gently introduced to the concept of focused attention but mindfulness doesn't just happen.

Unfortunately, some people’s expectations are very high and expect that after a few day’s practice it should all fall into place.

It just doesn’t happen that way! 

We have spent our whole life creating habits and spend much of our time on autopilot. This is the habit we are going to try and break as you gradually learn how to punctuate many parts of your day with mindful awareness.

Your autopilot mind will try to get in the way of this new awareness but you are urged to stay focused on your practice and over time you will begin to recognise that you’ll be stepping back from the autopilot way of doing things more and more.

But First...

You need to practice the mindfulness meditations within this course and do so with an air of openness, acceptance and a non-judgemental nature. You’re learning a new skill. Give it time, have patience and be kind to yourself when you feel it’s not going right for you.

This course has been designed to work especially for you. It has been designed to:

a) Help you develop practical mindfulness skills for you to adapt to work for you and your own personal circumstances.

b) Develop a better cognitive awareness of yourself so you can recognise where you can be more mindful and apply your newly learned mindfulness skills where they will best work for you.

Our approach to mindfulness is practical in its approach so the main part of each session of the course will be practical in nature.

The course may seem daunting when you look at how many sessions there are. We have heard many people ask, “How will I fit it in to my busy life?” 

The answer is always the same, “You can only do one practice at a time. You do not have to race through the course. Schedule practice time that fits in with your life and commitments and you’ll easily fit it in”.

Some mindfulness and meditation courses involve lengthy practice of up to 45 minutes in each practice. We have recognised that this is impracticable for many people with busy lives.

This course has been designed that once learned, in many circumstances, our mindfulness approach can be applied ‘on the go’ whilst still adapting to the concept of mindful awareness.

Many of the meditations are short in duration and don’t take much time at all. Success will come from understanding the practice for each session and scheduling time for practice. 

After all, there are many things in life that we have to plan for, make appointments for otherwise things just wouldn’t get done.

The same for our course of mindfulness. If you plan your practice time and set realistic timings with adequate availability you will be well placed to actually practice your mindfulness meditations and exercises. 

If you expect to just fit it in wherever, then unfortunately you’re setting yourself up for disorganised chaos!

Take Your time – Don’t Rush

Learn mindfulness at your own pace. There is only a start time but the finish time is in your control.

It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice much.

Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing. This awareness is called Mindfulness. 

Mindfulness can help us enjoy life more and understand ourselves better.

What Does it Mean to Be More Mindful?

Mindfulness means having a better awareness of what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.

It's easy to stop noticing the world around us. It's also easy to lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living 'in our heads' – caught up in our thoughts without stopping to notice how those thoughts are driving our emotions and behaviour.

An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means waking up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. 

That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs.

Another important part of mindfulness is an awareness of our thoughts and feelings as they happen moment to moment. It's about allowing ourselves to see the present moment clearly. 

When we do that, it can positively change the way we see ourselves and our lives.

How Mindfulness Helps Mental Wellbeing

Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better. 

When we become more aware of the present moment, we begin to experience afresh things that we take for granted.

Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful.

This lets us stand back from our thoughts and start to see their patterns. Gradually, we can train ourselves to notice when our thoughts are taking over and realise that thoughts are simply 'mental events' that do not have to control us.

Most of us have issues that we find hard to let go and mindfulness can help us deal with them more productively. We can ask: 'Is trying to solve this by brooding about it helpful, or am I just getting caught up in my thoughts?'

Awareness of this kind also helps us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and helps us deal with them better.

Mindfulness is described as paying attention to the present moment with intention, while letting go of judgment, as if our life depends on it. 

The present is the only real moment we have. Mindfulness helps improve our concentration and reduce ruminative thinking that contributes to the high levels of stress that is so prevalent in our society.

Stress and ruminative thinking are not only mental health hazards but they are quite often, the very symptoms that lead people to seek out the help of a therapist. 

