Listening to the sounds of the waves, feeling the pebbles beneath our feet, watching the seagulls wheeling above and breathing in the salty aroma of the sea. By engaging all our senses, we can truly begin to appreciate the present moment and the beauty that surrounds us.

Mindfulness practice helps us to live and appreciate the present moment and although this sounds simple it does require practice and learning to think in a different way.

We spend so much of our time worrying about the future and ruminating about the past and we are very often operating on auto pilot.

How many times have you travelled a familiar route and then realised you have been so completely lost in thought that you cannot remember a thing about the journey!

We spend time and money preparing our meals but often multi task whilst eating thereby missing out on all the wonderful flavours and textures. By focusing on one thing at a time our experiences become richer, more colourful and more joyful.

Learning to be mindful helps us to become more curious and aware of our surroundings, our bodies and how we are feeling physically and mentally.

Paying attention to our bodies and our minds gives us the opportunity to make better choices, to take better care of ourselves and to improve our relationships with others.

By really noticing the world we can gain a greater appreciation of its beauty and I don’t think anyone has expressed this more eloquently than the author, Henry Miller who observes that,

“The moment one gives attention to anything even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself”

Mindfulness also teaches us to be kinder to ourselves, to be less non-judgemental, to notice when we are treating ourselves unfairly.

Most people associate Mindfulness with formal meditation and whilst this plays an important part there are many ways that we can be more mindful just by paying closer attention to our day to day activities and by putting a greater emphasis on the things we are grateful for.

Although Mindfulness is rooted in ancient Buddhist philosophy the version practiced in the West today has no association with religion. Dating back to around 2500 years it certainly is not a new concept, tried and tested it has proven to help alleviate stress and increase wellbeing and a large percentage of GPs would recommend it. Let’s check this fact.

South Kent Mind will be offering 5 weeks of Mindfulness, COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE, starting on Thursday 15th February, 2.30pm -4pm at The Landmark Centre in Deal.

During these sessions we will be exploring a variety of meditations, and learning how practising Mindfulness can really start to improve our quality of life. People are welcome to dip in and out and there is no requirement to attend all 5 sessions.

To register an interest please contact South Kent Mind on 01303 250090 where you will be invited to meet with one of our Wellbeing Coordinators to talk about the suitability of the course for your individual needs.

South Kent Mind brings Mindfulness to Deal

There can be few better places for embracing Mindfulness than living by the sea.