Many reasons can bring us to therapy. We have all experienced feelings that can come up during difficult times such as bereavement, ill health, or perhaps conflict in relationships at home or at work.

Often bad times pass, but sometimes problems don’t seem to go away and things get more difficult. You might find yourself exhausted with a long-standing issue or struggling with a sudden life event.

Therapy is a collaborative endeavour between you and your therapist that aims to help you gain a better understanding of yourself in the world. In the process it can help you find new perspectives on your life making change possible.

Trying to define what mindfulness is a bit like trying to tell you what a strawberry tastes like or what a piece of music sounds like. Definitions cannot capture the lived experience of tasting or listening. They can only give us an idea of what the actual experience is like. And each of our experiences is unique to each individual, mine might not be like yours and it might be different in the morning and the evening.

Definitions aim to approximate the experience and put it into concepts that we can relate to. With that in mind let’s begin our exploration of mindfulness by looking at two popular working definitions:

The Sanskrit word Yoga योग means to yoke/harness/join. It originated in ancient India and entails physical, mental and spiritual practices that promote awakening and recognition of the ultimate union of body/mind with Consciousness. As yoga travelled to the West the accessible and adaptable physical aspects made it one of the most popular fitness routines for people of all ages.

Growing scientific research into our embodied mind demonstrates what any serious yoga practitioner will know from their own experience: yoga benefits our wellbeing by improving physical and mental health.