Mindfulness is an incredible tool to help people understand, tolerate, and deal with their emotions in healthy ways. It helps us to alter our habitual responses by taking pause and choosing how we act.

When we are mindful, we experience our life as we live it. We experience the world directly through our five senses, we recognise the thoughts we are having. 

In doing so, we learn how our minds work and we are better able to label the thoughts and feelings we are having instead of allowing them to overpower us and dictate our behaviour.

Mindfulness presents an effective method to get to know oneself and it helps us to live in the present moment rather than muddling along too much on autopilot. 

When we learn to be more mindful, we learn to train our mind to observe our own thoughts, feelings, and sensations with an objective view.

We learn to do this with compassion, as people tend to lose patience with themselves, particularly in the early stages of practicing mindfulness or trying out meditation. 

When we release judgment and learn to live in the moment, we increase our mental agility as well as learning to better regulate our emotions.

Learning mindfulness enables us able to take pause and react in a more constructive way in emotional or physical conflicting situations. 

A simple breathing exercise can interrupt an outburst and lead to a more favourable outcome. 

When we are reactive, falling victim to our immediate thoughts or emotions, we are not always acting in our own self-interest.

Mindfulness provides a great tool for developing more self-acceptance which helps us build our compassion for others. 

It allows us to take more power and be more strategic in terms of our goals. It can bring us closer to the people we care about and help us to interrupt self-sabotaging patterns we’ve adopted throughout our lives.

Teaching ourselves to calm down and to be more receptive than reactive is a practice made possible through mindfulness techniques.

Whether learning to meditate or merely to tune in with ourselves at various times throughout our day, we are enhancing our ability to feel more integrated and to act with integrity. We improve our ability to focus our attention.

We are better able to slow the racing thoughts that lead us to engage in limiting or self- sabotaging behaviours. We strengthen our resilience and enhance our capacity to experience the joys of everyday life.

It is advised to follow the instructions for your daily practice. Learning to be more mindful doesn’t just happen, regular daily practice is needed.

You are learning a new skill that is probably unfamiliar to you. For mindfulness to become habit and for it to have a positive impact on your wellbeing, your commitment and willingness to find suitable time to practice and reflect is important.

Don’t Have Enough Time?

Some people say they don’t have enough time; that they can’t fit in the different mindfulness practices. Just think for a minute the times during the day where you aren’t doing anything that requires physical or mental attention:

• Quiet times at home or work.

• At your desk at work.

• Having breakfast or any snack/meal during the day.

• Walking to work or the train station. Sitting on a train or bus.

• Waiting for the children at school.

• Preparing/cooking a meal. Waiting for the kettle to boil.

• During lunch breaks or in the evening or other times where you are ‘free’.

• What about the amount of time you might spend on social media? Maybe you could choose to be more mindful during your ‘phone time’.

Practice Makes Perfect!

The more you practice mindfulness meditation, the more it will become part of your day. YES, it will be a little difficult at first because this is not ‘normal’ practice for you:

• Take time to familiarise yourself with the practice required for each day.

• Schedule the time when you believe you can practice. It won’t just happen without your input and commitment. Set schedules you can keep.

• Create an effective reminder system, whether that is reminders that ping on your phone, set email reminders or post it notes in convenient places or even ask people to provide gentle prompts.

When you are familiar with the individual mindfulness exercises and meditations, practice them each day without the accompanying recordings. 

Practice, Practice and a Little More Practice!

Mindfulness meditation is very enjoyable. Get into the mindset that this is something you want to not, not something you have to do. 

If you get into the right mindset of learning and practicing mindfulness, not only will you see that the practices for each day do not interfere with your day, you will soon recognise that it is easy to develop effective mindfulness practice. It will soon become 2nd nature for you.

Think about times when you really could commit to a few minutes of mindfulness practice each day. 

Before you say you don’t have time for practice, check to see if that statement really is true.