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Mindfulness in 2020 | My top 10 resolutions for a mindful new year

The lovely paté and brie glow I seem to have acquired over Christmas is now slowly fading; along with late-starts in the morning and the abundance of tiny chocolate treats throughout the day. 2020 has arrived and is desperate for our attention. So, in this brief but welcomed first weekend in January, I find myself making plans for the year ahead. Here are my observations – those things I have decided I want with me as I leap bravely into this new decade. 

I’ve called my want list ‘resolutions’ because it seems the right thing to do. But they are simply the hopes that inspire me most, I hope they make you feel good too.

#1 Retreats, more and more mindful retreats 

Outside of mindful retreat venue
Mindful morning retreats held at the Xavier Centre, Carfin.

I ran my very first series of mindful morning retreats in 2019, the last of which was on the 18th of December, just as the holiday period approached. To bring together a group of people who want to practice meditation in a shared space, sometimes indoors, sometimes outdoors, is really what Mindfulness Practice is all about for me. I want to continue these for as long as I can and the first of these is already setup for you. If you want to come along, book here. 

#2 Public speaking and big group mindfulness 

Presenting at the Practical Mindset event in Hamilton last year.

On a slightly larger scale, I had the opportunity to lead a mindful practice session with a group of 50 delegates at the Practical Mindset event last year. It took place during our beautiful long summer in the picturesque setting of Chatelherault Country Park. I got so much from the event, the chance to share my thoughts on mindfulness practice and its place in the development of mental health services, self-care and recovery. I’m looking forward to more of this in 2020, starting with a mindful workshop at the Career Development Institute’s conference in Glasgow this month. I know I have much to contribute in this area as the coordinator of the Coalition of Schools Educating Mindfully COSEM in Scotland. 

#3 Greater access to MBSR CPD training

I want to find more ways to bring certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction MBSR training to those who are practising with me on a regular basis. It sounds like a lot, but it’s really not, and if you work in health or social care, gaining the MBSR CPD credits is definitely worthwhile. If I’m already talking you round (well that was easy) let me tell you more about it right here. 

#4 More audio meditations for your convenience 

Free audio recordings of mindfulness meditations for you to follow at home.

Guided meditation is such a luxury when you’ve had a difficult day or your morning feels a little less glorious than you would like. Your feedback on the audio available from my site has been really positive and all of that positivity simply makes me want to do more. 

#5 Help those working with vulnerable young people 

I gained some experience last year that I am so very grateful for, as I got to work directly with young people. These clients were looking not only for mental health support but for some careers guidance and coaching too. It really was an ideal job, and I got so much out of it, it will be difficult to top this year. I did, however, get a very real insight into just how demanding that kind of work can be and as a result, I have increased respect and admiration for those of you who work directly with children, young people and those with additional support needs on a daily basis. I’ll be bidding for contracts across the country specifically looking to support staff in these areas with their everyday stressors. 

#6 Work the circuits 

Apologies, that was an attempt at a gym reference, only I don’t really do anything at the gym *except meditate, so probably messed it up a little. So, my contract with NL Leisure is up for review. I would love to offer a one-hour weekly mindfulness meditation class in every gym in the country, but it’s just not that straight forward. I’ll be spending more time this year talking to wellbeing and procurement professionals in gyms in your local area to find ways of bringing weekly mindful meditation classes to our gyms. If you live in North Lanarkshire you can sign up to weekly mindful meditation classes right here.

#7 More reading recommendations 

One thing I know I’ll never tire of is reading, and reading about mindfulness practice is my passion. I’m looking forward to sharing with you more of the pieces that I recommend for your bookshelf, kindle or just a quick excerpt here and there for you to read on the train. 

#8 Managing my anxiety and depression  

Mindfulness meditation is now the number one recommended therapy for the treatment of depression according to NICE. And I can vouch for its success. I suffer from depression and anxiety. While recovering from a prolonged period of depression in 2010, I discovered mindfulness meditation and began using it, along with many other forms of support, to aid my recovery. Mindfulness meditation continues to be a daily source of happiness and mental strength for me, during good and bad days. I will continue to share some of my own personal experience of recovery and I would love to hear more about your experiences too. 

