Welcome to

my latest blog. I hope you will find it useful and helpful. 

 an

Navigating change skillfully with mindfulness

Change—whether big or small—is an integral part of life. As Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, said "change is the only constant in life." And with the start of this September - school has begun again, the weather has gone from extreme heat to heavy downpours, the UK government is changing, and so on… However, just because change is so banal, it does not make it easy for us, especially when faced with an unexpected or unwelcome change.

I had a new start this week and I've been noticing how uncomfortable I felt and even a bit anxious I felt when I moved away from what was familiar to me. I moved classrooms, took up a new role, met new pupils,and the list continues… All these recent changes, small or big, had ‘rocked’ my sense of stability and to a certain extent made me doubt my confidence and my ability. 

But these changes were expected. So when changes take you by surprise, it can be even more challenging to navigate them, and they are also usually accompanied by a flood of mixed emotions, often negative ones that, in turn, can lower our mood. 

It is human nature to resist change: our minds like the ‘familiar’ as they are wired to offer us solutions from the point of view of what they already know, what they've had experience of, what they're familiar with.  The default reaction to this can be fear, doubt, and other unhelpful emotions.

Luckily, we can respond to change, rather than being reactive to it (some may react by feeling paralysed by it or actively trying to resist it). 

Mindfulness is the key to helping you navigate and manage change skillfully in a more positive and productive way.

How does mindfulness help you manage change and even flourish under it? 

Remember this quote from Heraclitus who said "change is the only constant in life." Let’s take a moment to ponder over this…. We can see that we can’t stop change…. but with mindfulness, we can learn to manage uncertainty, we can learn to respond to uncertainty with acceptance and become more aware of what is actually taking place - our emotions and reactions included. This type of acknowledgement and acceptance allows us to adapt more quickly to shifting conditions.

Of course, we recognise that often stress can be associated with change because it stems from being worried about the future. In short, we all want things to remain as they are because they are familiar and therefore we feel in control and secure. When there is uncertainty, your mind may jump into this “what if?” mode and will run numerous scenarios which may tend to be based on ‘fearing the worst’ scenarios. So this state of mind can make it more difficult for us to deal with the present moment.

With mindfulness training, we can learn to see these changing conditions with new eyes; we can be adaptive, creative, and solution-focused even in the most challenging times.

Here is how…

1. Resist resisting to change and instead accept that change will happen

Often, when faced with change, our first instinct is to want to fight or resist. Change is inevitable and will happen no matter how much you don’t want it to, therefore fighting it will only make it harder for you. Instead, allow yourself to sit mindfully with the uncertainty, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. Make this deliberate decision to willingly accept change. This doesn't mean that you have to love the change in the moment, it just means that by practising acceptance, it will minimise any initial resistance and help you in feeling more adaptable to future changes: if you can accept the way things are, you will open yourself up to the possibility of opportunity and growth.

2. Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings

Any change, big or small, positive or negative can feel challenging and will in most cases trigger some thoughts and feelings! The mind will want to create a response because our brains are wired to offer us solutions, from the point of view of what they already know, what they've had experience of or what they're familiar with. Instead of following these automatic responses that your mind may have, recognise and acknowledge these thoughts and feelings. In the MBCT courses that I teach, we learn to recognise that thoughts are not facts! We train to become observers of our thoughts, creating a ‘holding / breathing space’ for our emotions that allow us to cultivate qualities such as acceptance, compassion and ease that we need to navigate the whirlpools of change.

Being mindful of your thoughts and emotions during change can help you retake control of the driving seat and shift the way you respond to change. This is one of the key principles of my MBCT-L course. 

3. Manage your expectations and take your time

It’s natural to want to adapt to change quickly and I will put my hand up here, I totally fall into this category! I used to engage my gears into full speed ahead! But adjusting takes TIME. Since practising mindfulness, I have learnt to really take the time or in other words, pause for a moment to allow ‘things to land’. This has helped me noticing that I was expecting too much from myself, too soon, and I had the tendency to compare myself to others, etc... I have learnt that it’s okay to take things slowly. As Mark Williams famously says in some of his mindfulness practices: ‘no action needed’ …for now.  The important thing is to pace yourself.

4.  Flex your equanimity muscle (a firm favourite of mine these days, I have to say!)

Equanimity is ‘faring evenly amidst the uneven’ or more simply, it is the mind’s ability to be okay with whatever is happening - good, bad or ugly. I quite like and often use this nautical metaphor: in the middle of a stormy sea, a cruise ship will be using its stabilisers so that its passengers remain calm and unaffected by the outside conditions. It is the same process with the mind -  by practising equanimity or by regularly pausing before you respond, through observing your breath, tuning into your body, you are cultivating this capacity to be present but also with that sense that no matter what comes your way, you will be okay. 

5.  Savour the 'pleasant'

When life is changing, it is even more important to remind ourselves to tap into the ‘pleasant’ in our life and to fully enjoy the things that bring us joy.  Savouring these moments rewires our brain for happiness and builds resilience. I covered this in my last two blogs and in my MBCT courses, I have great little practices to support this approach in our everyday life.

To conclude, It is in our nature to fear change as we were born ‘hardwired’ to resist it by the part of the brain called the amygdala which interprets change as a threat and releases the hormones for fear, fight, or flight. But by practising mindfulness regularly, you can be more in control of navigating the ups and downs of change with an open heart and positive mindset.

Sophie