Mindfulness Journey: Week 1

I’ve read from many people online that ‘mindfulness’ really helps them rationalise with their anxiety. I had no idea what mindfulness was, or what it entailed until I decided to look it up myself.

From what I gathered, it’s about being present in the current moment, your current emotions and things around you.

“It’s easy to stop noticing the world around us. It’s also easy to lose touch with the way our bodies are feeling and to end up living ‘in our heads’ – caught up in our thoughts without stopping to notice how those thoughts are driving our emotions and behaviour,”

Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre

I decided to try it for myself. For some people it doesn’t do anything, and others say it’s changed their life. So I figured it was worth giving a go.

I have a app on my phone which I use almost daily (I try), where a man talks me through a Mindfulness excersize. The app I’m using has a course specifically for anxiety – handy.

I’m currently 5 days into the course, I have to say it definitly helps me to relax and calm for a few hours after. I’m yet to see any long-term effects, but I am only 5 day in so I’m willing to keep going.

I’ve found somedays I find it super easy to switch off my thoughts and zone out, usually these days my anxiety has been at it’s highest. Somedays I find it hard to switch off, all I can do is think about random things ‘what am I going to wear tomorrow’ ‘Maybe I should wash my hair’. I’m hoping I can get better at it all eventually. Afterall, mindfulness is like any other skill, practise makes perfect.

Obviously I’m going to be writing weekly updates on my progress on how, and if it’s working for me.

Annesar x