The arrival of summer is a beautiful thing – celebrations, get-togethers and finally getting to spend more time outdoors. For all the excitement, this time of year can also bring with it stresses and worries, and surface old hurts. Some of us can feel the pressure building, but for many of us it creeps up, and we realise a little too late that we haven’t been offering ourselves the attention and care that we need.
A mindfulness practice (whichever flavour you prefer) is a great tool to help find some peace in whatever situation or state we find ourselves in. One approach I find really useful is to notice what’s happening inside me, and say yes to it. A bit counter-intuitively, simply noticing and being open to what’s happening in the body can bring clarity about what we need to do to care for ourselves, and often lessen the experience of discomfort or pain. The trick is to quieten the part of your mind that wants the pain or discomfort to go away – to truly accept what’s present in the moment. This doesn’t mean that you have to stay in an unhealthy situation, or that you should stop doing the other things you do to look after yourself. Mindfulness practices help us to be clear about what’s actually happening for us, so we have all the information to make the best choices. A key offering of craniosacral therapists is guidance and support for this process of noticing and accepting.
Try this free 20 minute guided mediation Yes to Life by Tara Brach. Tara is a psychotherapist who blends eastern philosophies with western knowledge, and generously offers all her talks and meditations free of charge. I can’t recommend her enough!
By Matthew Daniel ~ Craniosacral Therapist at Five Elements