#9 New materials fit for a new decade 

It’s with great pleasure that we are working again with the fabulous graphic designer Suzie Black. She’s helped build the Mindfulness Practice brand and we’re delighted to be in cahoots with her on some new materials for the events ahead – watch this space. 

#10 More family time, of course 

My number one priority, Therese and little Milo are getting more involved with Mindfulness Practice this year. Expect to see them at events and you may even hear from Therese sometimes on our social and web content. With their continued support and encouragement, I know I can embrace everything this year has to offer with acceptance and joy. 

That’s all from me, I wish you all a very happy and healthy year ahead and leave you with these beautiful words from a very moving poem by the renowned poet Mary Oliver.

The stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, 
and there was a new voice 
which you slowly 
recognized as your own, 
that kept you company 
as you strode deeper and deeper 
into the world, 
determined to do 
the only thing you could do- 
determined to save 
the only life you could save. 

from the poem The Journey by Mary Oliver
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7 quick meditations for busy lives

Start here if you are new to mindfulness or looking for some quick meditation ideas. Know that your focus on self-care and mental wellbeing is just as important as looking after your physical well-being. Next time you are counting steps or logging meals, take a minute to breathe in. And breathe out. And ease down into relaxation.

Becoming aware of your thoughts

I found that relaxation was something I had to learn. And for me, that started with noticing when tension would first appear. The following quick meditations are designed around the points in the day when a 60-second grounding technique can go unnoticed. Once you start to feel the benefits of relaxation you become aware of when you need it most. These quick stress management exercises can fit into your day and there is no equipment needed.

Busy mums and dads. Back to back meetings. Wrong side of the bed. Don’t let a bad day get the better of you. A common technique I have adopted from the practice of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT is to break your day up into thirds. This can help you gain control after an awful morning, restart your evening and find lots of little opportunities for quick mediations.

Morning meditations

These are two different meditations both perfect for busy mornings. Both can be practiced in the shower or simply while washing your face. The idea is to observe your mega morning thoughts; the ones that make you feel like you have lived an entire day before even leaving the house, sometimes before leaving the bed. By listening to your thoughts you become an observer. The aim is not to control them; just to listen and let go.

Mindful Cleansing

In the shower, or standing at the wash hand basin, let the water start to flow and try to tune into the sound it makes as it rushes from the faucet or showerhead. Notice the change in pitch as the water hits your skin and the ceramic bath or sink. Let your morning brain activate; we are natural thinkers so it’s perfectly normal for your mind to present all of the day’s potential problems to you as you listen to the water’s changing pitch and speed.

Be kind to yourself; acknowledge your thoughts and notice when this happens. Take care to inhale and on the exhale, bring your mind back to the sound of the water; rushing from the shower head; changing tone and pace as it completes it short journey down the plughole. Take three slow cleansing breaths and turn the water off.

Well done; have a great day!

Mindful Drying

This is a really simple but effective practice. It takes no longer than the time it takes to dry yourself after a shower or in the few minutes sitting on the bed before you start to get dressed. It incorporates some self-massage techniques into your routine that I promise you will continue to use because this is a fantastically easy way to practice self-care.

As well as providing a great start to your day, this type of mindful practice is also perfect post-workout or post-workday when your body might be carrying tension and stress.

Using your own hand, begin by massaging your neck from the center to your ear and from center to your shoulder switching hands to cover both sides of your neck and both shoulders.

Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Inhale and exhale. Now move to the arm, working down one arm from the shoulder to the elbow, wrist, palm of your hand and fingers. Now massage the second arm, acknowledging the thoughts that enter and leave and using the out breath to come back to the body and the sensations you feel.

Feel any tension leave that part of your body as you exhale and notice any feelings of satisfaction or gratitude as you ease down into relaxation.

