Mindfulness

Mindfulness can help us enjoy life more and pay better attention to the world around us, especially how we interact with it through our bodies. Mindfulness techniques and meditations are designed to awaken us to the sensations of the present moment, such as the sound of the birds or the feel of an object. The goal is that we are not caught up in the constant workings of our thoughts and have more time to see the present moment clearly.

The NHS has this helpful guide providing more details about how mindfulness might help you manage your mental health.

The Mental Health Foundation have created this 3 minutes mindfulness exercise which you can try.

What young people have told us:

'It helps to bring you back to the moment instead of getting lost in racing emotions.'

'Don't get too worked up if you can't do it the first time round. If it is difficult, then it is doing its job and working!'

'I tend to think a lot about the future and often get anxious about it. Mindfulness helps me re-center myself by allowing me to focus on the present moment. The breathing that accompanies mindfulness has also helped me calm the physical symptoms when I get anxious.'

'It really helped me trust my own decisions and accept myself and what I don't have to put up with.'

There isn’t much academic research in the area of self-care for young people who are living with mental health issues. We are trying to find out more about what works for different people so we can better advise other young people what to try.

If you’ve tried this activity when you were struggling in relation to your mental health, please email us at comms.requests@annafreud.org and let us know if it helped you.