nothingonpurpose

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Back To Basics

Huw Griffiths tells us why mindfulness in the woods can help us to reconnect with our wellbeing.

Now more than ever it is easy to become disconnected and lose touch with our inner wellbeing in our everyday lives, particularly with the pace of the modern day. We have put together a six-week course that teaches the basic skills of mindfulness and provides an experience of being mindful outside in the elements of nature. For even short periods of time, the outdoors can be so helpful for helping to find balance in your health and wellbeing.

Living in Somerset we are fortunate to be surrounded by beautiful countryside that is easily accessible to most people. Yet, how many of us actually make use of this wonderful resource to help enrich and find peace in our demanding lives? Being outside in nature frees us from the confines and pressures we feel in everyday life, calms our busy thinking mind and encourages moments of deeper peace and insight. It helps to remind us of the essence of who we really are; grounded and safe in each moment.

Mindfulness practice outdoors in the natural environment provides a nurturing and creative space to explore conscious awareness of sounds, sights, scents, textures and tastes of the elements abundant in nature, allowing us to connect with ourselves in the present moment. This profound change of perspective helps us to appreciate the simpler things that are so easily overlooked. It inspires us to be more creative and helps us to explore how we can simply enrich and bring sense and deeper meaning to our everyday life. 

Mindfulness when practiced in a natural, safe and supportive surrounding is dynamic in it's effect and profundity.

 Six week 'Mindfulness in the Woods' course. (supported by the Wellbeing college)

The mindfulness practice is combined with practical woodland skills and crafts of Ecowild, making the whole experience varied creative and interesting. Mindfulness is taught through the gentle listening and focusing, with intention, onto what is happening in the present moment. In the woods that can be the sound of the fire, the call of the birds, the wind in the trees, the rustling of the leaves or just the sound of you breathing as you sit. Mindfulness is the practice, the skill, of paying attention to what is happening now. It is not a theory, not an idea, it is a skill.

Ecowild directors, Emily Malik and Lucy Holland are experienced biologists, environmentalists and forest school specialists, who lead us through the skills of being present in the woods. Be it whittling a stick, making a dream catcher, pencil or hazel circle we all calm our agitated minds  to a point of being present. With a woodland fire, we make tea and eat cake whilst all the while being mindful, gentle and calm.

 To find out more about the next course please use the contacts below;

Venue:

Greyfield woods Highlittleton

contact : Lucy Holland

07767 325576 ecowildlucy@gmail.com

Emily Malik 07812 155659 ecowildemily@gmail.com

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Understanding And Practicing Mindfulness

Mindfulness meditation has become quite a vital part of my daily routine, it's just as important as eating and exercising. Whilst the body needs looking after, so does the mind.

I recently wrote about an eight-week Mindfulness meditation course I completed that has provided me with meditation techniques, helping to bring myself into the present moment and not drift off into a barrage of my own, often unhelpful, thoughts.

Before starting the course I did a lot of research into meditation. I was determined to find ways of dealing with difficult or uncomfortable situations that make me feel anxious, stressed and can affect my self-esteem. This was part of a personal quest to find spiritual solidarity and peace with my own mind.

My inquiry led me to lots of different places and introduced me to meditation books such as Ekhart Tolles' 'The Power of Now' and 'Wherever you go, there you are', by Jon Kabat-Zin, two books I think anybody who is interested in mindfulness should definitely read. My search also led me to YouTube TED Talks by mental health advocates who have been able to deal with stress and anxiety using mindfulness.

All these insights were really helpful in giving me a greater understanding of the discipline, however, I soon discovered that in order to be mindful you have to dedicate yourself to practicing being mindful. It's no good talking about mindfulness if you are not BEING mindful and DOING things mindfully.

The mind has been conditioned to reward itself for being clever, for solving problems. It thinks that it can find a cure, or a solution to a problem by reading a book or watching an inspiring video. Yes, we can all learn something of real value by sharing knowledge, but it's the practicing that produces results and widens our field of awareness.

Mental health is clearly a really serious issue and it has started to receive more media coverage, particularly recently with the launch of the Heads Together campaign. It has sparked the intrigue of some of my friends in their quest to improve their mental health, but is it just the idea of mindfulness that they're attracted to? Have they ever actually practiced mindfulness? Have they ever meditated? Most likely not.

The actual idea of meditating seems a bit unfamiliar territory for some. Its roots in Buddhism may seem bit 'weird' and 'spiritual'. If you are a self-conscious person you may find it difficult to break away from your ego and open your mind to the idea of meditating in public. I often meditate on my lunch breaks at work, sitting on a park bench. At first I was a bit self-conscious. I thought people would be walking past me thinking, "What's this guying doing sat on a bench with his eyes closed?', but after a while I focused on what I was doing rather than other people. I focus on the moment, non-judgmentally, non-competitively, non-analytically. If you can do that for even a moment you are absolutely on the right track to better mental health and present-moment awareness.

I'd love to walk by one day and see more people practicing mediation. It's an ancient tradition, far older than the internet or television (which we value so highly), and we should celebrate it.

