Move over Mindful May

As Mindful May draws to a close, we reflect on how being mindful can positively change the way you feel about life.

How can mindfulness help you?

There are many benefits to practicing mindfulness, which enable you to:

• feel less overwhelmed
• improve your quality of sleep
• reduce the amount you chew things over in your mind
• make wiser choices
• reduce levels of stress and anxiety
• increase your ability to manage difficult situations
• positively change the way you think and feel about your experiences

How to be more mindful

Here are five practical tips you can try today to start being more mindful:

1. Many of us operate on autopilot and tend to zone out when we do things like drive, text or brush our teeth. Practice paying more attention to where you are, what you’re doing and the sensations you feel
2. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to notice your breathing and think about the present moment
3. Recognise that thoughts are simply thoughts; you don’t need to believe them or react to them. Yoga and walking are a great way of clearing the mind
4. Practice listening without making judgements
5. Notice how the mind likes to constantly judge. Don’t take it too seriously.

The Communications team has been devouring the content of a great little book to learn more about mindfulness.

Let the team know if you’ve done anything this month to help improve your mental health and wellbeing.

For more information on mindfulness, visit the NHS website.

Look out for details next week about ‘Junk Food June’, our 12 months of healthiness theme for next month.