Mindfulness, at a cursory glance sounds pretty simple, but if we peel back the surface we discover that it is a widely researched and beneficial series of activities, actions, and mental processes that focus on growth and maintaining our mental wellbeing.

Much like exercising and eating healthily to maintain our physical fitness, Mindfulness is about ensuring that we are committed to what we are doing at the moment, the circles we socialise in, and the way we conduct ourselves. When we don’t maintain our focus and composure we can become distracted and disorientated with the world around us. This can contribute further to anxiety over our actions and what has just occurred, and worrying over what may happen in the future.

So what is Mindfulness?

We define Mindfulness as the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

While mindfulness is innate, it can be cultivated through proven techniques, particularly seated, walking, standing, and moving meditation (it’s also possible lying down but often leads to sleep); short pauses we insert into everyday life; and merging meditation practice with other activities, such as yoga or sports.

May & Mindfulness

During the week of 13th May – 19th May the Mental Health Foundation will be hosting their Mental Health Awareness Week 2019, with this years theme being focussed on ‘Body image - how we think and feel about our bodies’, which we talked about in one of our previous articles, catch up here to get up to speed and for more information in how you can get involved.

Mindfulness in Schools

As Education HR specialists, we are always interested in looking at ways in which to support and help prevent issues developing in schools. We believe in constant improvement, and always being available for our clients not just in challenging times but to help schools and their staff grow. That is why we will be carrying out our own piece of research investigating schools understanding of Mindfulness, how it is practiced (if at all), and the benefits of it. If you would like to take part in our survey and help us reshape the future of Mindfulness and mental wellbeing in schools, please click here to carry out our short survey; don’t worry, no identifying information will be published regarding pupils, teachers, or any other staff or establishment.

More Information

For more information on the services and support PACT HR provides, please contact us on Pact-HR@bradford.gov.uk, phone on 01274 436644, or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn for more information on how PACT HR can support you. Additionally if you would like to meet us in person and put a face to a name, then there is no better opportunity than attending one of our acclaimed PACT HR Briefing Sessions, our next round of sessions is this June. Register your interest and find out more by visiting our website.

Harry Walton – PACT HR Marketing & Communications Officer