Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness has long been acknowledged within the various religious traditions as an effective means of training and cultivating the mind. It is only in recent decades that Medicine and Science have come to recognise the capacity of mindfulness to enhance the quality of people’s lives, particularly, though by no means exclusively, in the areas of stress reduction and pain management, depression and anxiety.
“Mindfulness is now gaining ground as an antidote for everything from Type A stress to chronic pain, depression and even the side effects of cancer treatment.”
Newsweek
To date tens of thousands of people have taken mindfulness courses in one of the 250 Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programmes currently available around the world. Two decades of published research give evidence that the majority of people who have undertaken and completed the course experienced the following physical and psychological benefits:
Lasting decrease in physical and psychological symptoms
An ability to cope more effectively with both short and long-term
stressful situations
An increased ability to relax and experience calm
Greater energy and enthusiasm for life
A greater capacity for curiosity
Enhanced interpersonal relationships
Improved self-esteem
Who might benefit from the Course?
Generally speaking, we all have a measure of mindfulness but we can all benefit from having more of it in our lives. Particular reasons why someone might want to participate in this course could be as diverse as:
Stress – job, family, financial
Chronic pain and illness
Depression
Anxiety and panic
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Sleep disturbance
Fatigue
Cancer and other long term illness
Skin disorder
The course also helps us all to learn new ways to handle challenging physical sensations, emotions, moods and social interactions.