Mindfulness, cultivated through an awareness of the simple act breathing, is the foundation of everything we learn to do in therapy. Mindfulness therapy brings us into the present moment, the only place we are free of yesterday’s regrets and our tomorrow’s anxiety. By taking a single, slow breath, we can insert a pause into the habitual cascade of thoughts and emotions that drive our behaviors, one just long enough to create the opportunity to do something different.
While you may choose to pursue yoga or meditation on your own, and I encourage you to if you are interested, the forms of mindfulness that I present are well-tuned to the other modalities I work with, such as EMDR and IFS. In many ways these practices are themselves forms of mindfulness, each of which benefits from a few moments of inner awareness and calm before we reach for more humane and connected ways of being.
Do not worry if you have tried meditation or yoga in the past and found it intolerable – there are some good reasons why this might be the case, and exploring them is part of the process. There are also a lot of ways to practice mindfulness, from running to dance to painting, and we will take the time to find something that works for you.
Exploration and experimentation leading to new ways of engaging with ourselves, other people, and the world as a whole.
