Sometimes our thoughts and feelings can get in our way, stopping us in our tracks.
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Mindfulness is a way to hit pause.
It slows things down and creates space. It can help you accept yourself,
just as you are. It can help you focus, be calmer and have a healthier
perspective on life. Try it out.
Mindfulness can help you achieve many things and improve your mental health. Discover more using the arrows below.
Sometimes our thoughts and feelings can get in our way, stopping us in our tracks.
Many different thoughts and emotions can race around our minds everyday, making it difficult for us to focus.
Sometimes, we can find ourselves inundated with negative thoughts that make us too sad or too fearful to move forward.
Mindfulness means being aware of the current moment. It teaches you to be more aware of your thoughts, feelings, moods and bodily sensations, so that you can better manage your mind. We learn to look after our bodies with exercise, rest and diet. Mindfulness is about learning to look after our minds. The best way to understand it is to try it.
It's easy to get started. Mindfulness isn’t about "doing anything right" or trying to get somewhere. It’s about developing a new kind of awareness that, with regular practice, you can learn to tune into more often in your day-to-day life.
Research has shown that mindfulness can improve mental health. It can increase focus and help people enjoy the good things more. With practice, it can teach you how to spot difficult emotions and thoughts – like depression, stress, anxiety, or pain – and deal with them more easily.
No. Mindfulness is simply a way of understanding and looking after your mind in the same way that diet, sleep and exercise are ways to look after your body. It teaches you how to focus, calm down and allow your thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations to come and go without getting carried away by them, or trying to change them.
How you practice mindfulness is up to you. If you find it hard to keep your eyes closed, you don’t need to close them. If you think you might fall asleep, you can open a window. If you can’t sit still, you can practice mindfulness while taking a walk. It’s all about putting your mind at a comfortable, resting state so you can more easily let your thoughts come and go. You can also take a break any time you want.
If you become aware of something difficult, try to relate to it in a caring way, as you would support a friend or family member. If this becomes too distressing, you should put mindfulness aside for now. If you feel you can’t cope with your mood, or with issues in your life, then seek help. Mindfulness is not a cure-all.
Our public website, offering free mindfulness classes online and in-person
A series of free guided meditations on Soundcloud
A popular mindfulness app with many different types of exercises for both beginners and people experienced with mindfulness
A mindfulness app with over 50 million downloads, designed to help you sleep, meditate and relax
A meditation app designed around the unique needs of children and young people
Offering mindfulness retreats for young people
An animated explanation of mindfulness
New York Times article with helpful information and recommendations
by Mark Williams and Danny Penman
by Charles Makesy
Department of Psychiatry
Warneford Hospital
Oxford, OX3 7JX
Oxford Mindfulness Foundation
Registered Company Number: 06144314
Registered Charity Number: 1122517
