Why organisations need to take the lead on mental health
December 21 2023
Read moreStuck thoughts. Painful ruminations. Unrelenting obsessions. They are the curse of depression — among the most excruciating symptoms, in my opinion. “When a child gets lost, he may feel sheer terror,” explains Byron Katie in her bestseller Loving What Is. “It can be just as frightening when you’re lost inside the mind’s chaos.”
I can usually gauge the severity of my depression based on the intensity and frequency of my stuck thoughts. Sometimes they can outright debilitate me. One seemingly benign thought — often a rumination about a decision I have made in the past, a regret of one form or another, or sometimes something that makes no sense at all — is packed with panic and plays over and over in my mind, keeping me awake at night and besieging me with anxiety during the day.
More than any other symptom of my depression — more so even than unrestrained tears and bawling my eyes out in public — the stuck thoughts make me feel truly insane, scared to be living inside my body and mind. In my post 9 Ways to Let Go of Stuck Thoughts,
I offer some tools to deal with obsessions. But since I’ve been imprisoned by this insanity as of late, I thought I’d share more of the ways that have helped me escape, if only for a few minutes, to a place of peace.
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment and accepting it without judgment. Mindfulness is now being examined scientifically and has been found to be a key element in happiness.
Scientific studies are showing many benefits from mindfulness in all aspects of our lives which appear to affect people of any age in an extremely positive way. These include in relationships, performance at school or at work, in sports performance, our physical and mental well-being and positively affect levels of empathy and compassion towards others.
Being mindful is something which is actually quite easy to do but in today’s busy world it is easy forgotten and very few people do this naturally. Through practice and patience anyone can learn and benefit from this technique.
Techniques
Make it happen
Some suggestions to increase mindfulness and taking notice:
Finally, take time to notice things around you:
Please complete the form below and we'll be in touch to answer your enquiry
Please complete the form and we'll be in touch to schedule your free consultation
We appologise but an error has occurred submitting your form. Please try again.