MINDFULNESS

A basic definition of mindfulness I have gathered online is 'a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations'. 

Let's face it, in today's society more and more young people are coming to the realization of mental illness (although statistically it is worrying...I believe it is fantastic that there is wider awareness). Wow, this seems to be a big topic on my blog recently. But I'm sorry I am very passionate about this topic. Why am I apologizing. (eeeek). 

Personally in order to achieve this mindfulness, colouring has been my go-to source. Just like many others in today's society. With the big craze for adult colouring books last year, there was no doubt I was not going to pass up this activity. I must admit, I hesitated with the idea for months, simply because I wasn't sure if it would genuinely help with anxiety etc. BUT I can say it does calm the mind and allow yourself to drop any worries temporarily.

 I came across this specific adult colouring book in a London art shop called Cass Art. At the time I had little idea that you could buy this book elsewhere, but at the time I decided to just buy it after months of hesitation. I thought to myself that I must make time for this activity, even if it was 10 minutes each day or every two days even. 

This type of art therapy and form of mindfulness has opened up many new ideas for me to deal with anxiety. Just by teaching me to focus on one specific thing rather than giving myself too much to do. With my understanding of how it works, it distracts the mind as this activity of colouring requires lots of attention and concentration due to the complexity of drawings. This gives the mind little space to think and be anxious over other thoughts and feelings. Don't get me wrong, I am no expert, but I do study about childhood and youth at University and it makes sense to me as to why play and arts are so important for young children to experience. 

Just a little post on how colouring has personally been a temporary fix for anxiety and stress.

S x