Happiness Book Club
Mindfulness has a high profile and we know it has wellbeing benefits. Yet, how many of us have bought a book on the topic and failed to get past the first chapters, or found our practice diffcult to sustain? That’s why I’m so taken with this beautifully illustrated, accessible guide to simple, practical ways we can incorporate mindfulness into our lives. There’s an activity to try every week of the year, and enough science so we know what to do and understand why we’re doing it.
Central to mindfulness is a greater awareness of the present moment and where our attention is being held, and developing the ability to choose where we place it. The brain tends to drift, or to ruminate or catastrophise. As our brain can’t focus on our thoughts and sensations in our body at the same time, Black suggests this ‘lack’ as a starting point, as well as activities to address it. I particularly liked the ‘Feet on the floor’ activity for Week 5: with both feet firmly on the ground, take your attention to the soles of the feet and imagine you are breathing in and out of them. If your mind wanders, which it will, bringing your attention back to your feet. It’s a great way to ground ourselves and is useful when we’re feeling nervous or anxious.