“I can’t tell you how much mindfulness has changed my life and viewpoint. It completely changed the way I view my life and is the secret to the way I work so authentically.” (Amanda Roberts, Mindful Matters)
Amanda Roberts from Mindful Matters started offering mindfulness sessions in village halls in 2016, a year after taking voluntary redundancy from working as a college study coach. For the twelve months between these roles, she immersed herself in online and in-person mindfulness training and committed to a daily practice that brought about an entirely different way of seeing the world.
This change in herself seeded an enormous passion for helping others to connect with the most authentic version of themselves and increase the levels of peace that they experience in their lives.
Amanda’s mindfulness sessions are down to earth, relatable and accessible. Her style is self-described as raw and zany and her business has grown from very small groups to speaking to audiences of over 120 people.
Her work has developed naturally into 1:1 sessions that are made up of home visits and walks in nature. Her client base is very varied including people who are struggling to keep afloat with the cost-of-living challenges, people who are burning out in corporate jobs and women going through periods of change. Unusually she works with a lot of men who are often referred by partners and friends, and the age range of her clients is from teens to those in their 80’s with the majority of those she sees being older.
“People are so busy, working harder than ever in jobs in order to meet bills and then not having time for themselves. I help everyone to see that mindfulness only takes 20 minutes from their day leaving them with 23 hours and 40 minutes to continue with whatever else they want to do!”
One of the skills Amanda brings to her work is her capacity to adapt the material to fit the person. Over the years she has moved away from formal presentation and towards delivering her material in her own unique heartfelt way. She recognises the importance of keeping mindfulness real and relatable, often having to field questions like ‘are you weird?’ or ‘will it involve humming?’ with humour and reassurance that she herself is normal and that this is something for everyone.
Some sessions involve a lot of talking about what is going on in life, others spend more time sitting quietly taking in the sights and sounds of the river. All sessions include meditation and grounding and breathing practices.
“It’s all about getting on the right wavelength with people, tapping into their natural flair and reminding them that the world changes us if we let it.”
As someone who genuinely enjoys speaking with people and explaining what she does, it makes sense that the majority of Amanda’s business has grown naturally by word of mouth. Geographically she covers North Wales and over to Cheshire in England and is linked in with various organisations including the Women’s Institute, The University of the Third Age and local community councils.
Inspired by the evident difference that the practices and perspectives make in people’s lives, she hopes to continue to build up her work in the corporate sector as well as possibly branching out into working with children. All of these steps will be underpinned by her own continuing daily practice and her annual four-day self-retreat to Ireland where she walks the beaches and allows herself to simply be.
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