All You Need to Know about Mindfulness

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to go back over some of the key topics I’ve blogged about and to give a complete list of my blogs for each topic. Just click on the links to access the blog articles.

This week focuses on all you need to know about Mindfulness. We hear a lot about it these days but what exactly does it involve and does it help to lower stress and anxiety?

This blog looks at some of the benefits of mindfulness in calming the mind, staying focussed and dealing with difficult emotions. It looks at the work of Jon Kabat Zinn who has been responsible for bringing mindfulness into mainstream healthcare over the past 30 years and shows you one of his most powerful exercises for developing self-confidence and strength.

This blog looks at 5 really powerful stress-busting techniques including mindfulness. The other techniques are 7/11 Breathing, Progressive Relaxation, the Body Scan and Visualisation which is used by top sports people and athletes today.

Mindfulness can help us to manage emotions which can sometimes feel overpowering. Emotions have a powerful influence over our lives and as much as we like to think that we are logical and reasonable, we make decisions based on whether we’re feeling sad, happy, bored or angry. Read this blog to learn 6 powerful techniques to manage your emotions and stay on an even keel.

Self-compassion and the Vagus Nerve

New neurological research is showing that the results of practicing self-compassion are real and measurable. It has been shown, for example, that the vagus nerve (the longest nerve in the body going from the brain and down through all the major organs) controls inflammation in the body. Inflammation is one of the major contributors to aging of the body and plays a key role in illness and disease. This blog looks at down to earth practical ways we can practice self- compassion, something we can feel a little uncomfortable about.

This blog demonstrates how new research about the process of acceptance is showing that if we are able to adopt a mindful approach to difficult experiences and situations in our lives, it can help us cope. Indeed it can help us to feel better both emotionally and physically. When we are suffering from pain or chronic illness, mindfulness and acceptance doesn’t mean that we give up in despair – it is more a question of coming to a state of acceptance that this is how things are, at least at the present time.

And closely related to this, the final post looks at mindfulness and how it can be a powerful tool for those suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.

Need some advice and support?

If you are interested in learning more about how mindfulness might benefit you in your life  as a way to deal with challenging emotions or situations, call Alison Winfield, Mindfully Well Counselling Cork on 087 9934541.