What is Wellbeing and Mindfulness?
Wellbeing is the state of being comfortable, happy or healthy. Mindfulness is for everyone. Mindfulness is our ability to live in the present moment. It is our ability to pay attention with curiosity and without judgement. Put simply, mindfulness is ‘living in the now’.
Five ways to wellbeing!
To help you feel happy you must; connect, take notice, keep learning, give and be active.
How can you be more mindful?
You can bring mindful attention to everything that you do, at any time. To practise mindfulness here are a few steps to help get you started and feel good:
- Take a seat (preferably somewhere quiet and relaxing)
- Set a time (5-10 minutes to start with)
- Notice your body and try to keep still, focus on each part of your body in turn
- Feel your breath, follow the sensation of your breath as you exhale it out and as you inhale it in.
- If you find it hard to focus – focus on one visible spot. Look at something close to you and simply focus on that whilst keeping still and breathing deeply. Or close your eyes.
- Notice when your mind wanders. When this happens, acknowledge your thoughts and then just bring your attention back to your breath. Breathing in and out. Feeling the air, being grateful for the air that allows us to breathe.
- Let go of things that you can’t control, let go of any negative thoughts.
- As you finish, slowly start to move your body and take the time to consider all of the beautiful things in life that you are grateful for right now.
What are the benefits of mindfulness?
Mindfulness is for everyone and should be incorporated into your everyday life. Being mindful improves self-esteem, self-control, positive moods, concentration, emotional intelligence, kindness, acceptance and compassion. It allows you to enjoy life’s pleasures and realise your potential. Here are videos you may like to use to help get you started: