Rumination isn’t a word you hear everyday. It isn’t a very obvious word to understand either. But it’s a common experience, and one that can be very damaging to mental health and wellbeing. While there are diverse ways to help halt or ease rumination, coaching and creativity may have an important part to play. Overthinking,Continue reading “Going Round In Circles”
Tag Archives: mindfulness
Open Hands
What is the best way to respond to the negatives? I see-saw in what I think. Sometimes I think confronting thoughts and emotions is better – talking or journaling or using art to explore and express. At other times I feel that can be damaging, fuelling a cycle of overthinking for many people, and thatContinue reading “Open Hands”
Rich And Full
In her novel Emma, Jane Austen writes that “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other”. It’s a saying I remember most days! And it’s a saying I remembered when last year I read a book sharing the author’s mental health issues. Through all her struggles, the author reflected, the peopleContinue reading “Rich And Full”
With Thanks
At the start of a new year, ideas go flying about: how to make this a good or a better year? One trend is all about positive thinking and gratitude therapy. I wonder what is your immediate response to hearing those words? Gratitude journaling is a practice I’ve known about for a while. I knowContinue reading “With Thanks”
Sketching Nature
On the very first day of meteorological autumn, as it is now called, I saw a cranefly – or daddy long legs – bumbling along the back wall of my house, up and down and across. Always a sign that autumn is on its way, and a sighting I’ll record on a page in myContinue reading “Sketching Nature”
Nature’s Soundscape
Hearing sounds of the natural world can become everyday and something I take for granted. Wind rustling through tree leaves, a blackbird singing, bees buzzing, water trickling over stones. There are apps now to identify pretty well any natural sound. In some ways they make us listen out more, then learn what’s in our midst.Continue reading “Nature’s Soundscape”
Overlooked
Outside my window as I write this is a small patch of grass – maybe 2 metres by 1 – where I have let the grass grow longer to see what else might appear. There’s some dove’s foot cranesbill with its little purple flowers, there are some daisies and dandelions, and a few Timothy andContinue reading “Overlooked”
Space For Solitude
When I hear the word “solitude”, I picture a quiet room with sunlight streaming through the windows and with a chair, and table covered with art materials and a notebook and pen. Everyone’s ideal of a place to spend some time in solitude will be different – but each one will be a space whereContinue reading “Space For Solitude”
Forest Of Flowers
Recently I saw a photo of wild flowers blooming in the middle of a busy city, part of the Forest Of Flowers initiative. I remembered the photo in part because I like the name: Forest Of Flowers. It conjures up a mental image of flowers growing in profusion, carpeting the ground, an expanse of colourContinue reading “Forest Of Flowers”
Nature On My Mind
When you think about nature helping mental health, what picture comes to your mind? Would it be time spent in a garden, or time photographing or drawing something in nature? A walk on a sunny day, looking out for wild flowers and trees? Or perhaps enjoying sport outdoors, like cricket or windsurfing? Back in 2016Continue reading “Nature On My Mind”
Medley 