People are experiencing this pandemic in different ways. However, there is one constant, everybody is affected by it, whether that be worrying about finance, your health or the health of a loved one, everybody is affected.

Mindfulness can help you find some calm in these challenging times. There’s a Mindfulness teaching, the teaching of two arrows, which goes: life will fire an arrow at you, whether that be financial stress, health, or loved ones, life always has an arrow ready to fire your way.

Unfortunately, with the incredible capacity of the human mind, we have the ability to fire another arrow at ourselves. This often comes in the form of overthinking – the worrying or becoming anxious about the financial stress, health, or loved ones. Mindfulness can’t do much about the first arrow – life always comes with stress. But, it can do something about the second arrow: the worry and anxiety which follow the original stress.

Here are three simple steps to reduce worry and anxiety:

1. Notice how stress affects you. Become aware of the thoughts, feelings and how the body has reacted to the stress. Mindfulness works by noticing and letting go of stress rather than suppressing it.
2. Narrow the focus on the breath. Put your full attention on the breath. Become aware of the air entering and exiting the body through the nose or the mouth. Or notice how the stomach moves with each breath. If the mind is very busy, you can count each breath to give the mind something to focus on.
3. Widen the focus to notice the whole of the body. Now expand your awareness to notice the whole of the body, breathing in and out. Then, return your focus to the rest of your day.

If you would like a free 30 minute online session to learn this practice and understand how mindfulness can be applied to your own circumstances, contact Adrian at adrian@nimisa.co.uk or 07806 570 122.