Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Stress Reduction

There are regular MBCT courses happening at ‘Breathing Space‘, (a project focusing on mental-health and well-being, based at the London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green). MBCT is the acronym for ‘mindfulness based cognitive therapy’. MBCT can be hugely helpful, if you suffer from anxiety or chronic stress. It can work alongside therapy or as a stand-alone training.

The intention is that through the MBCT course, you become more aware and mindful, moment by moment, of physical sensations, thoughts and emotions. In MBCT you practice allowing these feelings and thoughts to come into awareness and then letting them go. You note them, watch them arrive and then allow them to pass away, without latching hold of them or judging them.

Clearly this takes practice. But MBCT is an 8-week (approx) course. It involves breathing exercises, exercises from CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and there is group sharing and discussion.

Mindfulness itself can also can be transformative and it is something that I often recommend to my counselling clients. If you are interested in mindfulness but don’t want to go on a course, try one of the mindfulness apps, like Headspace. You need to put in regular daily time for mindfulness to really work, but it’s well worth it, particularly if you are worried about your anxiety or your stress levels.

Fear of Flying

For many of us, the fear of flying is huge. The whole idea sends our stress hormones rocketing. We know that flying is meant to be safer than driving, that you’re more likely to have an accident negotiating the motorway turn-off, but still there’s something that just feels wrong about being up there that high in the sky.

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Coping with Stress.

Life in London is increasingly full of stress. Many of us rush from home to work and back again and have to fit in family time, gym, social life with friends, paperwork, and housework into our limited free time. We are over-worked and tired out. We are desperately concerned about the state of the world, the environment, the economy. Just look at the stressed and anxious faces of people on the tube in the early morning!

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