In 2014 I was feeling under a lot of pressure at home and work, I read about a mindfulness App and gave it a try, feeling better immediately I began using it for 10 minutes every day. Thinking there must be more to it, I began to learn more about mindfulness and came across the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of MBSR, and his book Full Catastrophe Living.  A little after this my employer offered an 8 week MBSR course for staff, I jumped at the opportunity. The course was a game changer for me and I have had a daily practice of mindfulness meditation since. 

 

I am about to start Year 3 of a 4 year Masters in Teaching Mindfulness at The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and am  trained to teach MBSR and MBCT ( Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy). 

 

As a Registered Nurse I am particularly interested in how MBSR can help people who have health issues and in particular those who have a risk of cardiovascular disease. I have a Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Nursing (cardiovascular pathway) and offer a clinical supervision service to registered nurses and health care teams.

 

Having begun my nurse training in 1991, I've worked in a wide variety of areas from acute medicine, coronary care, cardiovascular disease research and then as a specialist nurse in high-blood pressure. After a career break to raise children I found it difficult to find family friendly work with the NHS and I became a School Nurse, despite some initial reservations I found I loved it.

 

As a result of this wide ranging experience I have a really thorough understanding of human experience with difficulty across all age ranges and many health problems.

 

I believe wholeheartedly in mindfulness, I have not  found anything else that is as accessible or reliable and I urge you to find out more. Mindfulness can have a truly transformative effect on how you experience your life. I live in Manchester and am married with two children, a Golden Retriever called Charlie and a ginger cat named Lola. I'm very proud of taking up running in my late forties after years of telling myself a story that I can't & won't run, other than that I enjoy all the usual stuff, especially yoga and all things food related. Developing a mindfulness practice has supported me in making sustainable changes to my own lifestyle which has led to improvements in my own health, well-being and symptoms of IBS.

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