I was honoured to be on the “Living Mindfully” panel at the 2020 South West Wellness Symposium, alongside keynote speaker, Shannon Harvey. It was at this event that Shannon spoke of her own experience of a 10 day silent meditation retreat as part of her own Year of Living Mindfully. It really resonated with me, and I noticed a strong desire to undertake this experience myself.

In my teens and early adulthood, I would have responded to such fears by politely declining the invitation. The risk was too great. But over the years, through a mixture of personal therapy (yes, we Psych’s engage in therapy too!), and my journey with mindfulness practice, I came to realise that there was too much to lose by avoiding the risk.

I’m 157 days into my Year of Living Mindfully, as inspired by Shannon Harvey’s documentary by the same name. I have committed to 365 days of daily meditation, and so far I have found it to be an interesting journey. I have of course been practising meditation through yoga, information mindfulness practices (ACT) and formal seated meditation for a long time now.

Dealing with change is difficult; it challenges every part of our nervous system as we seek to find stability in the unknown. Our brains are wired to look for change and to assess it as a potential threat, triggering the Fight or Flight Response and sending our minds into overdrive as we try to problem-solve our way out.