mindfulness - a short list of accessible resources by sam reynolds

‘Mindfulness is an integrative, mind body based approach that helps people to manage their thoughts and feelings.’

• Mental Health Foundation 

In an effort to stay ‘mindful’ of the influx of information out there about this very topic, I have decided to get straight to the point and perhaps be a little more pro active with this particular blog! 

On looking online at the mountains of research there is on mindfulness as a recovery tool, I felt totally overwhelmed, literally didn't know where to start, so in an effort to save you guys the same (ever so mild!) panic attack, which of course would completely defeat the point, I thought I would blog a little list about the exact Mindful apps/books and courses that one can dip in and out of but that can also genuinely aid healing and recovery, especially after cancer treatment, without requiring a trip to a monastery in deepest darkest Tibet. 

Apps
Im going to dive in with the mobile techy option! I have to admit that when it comes to mindfulness apps, there are a lot out there! I could write a list an arms length but the one that has totally rocked it for me and actually had me practicing for three minutes at least, every night, is Calm: Meditation techniques for stress reduction. 

It charges a small monthly charge but it is worth every penny. I love the choice of scenes that fill your screen and their matching soothing sound affects. I have been known to simply have that playing in the background while working - this lot have ‘calm’ down! 

The choice of meditations are really inspiring and very practical, such as nine seven day programmes on topics such as managing stress or Seven Days of gratitude as well as a selection of times for various individual meditations on themes including loving kindness or deep sleep. There is also a kids option too (which my nearly six year old loves, though I cant promise that she keeps still through them!) Some are guided while others are not, but I have found this app to be the most affective in keeping me in a mindful routine. 

https://www.calm.comwww.calm.com

Another one that I often dip into, not just for myself, but for my post natal clients too, is Insight Timer. 
Again, there is a small monthly charge but there are libraries of choice, from different practitioners and timings to different themes, as well as a huge selection of courses, music, stories, guided and non guided meditations. 

https://insighttimer.com

COURSES: The Haven MBSR Course 
Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life, a way of taking charge of your life, of doing something for yourself 
-The Haven, Fulham 

I did an eight week course four years ago at The Haven and loved it. I had to commute from Surrey to Fulham but it was worth the journey, even while undergoing seven weeks of radiotherapy! It is a very thorough course, exploring all the different forms of mindful practice and the theory and study behind it all. I loved finishing every two hour class with a mindful exercise, mostly lying down under blankets and listening to Caroline Hoffman, the leader of the course, guide us through body scans. 

The course is now available on line but the homework at that time was the key to the effectiveness of the course. They say it takes thirty two days to form a new habit so you are encouraged to practice every day and are given the appropriate CD’s and reading to help you. I found the homework a real distraction while waiting for my daily radiotherapy and it helped me feel less anxious and give the exercises a really realistic framework to practice them in. 

We explored mindful eating, mindful walking, sitting and even speaking. From a post cancer point of view, it was the perfect course for me at that time, as everyone there had been affected by cancer so making for a very bonding and sharing environment. 

My only negative feedback of a mindful course like this was that it merely felt I had scratched the surface of mindfulness and I felt like I needed to do another course to explore some of the themes more fully. 

For more details check out: https://www.breastcancerhaven.org.uk/Pages/Events/Category/online-classes
Effie Road
London
SW6 1TB
020 7384 0099
[email protected]

Mindful Elephant Course
‘I love my clients and the process of teaching mindfulness - although, in reality, there is no ‘teacher’ and we discover the ‘learning’ together.’
- Gill Johnson, Mindful Elephant 

For those based more around the Surrey area, there is a fantastic mindfulness course based in Godalming called Mindful Elephant (chosen because the name was quirky and memorable!) 

Gill Johnson is a mindfulness teacher and facilitator for MBSR/MBCT group courses for the general public, schools, hospitals and workplaces. After a chronic pain condition Gill found herself attracted to the work of the famous Jon Kabat-Zinn (link) and discovered links that helped her deal with her own physical pain. She started to share them with hospital patients as a volunteer and she found the improvements so dramatic that she enrolled on a training course. 

