
Mindfulness & Meditation
The Full Story
Mindfulness meditation is a practice that involves being aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, overall feelings and your surroundings without judgment. The practice allows you to step back from being caught up in any of the above and find the gap between stimulus and response. Being mindful is the opposite to living on auto pilot, we all know that feeling of arriving at a destination and not knowing how we got there, or reacting to someone without pause for thought and later regretting our behaviour.
We know by nature we are habitual and that our mind likes to predict situations, to save energy, by using past experiences to navigate a reaction. However, every situation in our life is different, it may be similar in lots of ways but never the same. Even our own nature can change moment to moment and our perspective may be cloured by something as simple as being hungry or tired.
Just a thought - you meet someone with whom you have a slightly unpleasant encounter. Next time you meet them you have already decided this conversation is not going to go well. Your previous experience with this person has already filtered your reaction. But how much do you know about the other person and their personal struggles and life situation? We often take these interactions very personal as if everthing is about ourselves, in truth it is about the other person and we may be too busy trying to meet our own needs to find out about the other person. In this situation if we are mindful, with an openness to compassion, if we view the interaction with fresh eyes, a beginners mind we may find the conversation goes in a very different way.
There are many ways in which we can begin to include mindfulness (awareness) into our lives and not all about sitting in stillness on the meditation cushion.
Some techniques include;
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Breathing: Focus on your breath and return your attention to it when your mind wanders
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Body scan: Focus on your body for pain, tension, or anything out of the ordinary
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Mindful eating: Pay attention to the smell, flavor, and texture of your food
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Mindful movement: Be aware of your body and surroundings while moving
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Mindful walking: taking every step with awareness and connecting to our surroundings, how our body feels and our breath. Try to look around and take your time to observer something new. We miss so much with our rush to move to the next thing.
Mindfulness is a quality you can practice throughout your life, not just during meditation. It can help you relax and reduce stress.

Recommendations
Nikki Smith
Just wanted to say a big thank you for a really wonderful session on Monday.
To get an idea of what 'mindfulness' is all about and to appreciate how valuable it could be, was really useful. I think it could be life changing (hence the reason for booking onto your 6 week course!).
The meditation was amazing to be honest. My mind usually wanders off frequently during 'relaxation' at the end of yoga. During meditation with you, my mind completely stopped wandering and I was totally relaxed.
The whole experience was totally fulfilling. I don't know if it's in my imagination, but I seem to be more relaxed since (even when decorating with my husband !!!).
I can completely understand why you don't want it too warm in your studio as I would definitely have gone to sleep which I would imagine would not be beneficial.. I will definitely bring thick socks next time!
Thank you once again!
Tracy Pinkham
I have been going to Audrajean’s pilates sessions for a couple of years on and off. More recently I have gone back to try to help a neck problem I have had for a while. I have really found a difference to my pain levels following my sessions. Audrajean is an excellent instructor, always ensuring everyone is in the correct position to increase the effectiveness of the precise movements. She tailors it beautifully to the needs and abilities of the group and puts lots of care and attention into our sessions.
Julie Edwards
I just started Pilates with Audrajean on a Friday in Coundon. I haven't done Pilates for years now and have had a back problem and a major operation. The class was brilliant as the beginner level was just right for me and allowed me to work within my own limits but was also good for my 19 year old daughter as there were variations she could do suitable for her being younger and more flexible. Will definitely be sticking with it! Great class, great teacher!