Susanna Alyce Mindfulness 2.18

MINDFULNESS

Some of us become unwell through the effects of stress and others are suffering from stress as a result of a condition or illness. Stress has far reaching mental and physiological effects and can easily undermine the quality of day to day life. Stress and depression are very closely related.
Often we spend time pushing away things we don’t want and trying to get hold of what we want: this can take a lot of energy and can be the cause of some of the distress we are stuffering from. In the meantime we may be too distracted to notice the joyful moments of our lives.
Mindfulness meditation is paying attention to our experience moment to moment, in a kindly, open hearted way.
Becoming more aware of our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations may not sound like an obviously helpful thing to do however, it has surprising results: many people report finding new strength to help make wise decisions about their health and life.
Mindfulness is also known as ‘insight meditation' and recently it has been extensively researched* and been proven to be of benefit in improving quality of life for many different groups of people.
This course is based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. Since its inception in the 1970s it has been run across Europe and America. It has benefitted people with depression, cancer, chronic fatigue, anxiety, ME, MS, eating disorders, stress, addiction and specific groups such as pregnant women, victims of violence and prisoners. It is now prescribed by the NHS to prevent relapse after depression.
Mindfulness has been being practiced for more than 2500 years; in the 1970's Jon Kabat-Zinn from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, developed the 8-week course known as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). This course been evolving over the last 30 years and uses traditional techniques in a non-religious, and easily usable format. During this time MBSR has been widely researched and a huge evidence base now exists to support its validity in helping people over come the effects of stress, chronic pain, anxiety, and many other conditions. Kabat-Zinn says:
" we are apt to get so caught up in the urgency of everything we have to do, and so caught up in our heads and everything we think is important, that is is easy to fall into a state of chronic tension and anxiety that continually drives our lives on automatic pilot... The way of being... which emerges naturally out of the cultivation of the practice of mindfulness, can serve as a doorway into a profound way of knowing ourselves better, and for mobilizing the inner resources we all have, no matter what our situation or our condition, for learning, for growing, for healing, and for transformation across the life span..."
Jon Kabat-Zinn. Full Catastrophe Living . Piatkus. 1990. p 6.
To quote from the Mental Health Organisation 2010 report:
" Mindfulness has been the subject of growing attention and interest in recent years, thanks to the rapidly expanding evidence base demonstrating that it can be helpful for many mental and physical health problems, as well as improving well-being more generally.
Mindfulness is an integrative, mind-body based approach that helps people change the way they think and feel about their experiences, especially stressful experiences. It involves paying attention to our thoughts and feelings so we become more aware of them, less enmeshed in them and better able to manage them."