M is for Mindfulness – The Good Mental Health Guide

Mindfulness is awareness of the present, of the now moment. It represents a way of freeing ourselves from thoughts about the past and worries about the future. Most of us spend a lot of time on autopilot, that is we carry on with our daily activities, our work, our relationships without really ‘being there’. Most of the time we’re busy thinking about other things, things that we’ve done or haven’t done, things that we’d like to happen or we don’t want to happen. Our minds become busier and busier with all these thoughts, which all too often generate more angst and negativity.

Mindfulness helps us to become more aware of our thoughts and mental processes, without judgement, so that we can respond consciously rather than react on autopilot.

Mindfulness is based on ancient meditation practices such as those in Hinduism and Buddhism. The modern version, which is becoming more accepted within public mental health services, was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the late 1970s. He founded a centre in the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which has carried out Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes to help with conditions as diverse as chronic pain, heart disease, anxiety, psoriosis, sleep problems and depression. Later, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was developed by Mark Williams, John Teasdale and Zindel Seagal in the 1990s. MBCT is recognised by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) as the ‘treatment of choice’ for recurrent depression.

Mindfulness represents a range of mental skills from concentration through to meditation, which can be developed through learning new habits with specific exercises. Breathing, noticing and concentration exercises are particularly helpful in developing these skills. Being fully engaged in daily activities, being absorbed by what we are doing in the here and now; these are ways of bringing mindfulness into our lives with huge benefits for good mental health.

Here are some useful links for more information, practical exercises and on-line mindfulness programmes;

http://www.bemindful.co.uk/

http://www.the-guided-meditation-site.com/mindfulness-exercises.html

http://www.mindfulnet.org/page2.htm