Rept0n1x, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
A Salford church and a mental health charity are working together to launch a free digital mindfulness session in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The session is an hour long and focusses on giving advice and techniques for wellbeing as an introduction to see if there’s an interest in doing more.
Mind in Salford has had to adapt to provide help remotely. During isolation, more time is spent at home and alone so there is no better time to introduce practicing mindfulness.
Andy Salmon, Rector of Sacred Trinity Church which is working with Mind of the project, said: “I get the impression that people who don’t get particularly anxious are getting more anxious because of the pandemic.
“With mental health, it’s really important that people feel able to talk to others. Doing something together like that helps to give permission to have conversations.”
Mind in Salford helped 4,697 people last year, with that figure rising throughout the pandemic.
Andy Salmon says: “ The mind sessions are absolutely 100 per cent worth doing and it’s definitely worth organisations getting in touch with Mind if they think it’s something they would like to put on.
“By looking after our mental health, we make ourselves more useful to others. If we neglect ourselves, then we’re no good to anybody else. It’s important that we do find those ways to look after ourselves and be the best people we can be.”
Mind in Salford has grant funding from the council to provide sessions during Covid-19, where people might be feeling particularly stressed.
Professor Mark Williams, a former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, said: “Mindfulness also allows us to become more aware of the stream of thoughts and feelings that we experience, to see how we can become entangled in that stream in ways that are not helpful.”
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