Have had no interest in updating this lately. Few things going on – going back to work being the most imminent and life changing. I’ve been to the doctors, I’ve done their checklists and hurrah, I have a label. I’m not going to agree with their diagnosis, I am no different to any other mother who has to go to back to work. I doubt any mother wants to be separated from their child, I think if every mother were to go to the doctors three weeks before they were due back at work when they’d rather spend every day with their baby, the answer would be the same!

But I’m a much better mother to him working full time, working for the things we have and showing him exactly that – you have to work for a living if you want things in life.

My way of dealing with this big change to our lives is through using mindfulness. Focusing on my breathing, thinking of something positive and focussing on that has worked for me in childbirth (see my post here).

According to http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/: ‘Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.’ You can read more about this here. I think this definition sums it up beautifully.

I first heard of mindfulness in my hypnobirthing book and a few of my family members who work within the mental health section of the NHS have said that they have seen an increase in it being used and they agreed that it was very good. I’m hoping to go see Ruby Wax talk about it very soon too (she has a written a book after completing qualifications in it, so she’s a great advocate and source).

I’ve created a board on pinterest, which I hope you will follow if you ever have times which challenge you. It is full of silly phrases to put a smile on your face and things to focus the mind on the positive, such as gratitude prompts.

[pin_board url=”https://uk.pinterest.com/iamcrabstix/mindfulness/” size=”custom” image_width=”100″ board_width=”500″ board_height=”350″]