Mindful Wales

Aims of Mindful Wales To create a website and data base to advertise Mindfulness Teachers and their courses in Wales To help people find Courses teaching mindfulness based approaches to living well. To raise awareness and understanding of what mindfulness is and what it’s benefits are for the individual, society and the environment. To advocate at governmental level for the integration of mindfulness into all levels of Welsh public life

So, what is Mindfulness? Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

And how can it help? 3 Main Benefits of Mindfulness General improvement of physical and mental wellbeing A reduction or slowing down in some symptoms of physical illness A reduction of frequency and intensity of some destructive or unpleasant moods or feelings.

What has mindfulness got to do with Creativity? “Understanding your own mind- and how it unwittingly ties itself in knots – is one of the central skills of mindfulness. At its core, mindfulness is about accepting that we are neither perfect or all-knowing creatures. Our minds can often be noisy and irrational places. But in the quiet spaces in between can lie moments of piercing insight.” Danny Penman: Mindfulness for Creativity Book: Mindfulness for Creativity. Adapt, create and thrive in a frantic world: by Dr Danny Penman.

3 Core Mindfulness skills to enhance Creativity and Problem Solving Divergent thinking: open awareness that can gather and integrate new ideas. Eureka moments. Noticing and seeing the significance of these insights Resilience to cope with the obstacles to follow your ideas wherever they should lead.

Governmental interest in Mindfulness Mindful Nation Report produced by an All Party Parliamentary Group. To report on the research and benefits of mindfulness in 4 areas of public life Health/Education/Workplace/Criminal Justice With suggestions for integration of Mindfulness into future policy decision. http://www.themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk/

Major Research project into Mindfulness and Resilience in Adolescence http://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/learn/myriad/

Mindfulness in Health Based on Work by Jon Kabat-Zinn with chronic pain and illness in his stress clinic in America the classic 8 week MBSR course was developed. NICE has since 2004 recommended Mindfulness Based Cognative Therapy (MBCT)within the NHS as treatment for Chronic Depression. These successful interventions have triggered an explosion of research into the benefits of mindfulness in other populations and mindfulness courses targeting these population. For example:

Mindfulness in Education Mindfulness in Schools Project Teachers are 2nd most stressed profession. Oxygen mask principle Teaching children mindfulness Myriad research project

Mindfulness training turns teachers' lives around Benefits for Teachers Mindfulness training turns teachers' lives around For the first time in west Wales the NUT has sponsored a mindfulness course for teachers led by mindfulness teacher Elizabeth Daniels and organised through the Healthy Schools Scheme. Website for article: http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/14435228.Mindfulness_training_turns_teachers_lives_around/

Secondary Pupils talking about benefits of mindfulness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbnA7dcws3A

Benefits to Secondary Pupils and within society Link to article on Mindfulness in Schools Project website: https://mindfulnessinschools.org/events-media/press-media/

Benefits for Primary Children Watch video on mindfulness in schools website: http://www.itv.com/news/wales/update/2013-12-08/new-mindfulness-techniques-used-in-schools/

Under the Mindful Wales Banner: Mindful Schools Wales Aims: To bring together mindfulness teachers within Wales who have trained with MiSP or equivalent. To offer networking opportunities to share best practice and successful models of integration of mindful culture within schools. To offer on going training Vision to have a mindfulness teacher in every school within Wales.

What’s been achieved so far? 60 trained .b, paws.b and Foundation .b mindfulness teachers on data base. Many self – funded their training. Awareness raising events organised by Liz Williams through Wales in Schools. Press coverage Generated interest in courses now ongoing 1 course to train .b teachers in Cardiff last year.

Obstacles Lack of awareness and understanding of mindfulness. Lack of trained teachers Lack of money to train teachers Lack of funding in schools to pay for outside teachers to come in and seed mindfulness within the school Teachers have to train in courses away from home resulting in additional accomodation and travel costs. A mixed-method study by McKenzie et al (2012) explored the knowledge and attitudes of medical and psychological students regarding mindfulness as a clinical intervention. They concluded that knowledge of mindfulness was associated with increased positivity towards it, more so, they suggested that the use of it as an intervention may be underutilised due to the lack of understanding by students, and practising health professionals.

In an ideal world, Mindful Schools Wales needs: Funding to support teachers to train to teach mindfulness within their own schools. Need training and resources on how to create web based support for existing teachers Live events for networking and training. Need to continue to raise public awareness of what mindfulness is and how it can benefit us all.

In an ideal world Mindful Wales needs: Funding for a person to fulfil its aims: To create and manage a website for mindfulness teachers to advertise their courses. Signpost people looking for a mindfulness course near them in Wales To raise awareness and understanding of what mindfulness is and what it’s benefits are for the individual, society and the environment. To advocate at governmental level for the integration of mindfulness into all levels of public life

Thankyou for listening From: Mindful Wales Mindful Schools Wales Thankyou for listening