Mindfulness

"Reclaim the present moment -and your life"  (Jon Kabat-Zinn)

Over the last few years mindfulness has gained so much public attention you would be forgiven for regarding it as just the latest 'here today-gone tomorrow' wellbeing fad.

But do you realise that the principles of mindfulness have been practiced for well over two thousand years in the Buddhist tradition?  (Please note, you do not need to be religious or spiritual to practice mindfulness.  If you are then mindfulness can be practiced without conflict to your existing belief system as it is used here in a secular / non-religious context).
 

Through ongoing clinical research, there is an increasing evidence base to support the claims that mindfulness practice may be beneficial in managing stress, reducing anxiety and depression and helping people cope better with serious illness and chronic pain.  Also people frequently report improvements in relaxation and self-esteem along with increased enthusiasm for life.

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Interestingly whilst mindfulness pre-dates the western medical model  by over two millennia,  relatively recent developments M.R.I. brain scanning technology have enabled neuroscientists to identify links between mindfulness based meditation and measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, learning, emotion regulation and reactivity.

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So not surprisingly, mindfulness is now established as a recognised stress reduction intervention throughout the western world.  It can be practiced as a single treatment and is also at the core of other therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). 
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is recommended by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and was mandated as a recommended treatment in 2017 by NHS England.

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Click 'More on Mindfulness' button for further information on this incredible therapy.