Shane
29 January 2019
During the course I experienced an enormous shift in what I thought I knew about myself, particularly with regard to my emotional and stress responses.
I entered the course with a strong habit of shutting down or becoming numb in high stress environments, something that I believed was a positive trait as it enabled me to endure the situation. The practice of mindfulness helped me to observe, understand and overcome the various impacts that pattern of numbing had on many aspects of my daily life such as energy levels, focus, sleep and relationships. I think it is important to normalise and promote preventative approaches to our mental health, in the way that we do with diet and exercise. We tend to focus on the treatment of injuries rather than prevention; when we consider that approach in the context of mental health, by the time the injury is apparent, the damage has been done. I view mindfulness as an unmissable opportunity to take control of my wellbeing.