“If I were to choose three words that sit at the heart of my practice, they would be peace, perspective and connection.” (Catherine Waterfall)
In 2014, after experiencing work-related stress as the managing director and co-owner of a publishing company, Catherine joined a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course in the hope that it might ease her anxiety. She was sceptical at first, unsure whether mindfulness could make a difference to a busy, overactive mind. What she discovered was far more powerful: the course changed her life. “It gives me space,” she explains. “It allows me to pause. Most importantly, it reminds me that I do not have to believe every anxious thought that passes through my mind.”
Two years later, Catherine trained as a mindfulness teacher with Bangor University. By then, mindfulness had become more than a practice for managing anxiety; it had become a passion. She wanted to help others struggling with stress, pressure and overwhelm from work and personal responsibilities.
Through her teaching with a mental health charity in Welshpool, Catherine witnessed this transformation in others. She recalls one participant finding the first body scan session so difficult that she was in tears and angry with Catherine. Yet she returned. Four years later, she has become one of the strongest advocates for mindfulness Catherine knows — a reminder that change can begin in the places people feel most uncomfortable.
Today, she aims to spend at least twenty minutes a day in a sitting meditation as well as weaving informal mindfulness into everyday life, especially in nature. Walking, running, swimming and simply noticing the world around her all become opportunities to return to the present moment.
Mindful self-compassion retreats have also taught her to be kinder and gentler with herself. Although she has a tendency to worry and project into the future, mindfulness helps her recognise those thoughts without being swept away by them.
The changes have reached many areas of her life. In relationships, she feels she is a better listener: slower to react with anger or frustration, and more able to respond with patience. Physically, mindful running and swimming have helped her become more attuned to her body.
It has also shifted Catherine’s relationship with success. She is less concerned with achieving for its own sake; happiness, fulfilment and inner steadiness matter more than financial gain or professional status. Catherine explains that through her practice she has found peace from the quietening of body and mind. Being still grounds her in the present moment and brings calm into her day.
She has also noticed a change in perspective which comes from slowing the mind, giving her opportunities to notice fearful thoughts for what they are, seeing problems more clearly rather than through a prism of fear. Catherine also notes feeling strong connections with others when meditating in a group, both as a teacher and participant. Shared practice often leaves her with a sense of kinship with others.
There was a time when Catherine went from being a busy, outwardly “successful” person to someone who could not open her laptop without having a panic attack; when the pressure of running a business eventually became too much. Mindfulness did not remove every difficulty, but it transformed how she relates to stress. She is calmer, happier and better able to meet life as it is.
Catherine knows life will inevitably bring more difficult moments but believes her intention to continue trusting her practise will help her meet them with steadiness, compassion and courage.
Catherine wishes mindfulness were more prevalent in society, particularly among leaders, employers and people in authority. She knows first-hand how difficult leadership can be and wants to build more connections in the corporate world with business leaders and managers. Mindfulness has much to offer those who carry responsibility: not as a quick fix, but as a practical, humane way to cultivate clarity, resilience and kindness.
Catherine’s experience began with anxiety and scepticism, but it has grown into a lifelong practice rooted in peace, perspective and connection. That is why she teaches mindfulness: because she knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed, and she also knows another way of living is possible.
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Website: http://www.good4mind.com/