Hello!
It's been a while since my last blog, life just seems to be calm and collective one minute then manically busy the next. I find I prefer to be busy, my mind needs to always be occupied with something and it's how I'm most productive but I do acknowledge the need for a break and self-care at the same time. Which has got me thinking about mindfulness- I personally love it although I know it's not for everyone!
So what is mindfulness? Well it's essentially present moment awareness, being more aware of how you and your body are feeling in any given moment. Mindfulness has been proven to benefit mental health and it's something I regularly talk to my clients about, particularly when I ask what they do for self-care- if you don't know what self-care is then we need to have a talk!
A few years ago, I had never heard of mindfulness and when I looked in my app store to try it out I realised just how many apps are readily available (free downloads and paid ones), I first of all tried HeadSpace as that's the one most people have heard of but I couldn't gel with it properly, it felt jarring and uncomfortable. I proceeded to try out 3/4 different ones over the space of a few weeks and I nearly at the point of giving up when I came across Mindfulness Daily, it cost £2.99 but as the free apps hadn't worked out for me I gave it a shot. And I LOVED it. They have a great 'programme' of doing a 5 minute lesson everyday for 21 days, which then unlocked a whole library of videos and talks from mindfulness trainers, extended versions of the lessons and so much more. For several months I did it everyday and persevered even when my partner was lying next to me giggling like a school girl at one of the lessons (don't ask why!).
From weeks of practicing mindfulness I no longer felt the need to use the app and instead I had 5/10 minutes to myself to focus on the present moment where I felt it was needed. Last week I went back onto the app as I missed doing one of the extended practices and I was greeted with a brand new and updated app and it took me ages (and several emails to customer services) to navigate where I needed to go for the practice sessions, so I can't comment on whether you still have to do the 21 day programme to unlock everything else or whether they've been kind and unlocked it to begin with, nevertheless still do the 21 day programme as it'll help you practice and feel comfortable with how to be more mindful.
Mindfulness is not for everyone, so find the app or technique that best suits YOU. They say it takes 66 days (person dependent) to form a new habit so always take that into account.
In the words of Perls "lose your mind and come to your senses."
Jade Hens Counselling
(This blog is purely based on personal experiences and have not been sponsored to share)
