Dr. Katie Amelia
GP Specialising in Mental Health and Wellbeing

Mindfulness can be practised anywhere, costs nothing, and you can dedicate as much or as little time to it as you like. Using an app such as Headspace can help you get started today.

Here are some simple tips that I often tell patients when they’re just starting out:

• Find what suits you: You might find that yoga or walking helps you, or you might want to try an app to get started with mindfulness. Try different things to find what suits you.
• Take your time: Mindfulness is a skill that will take some learning and practise, especially if it feels like worlds away from your current constant rush of thoughts.  So build it up slowly, be kind to yourself and don’t expect yourself to get it right straight away.
• Timetable it in: If you can, try and dedicate a few minutes a day to practising mindfulness at a time that’s convenient.  If you do it at the same time each day, it can become part of your routine making it easier to do it regularly.

Of course, should you feel that you urgently need to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to speak to one of our doctors today.

Will Hawkins
Nutritionist

How often do you think about food? Recent research suggests we think about it up to 200 times a day.

This includes simple thoughts like what you want to eat, and what you’re planning on eating later, to more critical ones around your body image, or of food you wish you hadn’t eaten.

Through mindfulness, we can train our brains to think more healthily about what we eat.

Headspace is a brilliant app that not only teaches the art of meditation, but also helps you train the thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations that comes with decision making.

It can help you understand and tackle the root of the problem, which can be many things, including stress or unhappiness, so that you can make healthier and more balanced food choices.