Mindfulness

I did a course in autogenics and that certainly works once you’ve got the hang of it.
I also had a tape by Paul McKenna. Got it free in the Times years ago . It relaxed you for about 10 mins then woke you up again, brilliant. Unfortunately I lent it to someone and never got it back. The good thing about it was that I could fit it in during a short time , confident that I would be conscience when I needed to be.
Not tried mindfulness, sorry.

I have read recently that it can cause mental problems for some people
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/25/mental-health-meditation

I recommend having a look at free online courses on the FutureLearn site NanKate.

There is an absolute gem of a course, Mindfulness for Wellbeing & Peak Performance offered by Monash University, Melbourne, which runs for 4 weeks @ 3 hrs/week. (There is also a new follow-on course).

PM me if you like - I've done MW&PP 4 times, others have repeated even more than me!!

I went to a Mindfulness introduction - I gave up when I was told I should "walk as if your feet are kissing the ground!!"

I would have too Oldwoman
Some Mindfulness courses may still be very much linked to Eastern philosophies & beliefs, about which I was very sceptical. The course I participated in is scientifically validated (supporting papers, studies, talks etc at every turn).
The closest thing to flowery language they have is something called "Training the puppy"!

Love the the thought of that Oldwoman70! I'd have given up too!

I think there are apps which give you ten minute exercises in mindfulness to do. I have never tried it.

Knitting is my mindfulness. I believe that mindfulness is doing something or focussing on something that clears your mind of other random thoughts. Running did that for me, so did hiking. Hard to think about anything else when you're concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other (or not dropping a stitch).

Hi there Poshgran. Haven’t seen you on GN before, are you new or do we post on different threads?

I have seen Future Learn recommended before. Can you tell me a bit about them. What is the catch, are they really free ?

Can you tell me a bit about the Mindfulness course ?

Thanks. Kate

Meant to send you this Poshgran as a PM. ?

Regarding futurelearn NanKate, there's no catch. You can access the courses for free, but if you want to do the test questions ( not all courses have these), want certificates of participation or to keep the course on your file indefinitely, then you have to pay for this, but if you are happy to do the course for the length it runs for plus a couple of extra weeks to allow you to finish it, then it is free. I recommend you google futurelearn - it will explain it more clearly than I probably am. I've done quite a lot of them and found them very good indeed. When I first started there was no charge except for the certificates, but they changed this last year which is a shame, really.

Thanks Mapleleaf I will google them.

Haven’t tried Min

Oops !
Haven’t tried mindfulness as such butI do a lot of craftwork which I find very calming.

There is a 10-minute free download on You tube. It's really excellent and easy to fit into your day. Try it, you've got nothing to lose and if you decide you'd like to do longer face to face sessions you will probably find some near to where you live though you will of course have to pay for them.

I did the 8 week mindfulness course about two years ago . I found it strange at first but practise most days now . I love it so easy to bring you calm in everyday stressful situations .
I go to a group drop in for mindfulness on a Monday evening . I think it's amazing and should be taught in schools from and early age . Each child would learn to
love themselves and be confident and realise that they are a special human being . Not let anyone put them down !!

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I think that stroking one's dog or cat is a version of mindfulness.