It is only natural that your thoughts return to the activities and challenges that today brought. Be mindful of these thoughts; notice and listen, but each time you move to another part of the body try to refocus on that massaging sensation and what is feels like. Feel any tension in the arms and hands, legs and feet and of course shoulders. Gently massage, one hand at a time, feeling the warmth the movement brings.

When you’re ready to open your eyes, take three deep breaths. Breath slowly and fill your stomach. Hold the breath and exhale slowly.

Well done. You listened to your thoughts but didn’t let them control you. This time was all yours and you gave yourself some self-care in the form of a mindful massage.

Mindful Eating

This has to be one of my favourites. But first let us cast the image of the raisin and our first experience of this practice out of our minds. There is so much to explore with this practice.

As you sit down, notice the sensation of smell and how the food conjures thoughts of the taste and the hunger. Using cereal as an example, pick up the table spoon, feel its temperature in your hand, its smoothness or texture. Notice how the spoon slides effortlessly into the cereal bowl and the noise this makes. Bring the spoon to your mouth and take that first mouthful.

If your mind wanders, notice this and return to the texture and taste of the cereal in your mouth. How your tongue activates those senses of taste and the thoughts associated. Now bring your attention to how that cereal got here, from the packet or box, from the store you bought it from. As you chew, think about how it got delivered to the store, how it was made in the factory, all the way back to the beginning of the wheat or rice being grown. Perhaps even the plants being planted or seeds sown. I find that I get lost in this imagination while eating and it helps ground and calm my mind. Fantastic!

Mindfulness of Touch

Find a comfortable seat at home and remove your shoes/slippers. Just sit in the seat as you would and begin scanning your sense of touch. Perhaps the sensations of your feet touching the floor. Maybe you begin with the back of your head or neck touching the sofa. See where your brain wants to go next, the back touching the sofa, your clothes resting against your shoulders or knees. Perhaps even your socks on your feet. When you notice your thoughts wandering, with kindness and without judgement, bring your focus back to the last sensation of touch. dont try and control the order of the sensing, just let it come automatically. Repeat this for 10 mins. Another self care start to ease the mind and promote awareness of a moment between body and mind.

Awakening the Breathe

Begin this exercise first thing in the morning or perhaps for at lunch. Start by taking in 5 long deep breathes. Controlling the breathing and bring focus to that control. Keep the breathing long and deep, into the chest. Observing the expansion and contraction. Repeat this for 2 minutes. On the emergence of the next out breathe, bring the focus of the breathing down to the stomach, noticing the sensations of the rising and falling stomach. Repeat this for 2 minutes. As the next out breath comes round, place the imagnation on the whole body breathing. As you breathe in the air comes in through the lungs, down into the stomach, legs and feet. As you breathe out, imagine all that air coming out of the feet, back up the legs, up through the stomach and lungs. Repeat for 2 minutes. Now return the focus back to the breathing down to the stomach, repeat for two minutes. Now return to the breathing at the chest for 2 minutes. Taking your time and bring yourself back to where you are, sitting, lying down at home, on the train or even in the office. Enjoy.

Morning Awakening.

As the Alarm awakes you, reset it today for just 10 minutes later. Just today. Take your time. While you lie in bed, notice the warmth and comfort and how it makes you feel. Really take your time. Listen to the birds outside. The kids in the other room. The cars passing in the street. Now bring something positive to the front of you mind. Something positive you will do today. For yourself. Help others? Maybe its that favourite song. Favourite walk. That hot bath. Calling a friend or family member. Helping a colleague.

When you have decided, cast your mind forward to that positive moment. What will it feel like? How will you feel? Smile ( even fake ones work you know). Now let alarm go off and start your day….ahhh…..ready?

