Why is meditation important?

We have all heard that meditation reduces stress however it is now being recommended by doctors that it can help improve creativity, improve sleep, decrease anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and even addiction.

So how do we meditate?

1. First, find a comfortable place where you can sit without distractions for at least 2 minutes and build up to 15 minutes.
2. Sit comfortably with your back upright with head up.( Imagine your head is being pulled up to the sky)
3. Close your eyes and focus within.
4. Focus your attention on any one of the following.
   • You can focus your attention on your breath and breathing. There is no need to regulate this. Let it be natural.
   • You can repeat a positive statement about yourself and life.
   • If you do use a statement to focus on, try to feel what it means to you.
   • You can focus on your heartbeat.
   • You can use any other method with which you feel comfortable.
5. If you notice your mind drifting off onto other thoughts or stories , just bring your focus back to the technique you are using to focus on.
6. When you have completed meditating, it is a good idea to give yourself a few minutes to adjust back into the activities of your day.

You are encouraged to meditate ideally at the same time every day . Most people will choose early in the morning or late at night. It does not matter when you meditate, as long as you can devote a period of time to your practice without being disturbed .Do not worry there is no perfect way to meditate . Just be pleased that you are doing it. Meditation is not always easy or even peaceful however it can have amazing benefits. Try it !

Mental health problems are incredibly common. It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the past week have experienced a common mental health problem. Just as people are not defined by their physical injuries and disabilities, mental illness is not a character flaw and is not a sign of personal weakness. Defining people by their condition contributes to the stigma attached to mental illness, and prevents people that need help from speaking out. We can confront that stigma by treating people with mental health problems with dignity and by raising awareness of how we can improve our mental wellbeing in our day to day lives. Mental wellbeing is about being able to cope with everyday troubles and having a positive outlook on life. You could work towards this by:

Learning new skills – Why not learn a new language or work on your public speaking? Personal achievement can help us to realise our potential and give us a sense of purpose, which boosts self-confidence and mental wellbeing.

Being active – Exercise can be easily shaped into a social activity with friends or family, and the benefits of regular exercise to our mental health have been long documented, improving memory and concentration. Regular physical activity is also found to be a strong complement to therapy as a means to reduce stress levels and the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders.

Being mindful – It’s easy to get caught up in the stresses and strains of modern life, but research shows that taking just a few minutes out to acknowledge our surroundings in the present moment helps us to better manage our thoughts and emotions. There are a number of free resources available that can help you to make a habit out of meditation.

Surrounding yourself with good people –As little as a friend to speak to when we are feeling low can be enough to lift our mood and help us feel more connected to society, reducing stress and anxiety levels. Why not reach out to an old friend that you’ve been meaning to catch up with for ages?

Spending time away from toxic people – Working to reduce the influence that negative people have over your decisions – those that leave you feeling drained by their criticism, selfishness or dependency – means that you are better able to focus on your own needs, ambitions and happiness. Instead of wasting time trying to improve the perspective of somebody that doesn’t want to see the bright side, spend more time building relationships with the people that respect and support you.

For more information about World Mental Health Day, please visit the Mental Health Foundation website. Sources of help and guidance can be found at www.mind.org.uk

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an ongoing basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.

Everybody knows what it is like to feel stressed. Stress can be a useful drive that can help us to be more productive and feel more energised*, however chronic stress that becomes overwhelming over time can, not only, make existing mental health problems worse, but contribute to the development of mental health problems too.* If you’re feeling like you’re struggling to cope with your stress, consider the following…

1. Take control

Confronting the source of the problem is empowering. Passive thinking like “I can’t do anything” will only make your stress worse. The first step to feeling better is to identify the cause of your stress and then think about how to find a solution.

2. Be active

Two hours of moderate-intense aerobic activity per week (such as fast walking or cycling) will improve your self-esteem and wellbeing.

3. Connect

Reach out to people around you—family, friends and  colleagues. This allows us to share feelings and support others. The more you give, the happier you will feel. Even the smallest act can count, like a smile or a “thank you;” or larger ones such as volunteering in the local community. Doing something kind stimulates the reward area of the brain, creating positive feelings.

