Hi all

[JonW]

Welcome to the community, Sazz. Please make yourself at home here and feel free to ask any questions or contribute in any way that grabs your fancy.
All best wishes, Jon

[FeeHutch]

Hello Sazz and welcome to our community
I look forward to getting to know you better

[Bils42]

Gareth asked me how mindfulness helps me specifically;

I am currently recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and mindfulness meditation practice has been instrumental in this. Being a sciency type I'm going to write a list of how I think Mindfullness practice has helped me (I tried just writing but it didn't work out);

1. Meditation calms me. I am much calmer generally and don't get so worked up over things. I am more aware of my current energy levels and am able to act appropriately. Namely taking my time, not rushing and not 'doing' more than I am currently able to do. When I do get a bit agitated I really want to meditate as I know that this will help. Obviously meditation is not always possible straight away but just knowing I will be able to go into a calm state later in the day is very comforting.

2. I have become much more aware of my thoughts. Negative thoughts like worrying about my symptoms, worrying about not getting better and fear of catching a viral infection etc. have become much more obvious to me. Being aware of these thoughts has allowed me to take steps to change them and to insert more beneficial thoughts in their place.

3. Through meditation I have learned how to to feel trapped emotions without fear or judgement and to release them. This is an ongoing process and I still have much work to do but even after a few months of practice I feel much lighter inside and seem more able to feel emotions when they come up and be with them rather than suppressing them and storing them up for later.

4. Mindfulness in the moment has taught me how to stop, relax & reflect, before I act. This is very helpful and stops me from rushing around in an inefficient way. It is amazing how I am able to calm the rising anxiety I feel when things get stressful. It is hard to describe how I do this but I know that I have learned this through my meditation practice. A few moments of focusing on my breathing enables me to approach a stressful situation in a different way.

[Gareth]

Ok, I've read through the replies and put this up on the benefits page of the site:

The Benefits of Mindfulness
The potential benefits of mindfulness are huge and wide-ranging. To a large extent, the benefits depend on the mind which enters this process to begin with. Some people for example may benefit most from a greater connection with their body while others get the most benefit from learning how to deal with troublesome thoughts. There is a thread in the forum here where members have given their personal experiences of how mindfulness helps them. There are also regular blogs on the main site where people talk about how mindfulness has had an influence on their life. In future we hope to expand this and include video testimonials also. Here is a list of of the potential benefits of mindfulness:

■A greater connection with the body, thereby being able to act better in it’s interests.
■Improved personal relationships, as mindfulness helps place a check on automatic reactions; it also enables us to listen more effectively
■A greater acceptance of troublesome thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness also allows us to let go of these before they can develop and have a negative impact on us.
■There is growing medical evidence that regular meditation makes positive improvements to the way the brain works and also other aspects of the body.
■Improvements to memory, concentration and cognitive ability.
■A dramatic reduction in levels of stress and anxiety.
■An improved ability to fall to sleep at night.
■An improved relationship with pain brought about by learning how to accept the pain and become more at peace with it instead of being locked in constant struggle.
■A general feeling of wellbeing.
■A rise in productivity brought about by being able to deal with distractions more effectively.
■Increased creativity brought about by being able to let go of doubts that otherwise might be a hindrance to creativity.

What do you think?

[Bils42]

Sounds good to me Gareth

[FeeHutch]

Yes, that's really readable and it flows

[JonW]

Excellent. Top work, feller.