Mindfulness Matters: Our Approach

So, how are we all feeling?  I hope everyone has settled into this funny old time in our lives right now!

I decided at the start of lockdown to start running some live meditation classes via Zoom across Kura. To me, this is a time in our lives where we need to help each other cope with the stressful situation we are currently in. I know from my own experiences that my anxiety is heightened and I need to work harder to find my strength and calm my thoughts.

I’ve been meditating and practicing yoga for about 4 years – I’d been going through a couple of big changes in my life and found that yoga and fitness helped me get into a better head space. I decided for Christmas 2018 that I’d take a trip to India to join a yoga retreat. With all the things that life throws at you, it all just got a bit much and I needed some time away to re-evaluate things.  I came back feeling refreshed and ready to tackle 2019 with full force; I was practicing yoga more regularly and using meditation/breathing exercises to help me focus on my work and personal goals.  Autumn 2019 showed up and I had pretty much stopped practicing yoga/meditation, I was feeling a little unclear about things, so I decided I’d go on another trip and took myself off to Bali in December 2019 to another yoga retreat. This was the trip that changed my whole perspective on what I do in my life.

I was practicing yoga for around 4 hrs a day and experiencing new ways to tap into how I was feeling and how to manage those feelings. At this point I realised that I really wanted to take my yoga/meditation practice more seriously and go through my yoga teacher training.

I practice Kundalini yoga so it’s a little different than some of the yoga you maybe see on Instagram or social media.  In Kundalini Yoga you use deep breathing, meditation, and calming postures to instil a deep sense of relaxation in those that practice it.

Breathing is one of the most natural things we do as humans.  It’s a gift and a very powerful tool that can help us create balance in our lives.  Taking some time out to focus on the breath allows us to pause from the stresses of daily life and brings us focus and clarity and an overall sense of wellbeing.

Over the last 12 weeks we’ve focused on mediation and breathing techniques in a bid to support our Kura team in improving their mental wellbeing, reducing anxiety and improving their confidence in this time of uncertainty in our world right now.

Well-being is not just about practising meditation or yoga or breathing techniques, well-being is the experience of health, happiness, and prosperity.  It includes having good mental health, high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose and the ability to manage stress. More generally, well-being is feeling well.