4. Keep learning

Gaining new skills by setting targets and hitting them can inspire a sense of achievement and confidence. Challenge yourself, whether at work or in your personal life.

5. Be Mindful

Be aware of your thoughts and feelings, and when your thoughts take over the present moment. Remember these are simply thoughts that do not need to control us. Be aware, even as you about your daily routine, by appreciating the journey to work or taking a lunch time walk.

6. Work smarter

Rather than working harder, prioritise your activities and leave the least important task for last. You may need to accept that your inbox will never read “zero” at the end of the day.

Further information on how you can manage stress can be found here. 

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an on-going basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.

Self-esteem refers to the beliefs that we have about ourselves.

This includes the opinions we have about our personalities, character traits, behaviours, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

People with healthy self-esteems will generally have a positive opinion of themselves. As such, although these people will experience tough times, they will be able to cope better than someone with low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to developing mental health problems, because they tend to focus on their weakness and find it harder to pinpoint good things about themselves.  As a result they blame themselves when bad things happen and find it harder to cope with failure.

Having a healthy self-esteem is important, because how we view ourselves has a huge influence on our mental wellbeing. Low self-esteem is not recognised as a mental health problem in itself; however it tends to feed into common mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.

Low self-esteem makes it harder to push yourself to try new things and take on challenges; this can stop you from making the progress in life that you want to, and eventually pave the way to depression overtime. Mental health problems then knock your self-esteem levels further, and so a seemingly never-ending cycle of negativity continues and becomes harder to overcome.

Everybody’s self-esteem could do with a boost occasionally, however if you feel your self-esteem is hindering your ability to live a fulfilling life; there are ways you can help to boost your opinion of yourself. The key to solving issues surrounding self-esteem is challenging negative beliefs. You could do this by pursing hobbies that build confidence (choosing a hobby you feel you have a natural ability in will help!), and doing things that can bring you happiness and give you a sense of achievement, for example doing paid work, voluntary work or caring for somebody else.

Low self-esteem is sometimes encouraged by the people around you. Are you surrounded by groups that encourage negativity and critical thinking? If so, you should seriously think about how you can reduce the influence these individuals have over your decision making and thought processes. This might be as simple as telling them how their behaviour impacts your opinion of yourself in a negative way. Alternatively, sometimes the better option is to distance yourself from toxic people and put more time and energy into those who support and care for you.

Further information on how you can improve your self-esteem can be found here.

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an on-going basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.

Our relationship with food can be complicated, and often changes depending on our mood in the current moment. For this reason it might be difficult to recognise when an occasional food problem, such as comfort eating or undereating in times of stress, has escalated into an eating disorder. An eating disorder is an eating problem that is persisting over a long period of time and having a worrying impact on your mental and physical wellbeing. The symptoms for the most common kinds of eating disorders can be found below:

Bulimia Nervosa

• Eating tons of food in one go, and then getting rid of the food you’ve eaten by making yourself sick or using laxatives
• Starving yourself in-between binges
• Exercising excessively to try and make up for binge eating

Anorexia

• Reducing food take dramatically, or refusing to eat at all
• Counting calories obsessively
• Hiding food, or throwing it away
• Using drugs that speed up digestion
• Making yourself sick using laxatives
• Wearing clothing in order to cover up weight loss and keep warm

Binge eating disorder

• Pick at food, or eat large amounts at once
• Eating large amounts of food without thinking
• Eat until you feel uncomfortable or sick
• Comfort eating in times of stress or unhappiness

Eating disorders are usually about more than just food alone. Eating disorders are often a damaging way of dealing with deeper issues, such as difficult events in your life or painful feelings that you’re struggling to cope with. The symptoms associated with eating disorders, such as obsessively or secretly hiding food, can give sufferers a sense of control that they don’t have in other areas of their life. Eating disorders such as anorexia are often assumed to be primarily influenced by a culture of slimming and dieting; however behind the surface it is often connected to other problems that aren’t being dealt with, such low self-esteem, negative self-image and feelings of intense distress and unhappiness.