Mountain Pose

To start this exercise, find a quiet room at home. Begin by standing feet, hip width apart. Bend the knees slightly, no locked joints please. Pull in your pelvic floor and core. Notice how this strenghts the back and posture. Place both arms by your side palms resting against the side of each leg. Now start by taking in a nice slow deep breathe and at the same time, Raise the arms, allowing the breathe to control the speed, up above the head until the palms meet each other. No breathe out slowly, lowering the arms back down to the legs. See if you can notice the slight pause between the end and beginning of each breathe. Repeat this process for 15 breathes. Enjoy

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Mindful Awareness

This exercise is designed to cultivate a heightened awareness and appreciation of simple things we do in our day that we go unnoticed and experienced.

Think of something that happens every day more than once; something you take for granted, like making a cup of tea.

At the very moment you touch the kettle to start the boil, stop for a moment and be mindful of where you are, how you feel in that moment and how the tea could make you feel.

Similarly, the moment you open your computer to start work, take a moment to appreciate the hands that enable this process and the brain that awakens your understanding of how to use the computer.

These cues don’t have to be physical ones either.

Each time you think a negative thought, you might choose to take a moment to stop, label the thought as unhelpful and release the negativity.

Or, perhaps each time you smell food, you take a moment to stop and appreciate how lucky you are to have good food available to you in that moment.

Choose a touch point that resonates with you today and, instead of going through your daily motions on autopilot, take occasional moments to stop and cultivate purposeful awareness of what you are doing and the blessings these actions bring to your life.

I find I do this with breakfast, travel, sitting or walking. The great thing about this exercise is that you can do it at any point and you can get so much more from these small experiences than you knew.

Explore and enjoy

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Mindfulness of Emotions

We have looked at some of the easier of the mindful practices. Lets ramp it up a little bit today.

Now we can start Being mindful of emotions to help us stand back from the emotion, understand it, not to fear it or
struggle against it, and it can have the added benefit of reducing the distress (although the aim is to learn to accept the experience, rather than lessen the distress).

Bring your attention to the breath. Notice your breathing as you slowly breathe in and out, noticing the sensations as the stomach inflates on
the in-breath, and deflates on the out-breath. Notice the feelings, and what it feels like.

 

Name the emotion:
1 What is it?
2 What word best describes what you are feeling?
3 Angry, sad, anxious, irritated, scared, frustrated…
Accept the emotion. It’s a normal body reaction. It can be helpful to understand how
it came about – what it was, the set of circumstances that contributed to you feeling
this way. Don’t condone or judge the emotion. Simply let it move through you without resisting it, struggling against it, or encouraging it.

Investigate the emotion.
1 How intensely do you feel it?
2 How is you breathing?

3 What are you feeling in your body? Where do you feel it?
4 What’s your posture like when you feel this emotion?
5 Where do you notice muscle tension?
6 What’s your facial expression? What does your face feel like?
7 Is anything changing? (nature, position, intensity)
What thoughts or judgements do you notice? Just notice those thoughts. Allow them
to come into your mind, and allow them to pass. Any time you find that you’re
engaging with the thoughts – judging them or yourself for having them, believing
them, struggling against them, just notice, and bring your attention back to your
breathing, and to the physical sensations of the emotion.
If any other emotions come up, if anything changes, simply notice and repeat the steps
above. Just notice that the feelings change over time.

Explore and Enjoy

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Mindfulness Exercise: The Table Top

This exercise is a simple coordination of breath and movement. It will bring back some energy to.

1. Lie on your back and, with you legs stretched out, allow yourself to be completely calm.

2. On the in breath spread open your toes like a flower opening. On the out breath scrunch your toes as if the flower was closing. If you cramp a little, just slow the movement. Its also a sign of dehydration, so drink plenty water.

3.Now when inhaling, point the toes gently away from your body and on the exhale flex your feet up towards you body.

4. Now slowly curl your ankles in each directions, clockwise, then anti-clockwise

5. Next, bring one leg to 90 degrees. On the in breath open the knee and extend the leg towards the ceiling. On the out breath fold it back to 90 degrees. repeat 5 to 10 times on eahc leg.

6. Next bring your heels up to your bum and rest them level on the floor or bed. On the in breath open the knees to the side and bring them back on the out breath.