We should absolutely be talking about mental health well-being more, but what we should be doing EVEN MORE than that is being mindful. The whole world would benefit from human beings attempting to understand each other better, allowing room for more empathy and compassion. That shouldn't be viewed as just some 'airy fairy' utopian vision, a collaboration of mindfulness can help well-being on a global scale. Everybody would feel more mentally balanced with regular visits to the 'mind-gym'.

So how do we DO IT?

Well, you don't have to actually leave the house in order to get started. You can try out the Calm-Mind app which helps you focus on counting the breath. Great for getting started and dealing with stress or anxiety. You can download the free meditation app.

For anybody who is interested in a full mindfulness meditation programme, but again don't wish to do this in public, you can download this free course. Courses like this are great for home practice.

Books and videos are helpful, but there's a simple way to view mindfulness. To use a theatre analogy, I think meditation is letting the breath take centre stage in your field of awareness, allowing these thoughts, narratives and stories that keep arising to just sit in the wings. The thoughts are still there, but they aren't controlling you. It's possible to get to a point where you see thoughts arise, witness them clearly and then let them go. It's taken me a while to realise this and I'm still far from perfect, I will, no doubt, have lots of moments of mindlessness, but with practice I'm becoming more aware of myself and accepting of the present moment.

Just start with sitting and doing nothing on purpose.

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Mindfulness Can Unlock Happiness. Just Stop Thinking

Throughout my life I have been pretty absent minded. It's never gone unnoticed, either. Over the years I've been reminded by friends and loved ones of just how irritatingly distant I can be; "Rich, you never listen", "Rich, are you with us?".

I think my parents thought I was deaf at one point. I have memories of my mother approaching my year five school teacher credulously proclaiming, "I think Richard has a hearing problem", only to be abruptly corrected, "No, Mrs Wigley, Richard has a listening problem!". I did struggle to concentrate at school. I'd often find myself caught in a daze, not being at all in the present moment. My head was often lost in thoughts as I stared out of the window, lost in a dream world of alternate possibilities, creating stories in my head, marvelling in creative thought, how I could one day become a footballer, or an actor, or a musician. It wasn't that I was a 'playing up', I just enjoyed the limitless possibilities my creative mind could muster more than paying attention to the tedious drone of spoon-fed algebra in class (or whatever else I wasn't paying attention to my entire schooling life).

The trouble is, this mindlessness carried through to my adult life, bearing severe consequences.

I loved having a creative capacity growing up, but I often used it to ignore the present moment. Some call it escapism. The trouble is, when you're not entirely present all of the time, not only do you miss out on wonderful, breath-taking moments, your mind can start to play tricks on you. You begin to believe in the stories you create in your head, rather then what is actually happening in the present moment. This can cause you to overthink things, question yourself a little too much, feel threatened in social situations when there is no threat at all, perceive things based on thought and not fact.

Our mind can trap us into irrational thought processes. We begin to invest and believe too much in our self-image and our stories. This is something that effects a lot of people and can lead to mental health problems. For some, this can lead to anxiety or depression. The Mental Health Foundation say that anxiety and depression are the most common mental health disorders in the UK and it's becoming a growing concern. It has taken me thirty years to realise that thinking too much causes me emotional distress.

I've discovered that there is however something that can help relieve you of your inner pain - mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a simple concept. It teaches us that the only thing that is real is the present moment. Anything in the past is gone, anything in the future hasn't happened yet. The only thing that truly matters is what is happening now. Our thoughts are just thoughts and the less we engage with them, the happier and more present we will become.

I've recently embarked on a mindfulness meditation course and this has worked wonders for me. I've picked up techniques that have helped me become aware of my breathing and my body rather than drift off into a dreamscape. The great thing is, mindfulness can be accessible to anybody!

It would be easy for me to say 'be mindful and you'll be less stressed'. I'll be honest, I still have lots of moments of mindlessness, but I'm able to identify these better now and bring myself back into the now. It takes a lot of practice and dedication, but for a massive gain.

So, why has it taken me so long to realise this? Why wasn't I taught mindfulness at school? How can we ensure that the next generation don't suffer from anxiety and depression?

I think it's vital that we encourage kids to unlock mindfulness from an early age. There's a real danger of frying the next generation's minds with the amount of exposure they get to the internet, social media, magazines, etc. Even if it's for just a few moments a day, we need to create ways to help young people pay attention to the now.

Things are changing though, mental health awareness has become more widely supported in recent years. The meditation app Headspace has recently launched a mindfulness app for kids. "Teach your child the fundamentals of meditation with simple, fun breathing exercises". There is also the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) a charity whose aim is to inform, create, train and support the teaching of secular mindfulness to young people and those who care for them.

This may sound counterproductive to some, but my advice to anybody suffering from mental health issues is to STOP THINKING. Even when the mind demands it. Ignore it, breathe and observe what is happening in the moment, good or bad. Don't judge it. Just let it be what it is. Experience life NOW, not in the past or future.

RW