What is Mindfulness?

NURTURING MINDFUL COMMUNITIES

Nurturing Mindful Communities is how we can inspiring others, weaving mindfulness into existing community development to share the benefits as widely as possible.

The strongest and most effective way we can introduce people and communities to what mindfulness can offer them is to show how it works in an environment like their own and how it has benefited people and groups like them.

Collaborating with organisations already working in communities across Wales we can share mindfulness to help people of all ages and abilities. Its effect is multiplied when it’s used in communities, workplaces, education, social care, cultural, third sector and health settings etc as part of their daily life.

This is how we want to work towards achieving our vision of sharing mindfulness to help Wales become a more compassionate, kinder, fairer and more sustainable society.

So what is mindfulness?

A way of being alive and knowing it

Underpinned by compassion, kindness, curiosity, trust, gratitude, appreciation, awe and wonder

At its most basic level mindfulness is about paying attention so we are more aware of what’s actually happening now, rather than worrying about what has happened or what might happen.

We learn activities and practices which help us bring greater curiosity to whatever it is we’re experiencing.

Mindfulness can help develop these skills in everyday life

When we talk about mindfulness in relations to the Well-being of Future Generations Act we mean any practices that help us to develop one or more of the following skills;

  • Pausing to notice the stillness and the movement 
  • Becoming aware of our purpose and values and our multiple contexts
  • Returningour attention again (and again) to sensing what is here and now
  • Noticingsome of the things we might not otherwise have spotted
  • Acknowledgingthe interesting, complex or uncomfortable with kind curiosity
  • Choosing to sit with or let go, as appropriate to that moment
  • Focusing our attention, sometimes on the small and specific, sometimes on the wider inter-relational system, sometimes what is inside us, sometimes what is outside
  • Integratingthe many aspects of ourselves, including the intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual
  • Connectingand reconnecting with nature 
  • Learning to listen to the voices of our inner and collective bodies and of nature and our ancestors
  • Speakingand thinking from a place of connection within ourselves and between us, others and the earth
  • Contemplatingand discussing spiritual teachings, philosophies and ways of making sense of the world 
  • Reflecting together in circle to uncover hidden insights and biases and question the systems of which we are part

Mindfulness is …

  • Effective. Mindfulness lets people calm down and become more aware of their thoughts and feelings. That’s a recognised key to mental wellbeing.
  • Accessible. in recent research 15% of the population say they’ve tried mindfulness and liked it, while a further 35% are open to doing so. It’s popular in workplaces and healthcare, and with children as well as adults.
  • Fair. There are no barriers that investment can’t address. Valleys Steps has taught mindfulness to thousands of people in the Welsh Valleys.
  • Empowering. Mindfulness lets people take control of their states of mind, rather than relying on medication to feel better.
  • Proven. Mindfulness-based interventions are backed by research and approved by NICE for some conditions. Research shows no adverse side effects for the vast majority of people.
  • Cost-Effective. Mindfulness courses are offered to groups at a competitive cost.
  • Preventative. In line with the goals of Wales NHS, mindfulness helps people avoid mental health problems by fostering wellbeing and resilience.
  • Compassionate. Mindfulness fosters a kinder, more thoughtful way of living. It can help create more compassionate services – Aneurin Bevan UHB is already leading the way.
  • Scaleable. Wales has many mindfulness teachers and well-developed organisations. Mindfulness can be taught online and in Welsh.
  • A Welsh success story. Wales is a world leader in mindfulness, spearheaded by Bangor University’s Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice.

Research shows that mindfulness courses can have many benefits, including:

  • Reduced feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression
  • Improved ability to cope with pain and illness
  • Less worrying and obsessing over things
  • Greater appreciation of what is pleasant and enjoyable in life
  • Feeling clearer about what is truly meaningful, and living life with a stronger sense of purpose
  • Improved overall wellbeing, even in difficult times

Increased empathy and concern for others and the wider environment.

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