January can feel like a long month for many reasons.
January 2021 was a lockdown month, and so for some people, it felt even longer. When we were in lockdown, Include produced extra newsletters and ran more Zoom sessions. We tried to make the content helpful – things to help keep people included and happy – one of those things was mindfulness. Protecting our mental wellbeing is still very important.
This January, in our first Champions session of 2022, we talked about mindfulness again.
Our Champions sessions are where Include members get together on Zoom to discuss and share ideas about important topics like The Mental Capacity Act, or in this case Mindfulness.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is about taking the time to notice how you are. To connect your body, mind and senses. Sarah sums it up well;
“It’s ideas about how to help your moods. What to do if you feel low, stressed, or if you have anxiety or depression”.
Sarah also pointed out that the information that she has found about mindfulness is not always very easy to read. So that made it clear that a FREE Easy Read about Mindfulness is a good idea.
Do I need to try mindfulness?
We talked about how to tell if you might be stressed and need to take a bit of time to practice some mindfulness. When we are busy with life, we might not notice that we have become tense. The Champions came up with a list of indicators that may mean you need to slow down:
- Muscles tight
- Headache
- Feeling anxious
- Tummy ache
- Panic attack
- Shoulders up by your ears
Hannah said;
“Take time and listen to your body. You can do mindfulness every day, wherever you are. And it can help you to get a good night’s sleep.”
Ways to be mindful
In our session the Champions tried out a few mindfulness techniques such as taking a big yawn and stretch. And we were all silent of 30 seconds and took care to notice any sounds around us.
Philip and Simon noticed the sound of a plane flying nearby and their washing machine going. Josh noticed a train going past and Ellie heard her tap.
But practicing mindfulness doesn’t mean you have to be still and quiet – doing things like colouring, sewing, blowing bubbles or Lego are also good ways to be calm and focussed.
Listening to music can be good too – you might like to see our B is for bubbles song on YouTube combining music and bubbles!?
Our Champions have some brilliant suggestion for apps that can also help with mindfulness – Headspace was recommended by Sarah, and Happy Colours by Philip. There is more information inside the FREE Easy Read resource.
FREE Audio version
Communications and Partnerships Manager