 Over the last year or so, you may have noticed an explosion of interest in the practice of ‘mindfulness’, whether in the business section of the airport bookshop, the list of classes at your children’s school, or in thousands of news stories on health and wellbeing. The buzz could be dismissed as a fad were it not for the hard science backing it up. Studies suggest that mindfulness improves memory and attention skills, increases positive emotions, and reduces stress. Brain scans show increased density of gray matter in the areas of the brain related to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy. So what is this mindfulness thing all about? We caught up with Stuart Lennon, who, as well as being a senior marketing and communications manager at Norton Rose Fulbright, is also a qualified mindfulness teacher, offering courses and weekly drop-in sessions in Hong Kong. “Mindfulness is a training for the mind. It provides tools to better deal with the pressures and challenges we face on a daily basis. Just as lifting weights builds muscle, mindfulness practice exercises the parts of the brain that deal with emotional management and empathy. We can learn to be calmer, more composed and less affected by life’s difficulties.” he commented. Having practised mindfulness for nearly a decade, Stuart began teaching in 2014 following a year-long teacher training programme. He now offers a six week introduction course, that gives you all the information and tools you need to kickstart a mindfulness practice, as well as free weekly lunchtime sessions on Mondays in Central. He continued: “The type of people coming on the course covers a wide range including lawyers, finance executives, teachers, and entrepreneurs. Some people are facing particular difficulties in their lives, whether at work, at home or related to family situations, and some are just curious about how mindfulness can help them become more productive at work, and relate better to others. People get different benefits depending on their motivation for taking up the practice.” Stuart’s courses are detailed at http://mindfulnesscentral.com.hk along with a series of articles on how mindfulness can be applied in daily life situations. |
