Introductions

[SheilaB]

Hi, I'm Sheila. I’ve been practising mindfulness for nearly 5 years, in varying combinations of formal and informal practice. I feel like it saved my life – I’m sure some of you know what I mean! I never fail to be inspired and humbled by the stories I hear from those who use mindfulness to help with their experience of chronic pain, illness or other difficulty.

For me – mindfulness has transformed the way I respond to grief and anxiety. It has also helped me squeeze the most out of life with my husband and small boy, which I don’t think would have happened had I not been lucky enough to stumble on it. I know it definitely helps me be a better coach - to listen to clients with full presence and awareness, and to support them with compassion.

I try not to get evangelical about it with friends, which is hard when it’s done so much for me. It makes me happy to see mindfulness being talked about more – and this forum is a great idea to create a community for sharing experience. Thank you for setting it up and helping me find it via Twitter.

You can find me on Twitter @sheilabayliss

[JonW]

Hi Sheila.
Welcome to the forum. Good to know you. All best, Jon

[FeeHutch]

Hello Shelia and welcome to our community. I look forward to getting to know you better
I'm a counsellor and do feel mindfulness has brought a new quality to my listening both to clients and myself,
Fee

[Gareth]

Hi Sheila,

It's a strong urge to be evangelical about mindfulness because of it's sheer power and transformational nature. But we must resist the urge. It impossible to explain this to someone who is not a practitioner, we must let ourselves become examples instead.

Welcome to this community.

[JonW]

One reason why I started a local mindfulness group was to be among like-minded souls and to be able to talk about the practice freely, rather than bore all my non-practicing friends about it. I can see the eyes glaze over when I mention the word "meditation" to most of my friends. To be fair, my reaction would have been the same before I took up meditation.

[SheilaB]

I know what you mean! I actually never call it 'meditation' & always call it 'practice' instead - especially as often people interpret it as something else entirely. That and the fact that it took me several years of informal practice before I got more at home with the formal stuff...

[Vixine]

Hello everyone. I just found this forum today and I am so glad I did. I participated in an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course here in the US about 5 years ago and I have been 'struggling' with bringing mindfulness into my daily life since then. I am a counselor and I truly believe in the power of meditation, in fact I recommend it to people every day, but I am embarassed that I have never been very regular with my own practice. I hope connecting with others who practice mindfulness may help me stay focused to develop and maintain a practice in my daily life. I don't know anyone in 'real life' who practices meditation so have never been able to connect or share experiences or challenges with anyone before.

Just a little about me, I'm married with an almost 18 month old little boy, and I live in Dallas, TX. I am a therapist and practice short-term counseling for employee assistance programs. I have struggled off and on with mild to moderate anxiety and a little depression, I tend to be rather uptight, and I'm always trying to better myself. I love learning and am always excited about some new interest or idea, just have trouble with follow-through at times. But mindfulness is something that I always come back to and something I want to truly experience as a way of life.

Happy to meet you all.

[JonW]

Happy to meet you too, Vixine. Welcome to the group.
All best, Jon

[larorra]

welcome to our forum Vixine! I too, don't know anyone in "real life" who practices mindfulness, but it doesnt matter to me. I guess it would be nice to meet with like minded people but I am happy enough to do it myself. You should try to practice every day if possible, or 6 out of 7 days, to get full benefits of mindfulness. I must admit its not always easy to find time with work and family. I'm sure your 18 month old keeps you busy! I have 5 small grandchildren who keep me busy on weekends too Its all good! Good luck with mindfulness!

Jackie

[FeeHutch]

Welcome to our community Vixine
I'm about to qualify as a counsellor in the UK and it was my own therapist who introduced me to it
I look forward to getting to know you better.

Also everyone, I'm going to close this thread tomorrow as it is getting so long and I was thinking of encouraging new members to start new intro threads. We are getting busier all the time and I don't want anyone to get missed. Does that sound like a plan?