"Tell me, what is it you plan to do…"   Mary Oliver in the poem ‘A Summer Day’ asks us the question, ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’ The question challenges us to face the fact that life is precious and that it doesn’t last forever. This question feels particularly pertinent at the beginning of a new year, “Time is passing, opportunity is lost, am I living well?’ It prods complacency, creating a sense of helpful, motivating urgency around making choices that support health, happiness and well – being. Many people attend mindfulness courses becau ..read more

Mindfulness teacher Rosalie Dores shares her insight into one-to-one mindfulness, exploring the benefits of private teaching.   Many people find learning mindfulness in a group context transformative. The opportunity to participate in shared learning and exploration with peers allows for the recognition of our common humanity to arise. No-one is alone in their struggles. This coupled with the presence, wisdom and experience of the teacher allows for insight and understanding to arise. People learn about how their minds work and what gets them in, and importantly out, of trouble. It ..read more

If we approach healthy living from a place of guilt, shame and self-criticism, we may find ourselves trapped in cycles of yo-yo dieting or unrealistic exercise plans that inevitably fail.   Rather than exercising and eating well because we want to or because it feels good, we might be making choices based on emotive should’s and shouldn’t’s; because we feel that we are doing things wrong. Trying to stay healthy from this place of feeling bad about ourselves doesn’t usually work. However, if we cultivate a sense of self-nurturing awareness, it becomes much easier to take care of our bodies ..read more

  Practising mindfulness when we're facing a challenging situation such as an interview, performance review or presentation can be hard. But it can help us to learn more about ourselves and to move through these situations with greater ease in the future.   When we're facing an interview or a presentation, our minds may start to ruminate about what might go wrong. For example ,"I could blush or not know what do say!" Often these thoughts lead to yet more anxious thoughts and together these can lead to the bodily symptoms of anxiety, i.e. sweaty hands, increased heartbeat and fast br ..read more

  You’re sitting at your desk, you have a task you should be getting on with, but you tell yourself you’ll start it right after you’ve checked social media. Or, maybe you’re deciding what to eat and consider eating something healthy, but you decide you’ll have pizza today and eat more healthily tomorrow.   Part of you may know exactly what will happen: that you’ll get stuck on social media for the next hour, or that you’ll decide to 'eat healthily tomorrow' for two months. Yet, you can’t seem to stop putting things off, even when it’s something you’d quite like to get done. Why is t ..read more

    The symptoms of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) can range from mild irritability, bloating and cramps, to acute depression, anxiety, even suicidal feelings. It can make it hard for us to focus at work, and can sometimes cause conflict at home with our loved ones.   We may find ourselves snapping at people, or feeling tearful for no discernible reason. In short, it can make us feel vulnerable, out of control of our emotions, and that we are not really ourselves. Due to the complex nature of PMS, mindfulness unfortunately can’t offer a complete ‘cure’. However, it can offer some ..read more

  Wouldn’t it be lovely to be happy all the time? Waking up with a big grin on our faces, bouncing out of bed and skipping into work every morning for a whole day of joy and laughter.   Unfortunately, our minds aren’t designed like this. However naturally positive we are, it’s impossible to be in a state of constant pleasure. Our brains have evolved to pre-empt possible threats (a leftover from when our ancestors were struggling to survive in a dangerous world). Sophisticated though they have become, they still have a tendency to act like Velcro for the bad stuff and Teflon for the ..read more

  Mindful walking is a wonderful practice that can really centre us in our bodies and the present moment.   By becoming more familiar with the intricacies of movement, we can experience a new-found appreciation for something that we do all the time, usually without giving it much attention. How we practice mindful walking will vary depending on where we are doing it. Here are three different ways that we can practice mindful walking in our day-to-day lives.   1. Walking Meditation at Home The easiest place to start practicing mindful walking is at home. In the privacy of our ow ..read more

  When we embark on a holiday we naturally want it to be a time of rest and relaxation, or excitement and adventure. However, whilst we may plan our holiday itinerary down to the finest detail, we can never plan for what feelings may arise during that time.   Expectations vs Reality Our trips away may be planned months, or even years in advance, and so expectations are high; we want to have fun, and we want to have amazing experiences. Because holidays are often expensive and only last for a limited about of time, we may experience a very strong pressure for it to be a particular wa ..read more

  Increased gratitude is a common result of practicing mindfulness. As we start paying more attention to our thoughts, we notice where we block ourselves from appreciating the good things in life.   Say, for example, that you always used to get angry when stuck in traffic, but now when you bring your focus to where you are (rather than where you want to get to) you notice things such as the song on the radio or a beautiful scene beyond the car window. We can’t feel grateful for things we don’t notice, and so mindfulness and gratitude go hand-in-hand.   The Science of Gratitude ..read more