MINDFULNESS

“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience”

Jon Kabat-Zinn

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, aware of our situation, experience and emotions without feeling as they will overwhelm us.
The practise of mindfulness teaches us to befriend the inevitable challenges which life offers us, alongside our successes. We truly learn to “ride the waves” of life’s up’s and downs. In a thoughtful, kind, and compassionate way.

How do we practise?

Both formal and informal practises such as: 

 

  • Breathing meditations
  • Body scan
  • Moving meditation
  • Compassion practises
  • Walking/Moving meditations

Mindfulness provides us with coping strategies:

  • How to be kind to ourselves and others
  • Compassionate
  • Live in the moment
  • Non-judgemental
  • Resilient
  • Equanimity
  • Letting things go

Why not try a few out for free on our Anahata Youtube channel.  These practises teach us coping strategies how to be kind, compassionate, spacious, non-judgemental, and resilient. To both ourselves and others.

What mindfulness is not

  • Thinking of nothing
  • Emptying your mind
  • Becoming numb to the world
  • No longer caring what happens to yourself or others
  • Losing drive or ambition

Who can practise mindfulness

Most people can practise mindfulness. Being mindful or being present is your inherent state. Children are naturally mindful, we simply have to re-remember how to be present. The practise of mindful meditations and other activities simply point the way. 

What can mindfulness help with?

  • Insomnia
  • Anxiety
  • Chronic Pain
  • Stress
  • Over thinking
  • Relationships
  • Disordered eating
  • Recovery from illness
  • Low mood/mood swing

Are there any circumstances under which mindfulness would not be suitable?

  • Clinical Depression
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Schizophrenia
  • Suicidal Ideation
  • Recent death of a loved one

If you are uncertain whether mindfulness is right for you simply reach out to Dawn at anahata.leighonsea@gmail.com for an opportunity to discuss your needs.

Ways to practise Mindfulness at Anahata:

There are a number of accessible ways to practise and learn Mindfulness at Anahata.

These include:

  • Weekly classes
  • Introduction to Mindfulness courses
  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 8 week programme
  • Daily Silent Retreats
  • Week long Mindfulness Retreats
  • One-to-One Mentoring

Dawn Lister is a mindfulness teacher with a long and established personal practise. She has studied and taught with two seperate Buddhist traditions.

Trained in secular mindfulness with Mindfulness UK and has run her own mindfulness classes and retreats for 27 years.

“Mindfulness for me is a portal to my deepest self, the place within that is pure love, pure truth and pure surrender.

Through the practise of mindfulness I have learnt how to navigate the challenges of life as a mother, business owner, friend, wife and daughter.

Life is only sweeter and kinder the more I engage is mindfulness. Moment to moment waking up to the life as it unfolds perfectly in each moment.”

Dawn Lister