7.Now bring both knees up so they are tightly touching. Your feet should be on the bed. next form a T shape with your arms. on the in breath allow both knees to fall slowly to the right. strecthing the lower back, hips. On the out breath bring the knees back to the starting position. repeat with the left side. Do this as long as you wish.

Explore and enjoy.

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Mindfulness Tip of the Day

Bring Mindfulness to the Gym

Mindfulness does have multiple benefits on our frame of mind and everyday routines so why dont we include it in exercise. Our mental health goes hand in hand with the physical.

Think about all the times you’ve focused on how others look through a workout or how you just wanted the work out by with and done. You’ll find you’re actually too distracted and do not really pay attention to your technique, resulting in a less effective workout or risk of injury.

The mind will naturally drift in and out of thoughts whilst you’re working out. The key to mindfulness is to recognise when this happens and bring yourself back to the body and the moment.

Here’s a few tips to use during workouts.

1. Warm Up

Instead of mindlessly getting through the same routine in no particular set time, start to stretch, noticing the bodily sensations and thoughts that appear. When the mind is given time to wander, return to the area of the body being stretched or warmed up. perhaps think about what you will do in this work out or hope to improve on. Take your time. Your out of the working environment for your company. Your now working for you.

2. Focus on your purpose

If you find yourself thinking about everything you need to do instead of working out, remind yourself that you deserve to take care of yourself, and it’s going to make you feel calmer and relaxed.

3. Enjoy this time, take your foot of the pedal.

You’ve set aside this time to work out so make the most of it. Take the time to appreciate every moment and bodily sensation. You can then work the hardest you possibly can whilst there.

4. Breathe Deeply

It sounds simple, but if you find your mind wandering, take a minute to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths – it’s the quickest way to alleviate stress and set your mind back on the task at hand. When your mind wanders, always return to the breathe and centre yourself. In time you will automatically do this with practice. This increases your focus and the enjoyment and experience of working out

5. Wind Down

Take 10 minutes to stretch, do some belly breathing and do a five minute meditation. Just sit quietly, focus on the in breath for 10 counts and then switch to the out breath for 10, cultivate gratitude to yourself for all the hard work your body’s just done and what you have experienced.

Bring mindfulness with kindness and non-judgement to your work out. After all it’s your downtime.

Explore and enjoy.

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Mindfulness Tip Of The Day

Noticing the breathe.

How are you feeling, have you stopped and checked your breathing? Just in this moment?

By observing the breathe, you can influence how you feel. Breathe is the life energy, the vital source our body and mind depends on greatly. When we restrict our breathing we affect our energy levels. When were agitated and stressed we often accompany these with shallow breathing.

Deep breathing really forces us to fully expand our lungs, which in turn will slowly start to reduce our heart rate. So take a moment in your working day, at lunch or at home a get closer to your breathing. Do you push it? Is it deep or shallow? Rough or Smooth?

If you explore the breathe and cultivate some curiousty, you will be more in tune with where you are right now.

Setting this as your baseline, you can really explore the breathe and how energizing it feels. Perhaps even noticing the rise of the shoulders, stomach or chest. Maybe even noticing subtle relaxation on the out breathe.

Explore and enjoy.

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Mindfulness Tip of the Day

Hi everyone I think I have just about recovered from a week doing my BASI level 1.   Today I offer up some more great grounding exercises. These can be easily brought to your working day

1.Hold a cold can or bottle of soft drink in your hands, feeling the coldness and the wetness on the side. Notice the taste as you drink.

2.Feel the clothes on your body, whether your arms and legs are covered and the sensation of your clothes as you move in them. Notice how your feet feel encased in shoes and socks.

3.If you are with other people, and you feel comfortable with them, concentrate closely on what they’re doing and saying, and remind yourself why you are with them.

4. If you are sitting, feel the chair under you and the weight of your body and legs pressing onto it. If you’re lying down, feel the contact between your head, your body and your legs on the surface you are on. Notice how each part of your body feels.

Explore and Enjoy