Weekly Mindful Reminder – Riding the Waves

This weeks mindful reminder is written by Roz

British Summer Time has begun and recently I’ve heard people, including myself, starting to talk with excitement about

going on a summer holiday.

I feel very grateful that I can plan a holiday and we love to go to Cornwall and mess around in the waves.

This brought to mind the wonderful mindfulness analogy:

“you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf” by Jon Kabat Zinn

When we practice mindfulness, we can learn to use the breath as a barometer to show us how we are feeling and our breath can also be used to help calm us down.

We can learn to ride the waves of our ever changing emotions with the breath, which helps us to keep perspective and respond calmly, rather than react with perhaps aggression and later regret.

So, next time you’re feeling challenging emotions and life feels like a huge wave is coming, see if you can ride that wave of emotion by simply taking your attention to the body and breath. Wait until the emotion subsides, as it always will and respond to the situation with choice and control.

Warmest wishes,

Roz