Mental Health Awareness Week - Mindfulness a personal story

Monday, 11 May 2015

Mental Health Awareness Week 2015

Anxiety. Isn't is horrible?

Pounding heart, nausea, irrational negative thinking...

At one moment trapped in the memory of something in the past. At another, stuck in a fantasy about something going wrong in the future.

I've been struggling with anxiety off and on for years. Indeed many of the techniques Sabine (Sabine Schwartz Catholic Chaplain) and I have come to teach in the Chaplaincy have been based on things we've learnt to be useful for our own survival and flourishing.

Recently Mindfulness has received much attention. It is the focus of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week, which is this week 11- 17 May. Teaching people how to notice rather than be absorbed by thoughts and feelings, mindfulness can help to rise above anxieties. It can give more perspective and restore a sense of choice. I can certainly testify that it's been helpful.

As Chaplains we've been teaching courses for students. This coming autumn we'll be running a course just for staff. If you'd like to know more about the course, see here for further information and some free tasters.

If you're interested you can pre-register by emailing us and we'll be in touch after the summer with details of the course.

Mark Laynesmith

(Anglican Chaplain)