Mindfulness - Counselling In Richmond

Counselling Richmond | Enduring Mind | Greg Savva

Your mental & physical health is probably the single most important human endeavour for us to attend to. And yet with our values so firmly placed on the diversions of modern – making money, entertainment & new technologies – we rarely take the time to develop our inner lives beyond the material world and our intellectual life. What of meditative reflection? Or attending to our five senses in a mindful, considerate way? What about a more sensitive awareness of our emotional life?

All these things are neglected in the name of 'being realistic'. Time, work and earning cold hard cash. These are modern anxieties. And necessities. But that is not the whole story. We have seen as well as a better standard of living, a longer lifespan and more comfortable lifestyle, we are also paying the cost of not caring for ourselves our showing more compassion to others.

As a human being, as well as a psychotherapist, I share these same struggles and concerns. How do I exercise and stick to a healthy diet? How do I spend time more time with my family? What can I do for others? These are all issues we face when we look into the mirror each morning and ask ourselves have I really achieved what I was put on this planet to do.

There are many defences we can employ to avoid reflecting on these difficult questions. However, the meaning of life is not something to be sneered at or derided as a trivial pursuit, which is somehow beyond our busy and hectic lives. How do we find a balance for exercise, work, art and wellbeing? It is not a difficult conundrum to solve.

We can steal moments here and there to develop a mindful awareness of our bodies and minds. And this is something we need to pass on to the next generation who are ever more prone to the insipid illusions of the virtual world. Rather than wealth, property or any grand inheritance trust, what our children really need to learn is how to be happy in their own skin: to have a sense of self-acceptance. I have developed many ways to help clients find the time and space for mindfulness in their lives.