Mindfulness

MINDFULNESS

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is incredibly simple. It’s about us being becoming more aware of what’s going on in our lives. Moving from automatic pilot to the non-doing or being mode. We spend much of our time rushing about, being busy doing a million things. We drive, we go to work, we eat food, we meet friends, we work out. But how often are we 100% involved in what we are doing? How often are we thinking about yesterday, tomorrow, or something different completely different? Not really fully there, not really conscious.

We are moving in automatic pilot from one thing to the next, and the reality is that we are missing a lot of things. We are missing big chunks of our lives by not being present. Through mindfulness meditation, we practise deliberately stepping out of this automatic pilot into this non-doing/ being mode. Here we become more aware, and in time this awareness seeps up through the floorboards into other areas of our lives.

Gradually we learn to react less and understand more, even the rushing around doesn’t seem quite so stressful. The ordinary becomes extraordinary. We see things differently, we listen more, we feel more, we understand more. Mindfulness meditation is “intentional cultivation of access to our own capacity for awareness” (J Kabat Zinn).

Part of the work of the therapist is to encourage clients to bring Mindfulness into their lives. Fiona works with them to help them find ways of doing this.

How can Mindfulness help us?

Here is a selection of benefits a regular mindfulness practice can have taken from: Franticworld - What can mindfulness do for you?

  • Anxiety, stress, depression, exhaustion and irritability all decrease thanks to meditation.
  • Mindfulness Based Cognitive therapy (MBCT) is now one of the preferred treatments recommended by the UK’s NICE National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
  • Regular meditators are happier and less likely to suffer from psychological distress.
  • Studies have shown that those regularly meditating see their doctors less often.
  • Memory improves & creativity increases, and reaction time becomes faster.
  • Higher levels of energy.
  • Increased self-confidence and self-acceptance.
  • More self-compassion to self and others.
  • Mediation has also been found to be effective in reducing impact of serious conditions, such as chronic pain and cancer.
  • Studies have also shown that it can bolster the immune system
  • Mindfulness can dramatically reduce pain and the emotional reaction to it.
  • Delays the process of aging by protecting the telomeres at the end of chromosomes

About the sessions

Our Mindfulness sessions are with Fiona Worthington. Initial consultations are for 90 minutes, with follow up sessions for 60 minutes. We recommend that you be prepared for 4-6 sessions to see results.

Booking appointments

Please contact the Putney Clinic reception on 020 8789 3881 to book an initial consultation with Fiona. For more information about the services that she provides, visit her website.