Making mindfulness accessible to everybody is something Gill feels very passionately about and she is involved in a number of other initiatives but as she admits, it is difficult to keep up with the ever evolving research that is coming out of the rapidly growing area. 

If you are interested please feel free to contact Gill; 
www.mindfulelephant.com
Tel: 07785 921 950


Lollipop Wellbeing 
‘It is a real honour to hold a safe space and offer guidance for people to explore mindfulness’

• Sheila Bayliss

I came across Shelila and her amazing Lollipop Wellbeing a few years ago, through social media. Sheila has a huge presence on twitter and runs courses in the Manchester area and occasionally Brighton. Her tips and posts on social media are a brilliant way of continuing a mindful approach to life while not on a course or afterwards. 

Sheila set up Lollipop to provide accessible support for people who want to reduce stress and improve their wellbeing when it saved her life after approaching burnout from work related stress. For those who are not local she provides as many free resources as possible via her website including audio meditations and a monthly practice plan combining ideas for mindful living. 

Shelia’s main focus within her mindful teaching is around self kindness, which of course, is something we are all in a little need of! Her recent blog ‘Everyday Mindfulness’ will resonate with a lot of us; http://www.everyday-mindfulness.org/growing-fearless-mindfulness-public-speaking-and-performance-anxiety/

Sheila discovered the self kindness area of mindfulness by accident. The more she deepened her practice the more it helped her with things like anxiety, grief and self criticism. When she attended a Breathworks Mindfulness for Stress (link) course after experiencing a lot of stress at work and in her personal life, she realised she wanted to teach because it felt like paying it forward. She is now a Breathwork associate as well as a Mindfulness teacher and as well as being a qualified personal coach working one to one with clients too, she is incredible active. 

For more details; www.lollipopwellbeing.com

BOOK - Wherever You Go, There You Are
Believe it not, I was given this book my (very mindful) mum in law! I love the title! 

Written by the man himself, Jon Kabat-Zinn, this explores all the ways we can include mindfulness in our lives, whether we be a beginner or professional! It maps out the ways of cultivating a more personal mindful frame of mind where we can appreciate each moment at a time and help make moments for rich and full. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn is also the founding director of the renowned Stress Reduction Clinic and Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He teaches mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in various venues around the world and has written a zillion books on it all (but this one, in my opinion, is one of the easiest reads!) 


BOOK - Mindfulness; A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in A Frantic World 
‘This is precisely focused to help ordinary people boost their happiness and confidence levels whilst also reducing anxiety, stress and irritability.’

• Amazon 

Another good read, this book gives a fantastic background to all things Mindful with a focus on more mindful based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) This means that the practice is more about doing a little every day for there to be any sort of effect and they help you out with a little CD in the back of the book to guide you through setting out a new mindful routine. It is a great one to have to hand if doing any mindfulness courses. 


It is specifically for people who just want to include mindful practice in their daily life for their own wellbeing rather than for depression or a specific problem and it is recommended by the UK’s very own National Institute of Clinical Excellence - in other words, it works!!


Mindful Colouring
A mindfulness course may not be your thing but if getting creative is, have a go at this. Easy to find, easy to do and perfect at helping you tune into that tiny, undiscovered space that might be waiting for liberation (and a little clarity!) 


There are umpteen colouring books on the market at the moment. I have seen a huge selection at supermarkets as well as bookshops such as Waterstones but whether you sit down and do it for five minutes or an hour, alone or with your child, it is a very easy and effective way of getting some space and mindful time into your day. 


Explore! There is so much out there on this topic but I hope these ideas may be useful. I have to admit that I do not always find it easy to come back to my breathe and focus on the now but I have also learnt that the practice of mindfulness is exactly that, practice. It doesn't need to be hours and hours every day but whether you prefer to find encouragement alone with an app or with a group in a class, it is definitely having a positive impact on many of us and if we can connect with that breathe on a regular basis and oxygenate our bodies and minds, healing has no limits. 


“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.” 
–  Jon Kabat-Zinn