The Key Learning Points:

1.What mindfulness is and the benefits of it

2.How mindfulness compares to meditation

3.Three tips to help you build mindfulness practice into your daily life 

Over the last few weeks, the Risky Mix has been exploring mental wellbeing and on this week’s episode, we’re delighted to welcome back Miriam Reason, founder of Reasonful and mindfulness teacher and wellbeing consultant to talk all things mindfulness! We’ll be going back to basics to understand what it actually is, asking whether it really works, and Miriam will provide her tips on how we can all become that bit more mindful!

We first talk about what mindfulness actually is and how it compares to meditation. Miriam explains “there’s no one way to do mindfulness.” You can be mindful when having your first cup of tea in the morning. “It is just tuning into now, the current moment, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions.” It’s about not trying to change anything, just noticing what’s there and there’s no pressure, no right or wrong way to do it.  She adds that “meditation is one way to be mindful. It’s a type of formal mindfulness”. 

We ask Miriam what the benefits are of being more mindful. She explains that it gives us some headspace and distance between us and our thoughts. Research has also shown that mindfulness can promote better sleep, reduce stress, improve symptoms of depression and anxiety, boost self-esteem and improve relationships with others. Miriam adds that of course, not everyone will experience all of these, but she likes to think about mindfulness as putting space between a reaction and a response to certain events: “Reacting is not the same as responding.” 

We chat about the various mental health apps that have emerged in the market, and while the merits are clear, Miriam expresses some concerns around the gamified nature of these apps: “I don’t think that is particularly productive.” It helps maintain that cycle of “I must do this, I must enjoy it, it must help me.” For Miriam, it’s about making mindfulness practice work for you, it’s okay not to enjoy it. “It’s a bit like going to the gym for your mind”, sustained commitment to something is what’s needed to see results: “It’s not always going to feel good, but rarely do you regret sitting down and spending that time.”

To round up, Miriam providers her top three tips for people wanting to build mindfulness into their daily routines: 

1. Start small, even one minute every few days can help

2. Tune in to your five senses when doing daily tasks, even the washing up!

3. Try different approaches and various apps and classes to find what works for you