Mindfulness and self-care

If you spend time researching ways to improve your well-being and personal development, you are likely to have come across mindfulness. It has has grown in popularity over the recent years and is more accessible than ever through apps and YouTube, as well in local classes.

But what is your view on what mindfulness is?

(Hint.. It isn't just about sitting in silence with joss sticks...)

I started to use mindfulness myself to build my self-awareness. By becoming curious about my inner experience; to notice my emotions, my inner dialogue and thoughts as well as what beliefs were fuelling how I felt.

In the past, my focus and attention had usually been on what others thought or felt.

Which lead me to being disconnected unconsciously from my own needs and processing my emotions in those moments.

By becoming aware and starting to pay attention to my own experience, the thoughts and feelings I had, in a non-judgemental and compassionate way, I started to take a step back and notice what is going on inside me. It is like having a 360-degree view of things rather than being enmeshed in it.

Like Neo in the film The Matrix, when he starts to ‘see’ the inner workings of the Matrix, things slow down, and he has time to become choice-ful as you start to notice the options available to you.

Slowing down your thoughts allows you to notice the pattern. And once we notice our triggers and patterns, our reactivity and impulsivity also reduce.

It becomes an act of self-care. To not completely abandon myself in service to others. From a balanced place I am able to offer myself compassion as well as offer it to the other person.

I met with Sally Singleton, a mindfulness teacher from Mindful Interlude, to explore what mindfulness is, how it can be used, what it is good for and what are some pitfalls of it. You can listen in on our conversation on this podcast.