On this day, tens of thousands of people across the globe come together to start conversations around epilepsy, raise awareness of the condition and fundraise to make a difference to the lives of those affected.

For the past few months, I have had the pleasure of assisting Sara Garland, CEO of The Daisy Garland, a national charity which supports parents of children with drug-resistant epilepsy. Sara’s innovative work in this field led her to introduce a mindfulness programme for parents and carers.

Each week, parents have come together in our drop-in sessions to learn how mindfulness can encourage us to pause, take stock, take a moment for ourselves and bring self-compassion to the most difficult of situations.

Listening to stories, experiences and the ways in which mindfulness is helping parents and carers, even in small ways, has been both humbling and enlightening.

Given the impact of the pandemic and the incredible tireless work of The Daisy Garland, supporting...

In this blog post, published in September last year for Workcultuarti, I examine how the practice of mindfulness can help us to address conflict in the workplace.

The post also includes a daily mindfulness practice focusing on dealing with difficult colleagues.

To read more, simply click here.

To find out more, click the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mindfulness-in-law-group-session-mindfulness-and-conflict-23-march-tickets-145668946741

Next month, I am launching the new Everyday Mindfulness Community. This member-only space has been created to support your mindfulness practice with regular blog articles, meditations, Daily Mindfulness Practices, hints, tips and advice on how to keep going. 

The Everyday Mindfulness Community is a space where you can ask questions, comment on posts and seek advice on how to maintain your mindfulness.

You don’t have to take a course to join the Everyday Mindfulness Community. So if you would like a quiet space to read, contemplate, meditate and get inspired, come and join us from next month.

Subscription: £10 for 100 days

In the first of six drop-in sessions for Everyday Mindfulness course members, we began this week by examining the concept of mindfulness. 

In essence, mindfulness is a form of attention training. Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn, often described as the Godfather of mindfulness, explains that it is a particular way of paying attention: On purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally (with kindness to yourself).

In these chaotic times, living alongside hope and ongoing anxiety, it’s worth considering how mindfulness might be able to help us navigate emotionally choppy waters.

In the session this week, I shared some thoughts from mindfulness teacher Barry Boyce who encapsulates the essence of the practice when he explains the following:

“The practices of mindfulness are not magic talismans that transform you upon touch. They are ingredients that get added to all the other parts of our life. And one of the nice things about mindfulness is that in bringing attention to details...

Zoom details will be sent to Everyday Mindfulness course attendees. These sessions will run for the next 6-weeks from 8-8.30pm (UK time).

To find out more and to join the Everyday Mindfulness 8-week course, click here.

To access the course this month at the discounted price of £25 (RRP £99), click here. 

This week, Audible launched Mindfulness at Work and Home, which I narrated during lockdown earlier this year. I am really pleased to be able to share my book in audio form, particularly given its inclusion of guided meditations. 

You can find out more and listen to a sample here.

Last week, I was asked to name one of my personal heroes/heroines. Her name is Amishi Jha - she’s a neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami. 

Her work over the past decade has helped us to understand more about the brain’s ability to pay attention, the impact of stress and how to grow resilience. In particular, Professor Jha has spent years studying “the forces that degrade and weaken attention.”

In her recent article in Mindful magazine, Professor Jha explains that we are living in “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous” times - a description she shortens to ‘VUCA‘.  The pandemic has meant that we “are all living in VUCA conditions.” So if you have been feeling overwhelmed or unfocused, struggling with staying on task or overcome with emotion, she reassures us that we are not alone.

So what is attention? Jha explains that our attention system is like a flashlight....