The mind is often described as a “cage of chattering monkeys”, generating somewhere between 50,000 and 90,000 thoughts every single day. Many of these thoughts come and go but there are some that take root and form patterns that, unless we’re careful, can lead us into some dark, negative places or become habitual….our “go to” refuge when certain things happen and prevent us from living to our full potential.
I certainly found this to be true…
I first encountered mindfulness around 12 years ago. I’d been through some difficulties which left me feeling lonely and isolated at times. Every now and again, my mood would plunge into a downward spiral that I found difficult to get out of. I was seeing a counsellor at the time and was advised to check out a book called “The Mindful Path to Self-compassion” by Christopher Germer. I also got a copy of “Mindfulness – a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world” by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.
Although both books are excellent and give insight into different aspects of mindfulness, at the time I struggled to really get a handle on what they were teaching, I felt stuck….
A little while afterwards, I saw an advert for an 8 week programme being run by Bangor University. At the time, along with Oxford, Bangor was one of the leading centres for mindfulness research. It was a “self-study” programme, delivered via distance learning and using a workbook along with a variety of recorded meditations – it also gave the opportunity to speak to a Tutor once a week. I enrolled and found the programme a lot easier to follow than the books and I really appreciated having someone to talk to about what I was learning and experiencing. It also gave a certain amount of accountability that “just reading a book” couldn’t….
I completed the programme and continued to practise what I’d learned for some time. This included various meditations: awareness of breath; the body scan and mindful movement,, to name but a few (all of which I now teach). I also went back to the Williams and Penman book and slowly started to understand how my mind worked given certain situations.
So, what did I learn, what insights did I glean?
- I became more and more aware of the “busy-ness” of my own mind. By learning how to “come into the present moment”, I slowly started to extricate myself from the “spaghetti of thoughts” I often experienced and realised that I have the power to change the way I think. By not allowing thoughts to control me, I’ve learned that I can intervene and choose which thoughts to give time to and which I can just “let go”.
- I also realised that most, if not all of us, struggle with this barrage of thoughts from time to time. Not only have I learned to be kinder to myself but I’ve also started to be more understanding and compassionate towards others and their struggles.
- I’ve also learned to appreciate more some of the things we often take for granted. Going for a nice walk, being outside and enjoying nature, birdsong, really savouring a nice meal…..
Despite these insights, little by little, over time, my practice started to slip…I started to discover other things that at the time seemed more useful to me.
A few years ago, after completing my studies as a Coach, I attended a workshop given by the author Jackee Holder. During her presentation, the subject of mindfulness came up again as did a book called “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron. I’d always considered myself to be a fairly creative person but hadn’t really exercised this particular muscle for many years. The book took me on a 12 week journey of discovery and introduced me to “journaling” or, more specifically, to Cameron’s version which she calls “morning pages”. The idea is that each morning, we write about whatever is going on for us… feelings… thoughts… experiences… whether it makes sense or not. I found this a great way of just getting things out of my mind and onto a page and have been a strong advocate of journaling ever since.
In 2018, I ventured back into practising mindfulness. There was no particular reason, no catalyst as such, it just “felt right”. Little did I know at the time that an important piece of a jigsaw had fallen into place.
Later that year, I went for a coffee and as I was waiting to be served, I happened to see a flyer advertising “Mindfulness for Men”. I took the details and went back to my seat. I’m really not sure what happened between waiting at the counter and sitting down – it was almost an “epiphany moment” – but I heard myself say “I could teach that”…
After a bit of research, I found a provider who offered mindfulness teacher training and enrolled on the “Mindfulness Now” programme. Soon after this, I spoke to the teacher offering the sessions I’d seen advertised in the coffee shop. It turns out that she too had been trained by Mindfulness Now and that we shared some common interests.
In the March of 2019, I spent a week in Bristol undergoing my training. I’d taken the first step towards becoming a Mindfulness Teacher. Following that was assignment work and a case study which, for me, was delivering an 8 week mindfulness programme to a group of 10 people.
Since completing my qualification in July 2019, I’ve delivered a good number of 8 week programmes with some excellent feedback, I’ve developed a shorter programme which encourages taking a more mindful approach to managing stress and building resilience and, with the encouragement of a good friend of mine, I’ve created a podcast called “Take a break…stress less”. I also incorporate mindfulness into my coaching practice along with other tools and techniques including clinical hypnotherapy and NLP to facilitate change and transformation.
Oh, and I’ve been delivering a programme called “Get Mindfit 4 Men”. This encourages men to come together and open up about some of the things that are bothering them – it also introduces some simple mindfulness practices that can help during difficult times. I see this as very much a fulfilment of that “vision” in the coffee shop almost 5 years ago!
So, what of the future?
- I’ll be delivering some free mindfulness “taster” sessions shortly….if you live in my area, keep your eyes peeled for the dates….
- I’m in the process of writing and recording three more podcasts and will hopefully be publishing the first one next month
- I’m also planning a retreat day that will take place in the spring of 2023.
And finally…
If anything I’ve written resonates with you or you’d like more information about the mindfulness sessions I run, why not get in touch…you can email me at info@mindfulalchemy.co.uk
Some links you may find interesting:
https://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/news/mindfulness-frame-by-frame/
