You are the observer of your thoughts. It’s a subtle distinction that’s only perceived with practice. Mindfulness teaches you to take the long view, to put your thoughts, feelings and emotions into a broader context. And when you do so, your most frantic and distressing thoughts simply melt away of their own accord, leaving behind a calm, clear, insightful mind. It is being fully aware of whatever is happening in the present moment without being trapped in the past or worrying about the future. Having sold more than 250,000 copies globally, it is estimated that 1 in every 8 UK households now owns a copy of 'Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World'.The co-author, Professor Mark Williams, is one of the world’s leading researchers in mindfulness and co-founder of MBCT (clinically proven to help prevent relapse into depression). He is also the founder of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre at Oxford University and the Centre for Mindfulness Research Practice at Bangor University, two of the world’s top mindfulness research and teaching institutes. In time, you may also find it helpful to revisit the meditations you have found supportive in the past: for example, the body scan, sitting with sounds, thoughts and feelings, or the befriending meditation. And if you return to practicing any of your usual meditations, feel free to use your feet, seat or hands as alternatives to the breath.

Newly developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, it has become an extremely popular programme for Oxford University students wanting to equip themselves with the tools to cope with stress, perform at their best and enjoy student life fully.You’ll find written instructions here (they’re worth reading to familiarise yourself with the technique). A person whose mind isn’t wandering, isn’t meditating….. Mindfulness is a powerful painkiller that can dramatically enhance quality of life in chronic pain sufferers – latest research Mindfulness is based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Co-developed by Professor Mark Williams of Oxford University, MBCT is recommended by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and is as effective as drugs for preventing depression. But, equally, it works for the rest of us who aren't depressed but who are struggling to keep up with the relentless demands of the modern world.

Proven effective at treating anxiety, stress and depression, the practices in Deeper Mindfulnessoffer a new and more fruitful direction for both novice and experienced meditators. It also allows the rest of us to approach life with renewed strength, vigour and equanimity.Your thoughts are a running commentary on the world; a ‘best guess’ of what’s truly happening. Often, your thoughts will reflect the powerful emotional currents swirling through your mind, body and breath. Sometimes they are true, sometimes they are a frantic work in progress, sometimes they are wrong. It is paying full conscious attention to whatever thoughts, feelings and emotions are flowing through your mind, body and breath without judging or criticising them in any way. Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S. F., Urbanowski, F., Harrington, A., Bonus, K. and Sheridan, J. F. (2003), ‘Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation’, Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, pp. 564–70; Tang, Y., Ma, Y., Wang, J., Fan, Y., Feng, S., Lu, Q., Yu, Q., Sui, D., Rothbart, M., Fan, M. and Posner, M. (2007), ‘Short-term meditation training improves atten- tion and self-regulation’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, pp. 17152–6.
11 Walsh, R. and Shapiro, S. L. (2006), ‘The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: a mutually enriching dia- logue’, American Psychologist, 61, pp. 227–39.