Bronwyn Pinkster - Counselling, Qigong and Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non- judgementally”  - Jon Kabat- Zinn

Our mind is experiences a continual barrage of thoughts and feelings, our reactions happen automatically- whether it’s what we want or not, and the pattern of the way we do things becomes habit. How can we take more control?

We have about 50-70,000 thoughts a day- there's a constant stream of thoughts that move through our minds and a lot of the time, the mind is actually not focused on what we're doing.

Maybe you can relate to sitting down to work, and catching yourself jumping between tasks and feeling like you’re not really doing anything properly? Or we can find ourselves worrying about the future or dwelling on painful memories… why did I say that? why didn’t I do …. We think alot!

Often it can be difficult to switch off at night and go to sleep, our minds are busy going through all the things we have to do and haven’t done…

It can seem like the mind, has a mind of its own.  You might have heard the mind being referred to as the “monkey mind”, and just like a monkey jumping from branch to branch, the untrained mind jumps from thought to thought, very rarely able to stay in one place. 

Teach a dog new tricks?  

It's commonly said that you can't teach a dog new tricks but can our brain learn new ways? 
Scientific studies have now identified ‘something they call neuroplasticity’ a buzz word  that refers to the ability of the brain to reorganise itself, both physically and functionally. This means that those automatic thoughts, feelings and reactions can be changed- we’re not trapped, or locked in to ways of thinking and responding- our brain can be rewired!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness has been described as being a form of brain hygiene. Just like you brush your teeth everyday, mindfulness is a way of brushing your brain every day and a form of mental floss!

Another way its been described is as a type of fitness training for the mind, that strengthens it to be more focussed, and calm. We are exercising our attention "muscle" and becoming mentally fitter. We can take more control over our focus of attention and also choose what we want to focus on. The take power of the mind.


Practicing mindfulness

There’s a wide variety of ways you can practice mindfulness- meditation, breathing, walking, doing the dishes, eating…

Mindfulness meditation is a way of training our minds so that we can choose where we want to focus our attention and keep it there. It’s a way to rewire our brain.

Mindfulness of the breath is where you focus on the breath and when you’re attention wanders, lovingly return your attention to the breath, sensing the in breath and the out breath- riding the wave of your breath and returning your attention again and again whenever you notice that your focus has strayed from the breath.

“ You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Jon Kabat- Zinn

Mindfulness testimonial middle aged female

What a beautiful day today!  I’ve finally worked out how to do the mindfulness my counsellor has been suggesting I do every day.

I sat downstairs and did it today! First time ever! Very proud of myself. 15 minutes listening to the clock tick, the birds singing, the trees swaying in the wind, the cars and trucks on Commercial Road in the distance, the blue skies, sunshine, my front garden, my cat and dog peacefully sitting with me and everything else I could focus on during that time. Gosh, I did it! Now to continue it every day.
 
Interestingly the pain in my body also subsided during this 15 mins and has continued to subside – so mindfulness for pain control certainly does work.