What is Mindfulness?

I first learned about mindfulness when I was struggling with my own mental health over a decade ago, and read a self help book by Ruby Wax. She's written quite a few now & I honestly can't remember which one it was, though the mindfulness bit is something that really stuck with me. As well as being a famous comedian she gained a masters degree from Oxford in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy back in 2013, and I went to see her give a talk at Wakefield Theatre at some point after that as well.

She explained that the part of the brain that drives anxiety cannot function when we use a different area of the brain to perform a task requiring concentration. OK - so the 'concentration' task can't be something anxiety provoking like 'I've got to pass this driving theory test right now today because I can't get a retest for months' or 'if I can't swap this flat tyre I can't get to my interview'.

Mindful tasks according to Ruby's explanation are things like tennis, lego, chess, sudoku, crochet, jigsaw. Nowadays our understanding of mindfulness has expanded to breathwork, yoga, visualisations, meditation and lots more. It's worth playing about to see what you like and what works for you.

The 5,4,3,2,1 Technique

A simple mindfulness 'grounding' exercise you can do anytime and anywhere, with nobody around you even realising which makes it a bit of a super-power. It involves all 5 senses which is

Name and describe in detail  (in your head)

5 things you can see - eg a pale blue vase, it's square shaped, about 30cms high and shiny,

4 things you can touch - eg the desk, I can feel the wood grain, it's colder than the keyboard

3 things you can hear eg the TV downstairs

2 things you can smell - eg soap on my hand, grass clippings outside

1 thing you can taste - eg the crisps I just ate

Chances are by the end of the exercise you are more grounded in the 'here and now' than before.