There can be whole range of other root causes that could be behind an eating disorder, such as family issues or difficult childhood experiences, the impact of existing mental health problems, or social and cultural pressure. Whilst anyone can experience an eating disorder, those with particular personality traits, such as a tendency towards unreasonable self-criticism or a lack of confidence in self-expression, may be more vulnerable.

If you recognise any of these symptoms in yourself, or are worried about somebody else, it is vital you do everything you can to seek help for yourself or other people. You can do this by pursuing direct help in the form of counselling. Self-help methods include taking practical every day steps to try and curb unhealthy routines. For example by buying smaller amounts of food when overeating, or making sure you’re around other people after eating to prevent purging.

Changes in unhealthy routines, traits and behaviours can take time. Self-help therefore also involves learning how to be kinder to yourself and understand that setbacks in recovery, if they arise, are just that: setbacks. They are not the be all and end all.

For further information on eating disorders, and details about where to seek help, can be found here.

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an on-going basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.

Anxiety is used to describe feelings of unease, worry and fear.

This includes physical sensations we might experience when we are struggling with anxiety. It’s normal to feel tense and fearful at the prospect of big event or decision you’re facing, especially if it is going to have a big influence on your future; for example sitting an exam, attending an interview, starting a new job, having a baby or deciding to get married. Anxiety is part of our normal biological reaction to feeling threatened.

Anxiety becomes a problem when the symptoms intensify and last for a long period of time. For example, you might find that you are worrying about normal everyday activities that you would usually cope with well. You might find yourself avoiding simple tasks out of fear and worry, and retreating in to yourself/cutting off your support networks. You could be having unrealistic worries about scenarios that will never occur, or worrying about worrying (and worrying about worrying about worrying!) Along with this you might experience regular panic attacks.

If you find that anxiety is hindering your ability to live day-to-day, it is important to look for ways to help yourself. Primarily this would involve seeking a diagnosis, as depending on the nature of your anxiety you could be diagnosed with a specific type of disorder, such as obsessive compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment options include talking therapies, which can help you understand the source of your anxiety and evaluate/change your thought patterns in order to cope better when you find yourself in situations that trigger anxiety. Certain types of medication are also available where needed.

Although a natural response to anxiety is avoiding what triggers fear, facing up to what makes you anxious can be a helpful first step in breaking the cycle of insecurity. Day-to-day it is important to make sure you’re helping yourself cope as much as possible. For example by talking to people you trust about what you’re going through, joining a support network, getting regular exercise or trying breathing and mental exercise that can help you shift your point of view and focus on the current moment.

If you feel anxiety is becoming an issue for you, there is also the option to self-refer to counselling. You could do this by seeing if self-referral NHS services are available in your area by looking at the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme website. Further information on anxiety, and details about where to seek help, can be found here.

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an on-going basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.

Depression is an incredibly common mental health problem, affecting around 1 in 10 people at some point during their lifetime.*

Depression goes much further than simply feeling fed up now and again. Everyone experiences periods of unhappiness occasionally, however often low mood will improve after a short period of time. Depression is characterised when feelings of sadness and hopelessness become persistent, and continue for weeks, months or even years.

It is important to seek help and advice if you feel you might be experiencing depression. The illness affects people in different ways depending on how severe it is. The most common symptoms include prolonged feelings of stress, unhappiness or anxiety, feeling tired constantly, losing interest in activities you used to enjoy, feeling tearful, losing appetite or sex drive, and experiencing various aches and pains.

The good news is that, with the right help and support, many people living with depression can make a full recovery. You might benefit from talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy if you are experiencing mild-moderate depression. Antidepressants can also be prescribed where necessary. Lifestyle changes such as doing more exercise, cutting down alcohol intake or eating more healthily can help people suffering with depression to cope better on a day-to-day basis.

For further information on depression, and details about where to seek help, can be found at www.mind.org.uk

If you feel like you have a problem that can’t be solved, you don’t need to suffer in silence. The College of Animal Welfare offers free counselling services to their students on an on-going basis as needed. Appointments are available face-to-face as well as by video conference, FaceTime or similar. For more information on how to book an appointment please visit our website.