Hook Home Help is providing practical and emotional support to people in our local community

This is the day that I went to teach a session on mindfulness at the retirement flats in Hook. Some people had come to my previous session and some were new. I talked about how practicing mindfulness can help with stress and anxiety. This can be really useful for older people who can have a lot to worry about and sometimes no one to talk to about it. 

It is easy for our thoughts to spiral and for the worries to increase. Mindfulness helps us to feel calmer and to see the thoughts more objectively. A small amount of practice can make a big difference to how we feel and how we deal with negative thoughts. 

One easy thing that everyone can practice is gratitude. This can be nice to do with children, or on your own. You just think of three things that you feel grateful for that day. You can do it at the end of the day. You can write it down or just chat about it. They don’t have to be big things. Today I felt grateful for the blue skies and fluffy white clouds. I felt grateful for friends to run with in the morning and for a job that makes a real difference to people. 

It can help us to feel less stressed if we remind ourselves of what is going well. To think about what we have rather than what we don’t have. Even just reminding ourselves that we live in a safe place and have access to food and water. Those with supportive families can feel grateful for them. Those with partners and children can take a moment to feel grateful for them. We can feel grateful for the friends we have and for our health. Everyone has different challenges but everyone can usually find something positive to focus on.

The more often we do this, the easier it becomes to notice the good times as well as the bad times. Sometimes I teach mindfulness on a one to one basis with clients, other times I just talk about the things we can do to feel happier and often they tell me how much this has helped. 

Hook Home Help is providing practical and emotional support to people in our local community. We are usually helping older people but we can help anyone who needs our help. Contact me if you would like to know more about what we do