There is more than one way to practice mindfulness, but the goal of any mindfulness technique is to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts, sensations and feelings without judgement. This allows the mind to refocus on the present moment.

The roots of mindfulness teachings date back to the early teachings of Buddha, although the practice is involved in many religions and secular traditions across the globe. It was on retreats lead by Thich Nhat Hanh that Jon Kabat-Zinn was introduced to the philosophy of Buddhism and developed his own ideas. In 1979, Kabat-Zinn developed his own programme called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which became very successful across the West, and so he has come to be known as the ‘godfather of mindfulness.’

When we start to practice mindfulness, we slowly develop an awareness of attention and are able to start focussing on the present moment. This sounds simple, but it can be tricky because life is often busy and complicated and our minds can become preoccupied with the past (thoughts, memories, regrets) or future (worries which are out of our control), this in turn can lead to stress, anxiety and low mood.

We can begin to become an observer of our own mind, and can start to detach from thoughts and getting caught up in scenarios out of our control. We can practice watching our thoughts come and go, like clouds in the sky, being able to see and observe whilst we let them float gently by, without grasping onto them. Mindfulness often focuses on the breath and can be practised formally; through guided meditations or informally through mindful eating, mindful movement or any other activity we can place our full attention on in the present moment.

Mindfulness has many benefits, and with over 3,000 scientifically backed studies in the area, there is strong evidence to show overall benefit on mental health as well as physical wellbeing.

MRI scans on the brain have proven that after an 8 week mindfulness intervention; the amygdala (fight or flight response) appears to shrink, leading to stress reduction and reduced anxiety.

Mindfulness practice can also be used for pain control, with many clinical trials showing improved pain management in patients suffering from chronic pain.

The practice of paying attention and staying in the ‘present moment’ actually re-wires the brain, leading to increased attention and focus.

Mindfulness can create a sense of connection with other beings, and a sense of compassion and belonging. This can counteract the feeling of loneliness and feeling separate from others.

The practice of mindfulness can actually ‘re wire’; the brain, which can help to break cycles or patterns, such as overeating.

Mindfulness can help to increase resilience and emotional regulation. This can be particularly helpful when working with children, and young people when supporting them through their adolescent period.

Hi I’m Ellie, founder of Kindfulmind and a happily married mum of two children, 2 cats and one dog living in Bristol.

I haven’t always been happy though, and for most of my life until I reached my 30’s I was pretty unhappy if I’m to be honest, suffering with anxiety and depression and not having a clue who I was - ‘I mean the true me’.

I hid this all very well with use of regular recreational drugs and alcohol and threw myself into a life of partying (hey, it wasn’t all that bad – there were fun times too!), but mainly I felt very alone. I knew I wasn’t happy, or in the right job or right relationship, but feeling helpless to do anything about it, I just carried on acting in this way, ignoring the niggling feelings and gut instincts, telling myself ‘you must be wrong’ all the time.

There, that was part of my problem. Listening to that critical inner voice of mine. I actually believed everything I told myself about myself – that I wasn’t ‘pretty enough’ or ‘good enough’ or to ‘stop even trying’. I didn’t have a clue back then that thoughts were not real, they are just thoughts without any basis of fact (we have over 6,000 a day, so how can they all be true?).

I only wish someone could have come to my school/college/university and just taught me those 4 simple words - ‘thoughts are not facts’ - this may have changed my whole perspective, but alas, I just kept believing all the crap in my head!

I was acting from a place of fear. I never truly expressed myself or spoke up for what I needed. No wonder I felt alone. How could I attract the kind of people I wanted (and needed in my life) if I wasn’t being truly authentic in myself? My life was ok, but I wasn’t happy at all.

In my mid-20’s I had cosmetic surgery on my nose. I chose a New York surgeon who had lots of top clients – but only a few years later after my nose job, he was shut down from practice, as one of his patients died whilst getting a face lift! So, I had put myself at risk (maybe), but although I was happy with my new nose shape, I still felt awful about myself. Why was I still talking negatively to myself and thinking people were staring at me? I just couldn’t feel happy or stop feeling anxious all the time.

It wasn’t until much later, in my 30’s, when I was more settled, that I began to find out about mindfulness, starting off by reading the wonderful ‘Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle. I then began a journey of finding out more online, reading books and attending courses, before training to teach mindfulness, first to children and later on to adults too.

My mindfulness journey helped me to notice my anxiety and be able to manage it, as well as notice when my critical and harsh inner voice was speaking to me. I learnt to develop a new kinder more self-compassionate way of talking to myself and therefore looking after myself and my mind.

I spent a few years teaching mindfulness to families, groups and individuals, and ran a few courses with the youth mental health charity Off the Record.

Fast forward to 2020 and the start of the first lockdown, and I decided to train to teach face yoga as it was something I had been doing for a year or so before. I loved that fact that face yoga helped me to feel calm and as though I was giving love to myself – it’s an act of self care, which has loads of benefits. I started seeing the benefits for myself and knew this is also something I wanted to share with others.

I am at a very fortunate place in my life to feel in control of my anxiety and have a wonderful self care practice for my mind and body, which includes mindfulness & self-compassion meditation and face yoga.

My passion for working with young people is to help them realise that ‘thoughts are not real or factual’ especially when it comes to thoughts of their own personal self-image, which can be distorted by social media so much these days. I want to spread the message of self-kindness and self-compassion, and to help young people build an inner resilience to overcome negative self-thought.

My aim for working with adults (in particular busy working mum’s) is to help them slow down and take time for their own self-care. Busy mums are usually the last to look after themselves, being the main care giver and putting everyone’s needs before their own. Self-care is not selfish but essential - ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup!’ The practice of self-compassion meditations plus face yoga can be really transformative, and a holistic way of feeling and looking better, working from the inside-out.

Kindfulmind ‘s aim is to develop self-acceptance by helping you to look and feel the very best version of yourself!

This can be achieved through taking the time to go inward and explore mindful practices, develop self-compassionate techniques and by implementing self care strategies.

The 3 foundations of Kindfulmind’s mission are;

• Self-awareness
• Self-compassion
• Self-care

The teaching of mindfulness brings mindful SELF-AWARENESS, which can help you to start to disassociate from thoughts and negative thinking patterns, and start to become more focussed on just being in the present moment.

The introduction of kindness brings in SELF-COMPASSION, which with practice can help you to build a new, more caring and nurturing inner dialogue which will support your whole being.

The practice of face yoga, is an act of self-love and SELF-CARE. By doing this regularly, you will begin to tune into your body and give yourself this wonderful tool of relaxation and stress release, as well as start looking and feeling better!

This in turn leads to SELF-ACCEPTANCE. When we learn to be truly authentic to who we really are, begin to support ourselves through self-kindness (so that we don’t need to rely on anyone else for that support), and begin to love ourselves for who we are through nurturing self-care practices – we really start the process of self-acceptance.

To have a ‘KINDFULMIND’ is to encompass all three elements, to be as holistically well as you can by nurturing yourself from the inside out.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A certain Wolf could not get enough to eat because of the watchfulness of the Shepherds. But one night he found a sheep skin that had been cast aside and forgotten. The next day, dressed in the skin, the Wolf strolled into the pasture with the Sheep. Soon a little Lamb was following him about and was quickly led away to slaughter.

That evening the Wolf entered the fold with the flock. But it happened that the Shepherd took a fancy for mutton broth that very evening, and, picking up a knife, went to the fold. There the first he laid hands on and killed was the Wolf.

The evil doer often comes to harm through his own deceit.