Mindfulness

 

When people search for CBT therapy near me it’s often because they are experiencing anxiety. One effective techniques our CBT therapists use during cognitive behavioural therapy sessions is mindfulness.

As the name suggests, mindfulness means that the mind is fully foucussed on what’s happening and what you’re doing ‘right now’. That might seem easy, except for the annoying fact that we often veer away from the matter in hand. Our mind drifts and we lose touch with our body.Then, before we know it, we are engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about what ‘might’ happen. Leading us to feel anxious.

The ABC of mindfulness

A is for awareness – Becoming more aware of what you are thinking and doing – what’s going on in your mind and body.

B is for “just Being” with your experience.  Avoiding the tendency to respond on auto-pilot and feed problems by creating your own story.

C is for seeing things and responding more wisely.  By creating a gap between the experience and our reaction to, we can make wiser choices.

What is mindfulness?

It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice much. Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing.

Some people call this awareness ‘mindfulness’ and you can take steps to develop it in your own life. Good mental wellbeing means feeling good about life and yourself. And being able to get on with life in the way you want.

You may think about wellbeing in terms of what you have: your income, home or car, or your job perhaps.  However, evidence shows that what we do and the way we think have the biggest impact on wellbeing.

Becoming more aware of the present moment means noticing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes that you experience, as well as the thoughts and feelings that occur from one moment to the next.

Mindfulness, sometimes also called “present-centeredness”, can help us enjoy the world more and understand ourselves better.

An important part of mindfulness is reconnecting with our bodies and the sensations they experience. This means waking up to the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the present moment. That might be something as simple as the feel of a banister as we walk upstairs.

Another important part of mindfulness is an awareness of our thoughts and feelings as they happen moment to moment.

Awareness of this kind doesn’t start by trying to change or ‘fix’ anything. It’s about allowing ourselves to see the present moment clearly. When we do that, it can positively change the way we see ourselves and our lives.

How CBT & mindfulness can help

Becoming more aware of the present moment can help us enjoy the world around us more and understand ourselves better.

When we become more aware of the present moment. We begin to experience afresh many things in the world around us, that we have been taking for granted.

Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience and to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful.

This lets us stand back from our thoughts and start to see their patterns. Gradually, we can train ourselves to notice when our thoughts are taking over and realise that thoughts are simply ‘mental events’ that do not have to control us.

Most of us have issues that we find hard to let go and mindfulness can help us deal with them more productively. We can ask: ‘Is trying to solve this by brooding about it helpful, or am I just getting caught up in my thoughts?”

Awareness of this kind also helps us notice signs of stress or anxiety earlier and helps us deal with them better.

How you can become mindful

Reminding yourself to take notice of your thoughts, feelings, body sensations and the world around you is the first step to mindfulness.

Even as we go about our daily lives, we can find new ways of waking up to the world around us. We can notice the sensations of things, the food we eat, the air moving past the body as we walk. All this may sound very small, but it has huge power to interrupt the ‘autopilot’ mode we often engage day to day, and to give us new perspectives on life.

It can be helpful to pick a time. For instance, the morning journey to work or a walk at lunchtime. During which, you decide to be aware of the sensations created by the world around you. Trying new things, such as sitting in a different seat in meetings or going somewhere new for lunch. This can help you notice the world in a new way.

Similarly, notice the busyness of your mind. Just observe your own thoughts, stand back and watch them floating past, like leaves on a stream. There is no need to try to change the thoughts, or argue with them, or judge them: just observe. This takes practice. It’s about putting the mind in a different mode. Seeing each thought as simply another mental event and not an objective reality that has control over us.

Practice makes perfect

You can practice this anywhere. However,  it can be especially helpful to take a mindful approach if you realise that, for several minutes, you have been “trapped” in reliving past problems. Or thinking about potential future worries/problems.

So if you are searching for CBT Therapy near me and would like some help in practicing mindfulness techniquest. Contact us to make an appointment at any of our CBT and Counselling Kent Locations.  Request an appointment