During week 5, I continued and developed my research within mindfulness. I read Ferne Cotton’s Book ‘Calm,’ listened to some of her ‘Happy Place’ podcasts and began to explore my research through experiences (workshops.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the book ‘Calm,’ with its personal, informative yet relatable and humorous content. It encouraged me to explore mindfulness further so I planned and hosted a small mindfulness workshop one evening. I included some of the exercises which Ferne features in her book alongside some breathing exercises and meditation tasks. As part of the process, I asked the individuals to fill out a reflection ripples digram at the start, middle and end of the session. The results showed that the individuals did feel more relaxed at the end of the session compared to the beginning, which was a positive!

In order to create a fully calming experience, I ensured the lighting was dim, used candles and incense and encouraged the group to sit on the floor.

As mindfulness is often about an experience, in other words something you tend to feel, I felt it was important for me to create and get involved in ‘experiences’ as part of my development and research. Therefore, I aim to host more mindfulness sessions throughout this project and attend yoga, mindfulness and mediation classes myself.