What is mindfulness? How do I step towards incorporating mindfulness into my life?

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on one thing at a time, with awareness and acceptance and without judgement.  Research has shown that practicing mindfulness regularly has been shown to have a range of positive outcomes including improved concentration, emotional wellbeing and better sleep, as well as reduced anxiety and stress among a myriad of other benefits.  Short mindfulness exercies can be particularly helpful when living alongside health problems and other chronic stressors – it’s something constructive you can learn and ‘do’ – and yes, it will require practice, but please don’t feel you are on  your own with learning what works for you, there’s lots of option for support: talk to your psychologist or counsellor or explore the following:

• This Way Up which is run by the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (CRUfAD) at St Vincent’s Hospital provide a free, self-paced online mindfulness program: https://thiswayup.org.au/programs/mindfulness-program/
• Mental Health Online which is an initiative of Swinburne University’s National eTherapy Centre (NeTC), provides a free, self-paced online mindfulness program involving virtual reality (VR): https://www.mentalhealthonline.org.au/pages/about-our-vr-mindfulness-experiences
• The following phone apps include a variety of mindfulness exercises: Calm; Smiling Mind; Headspace; Insight Timer; Balance; iBreath.

Please take a look – celebrate your wins, and practice, practice, practice!