I first came across mindfulness about five years ago when I stumbled on a book in Waterstones by one of its founding fathers, the American doctor Jon Kabat-Zinn, in which he focused on using mindfulness meditation to combat clinical depression. The book literally jumped out at me and I sat in the shop reading for ages – I did buy it in the end, I hasten to add. Since that time I have read more on the subject, attended an experiential course and use elements of it in my practice.

Over the last year or so mindfulness seems to have become surrounded by a massive hype – it’s the panacea, the cure-all, the ultimate therapy to end misery. What then tends to happen is that many people, who have perhaps tried other therapies with little success, believe then that mindfulness is their last hope. They have such high expectations of its efficacy that they can end up disappointed when it doesn’t quite do what they expected.

I think it’s quite bizarre that mindfulness has attracted such hype because, for me, it is really nothing more than stilling the mind. We all have the capacity to do this but, so often, in today’s world we choose not to and therefore the ‘skill’ of being mindful is becoming lost to us.

You really do not need to go on a course to practice mindfulness, you , can practice it whenever you want to, wherever you are. You do not need to sit cross-legged on a mat (problematic for me anyway because of dodgy knees). All you need to do is just attend to the moment, the sounds around you, what you see and feel. For example at this moment I am sat in my living room listening to birdsong, the tone, the rhythm, the pauses in between and when you pay attention like this it’s almost as if it’s the first time you have heard a bird singing. I realise that sounds cheesy but it’s true.

So, I am convinced of the benefit of mindfulness, but I would add that – in a therapeutic setting – it needs to be part of a much more comprehensive toolbox of different approaches to be really effective.

Wendy x